Leunig quirk gets a double outing

NATIONAL living treasure Michael Leunig’s unique brand of quirk with a serious message gets a double outing on two recently released albums.

Michael Leunig (left) with Elixir Zac Hurren, Katie Noonan and Stephen Magnusson - an album of poems and songs Gratitude and Grief is being released on Kin Music in August 2018. Picture: Michelle G Hunder *PLS CREDIT*

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NATIONAL living treasure Michael Leunig is more than just a cartoonist with a quirky take on the human condition, he is also a poet, a burster of pretentious bubbles and an advocate for freedom of thought and belief.

It seems he is needed more than ever now in these scary times of political and religious polarisation, for his work crops up on two very different recent recording projects.

On the jazz side Leunig reads 10 of his poems on the Kin Music/Universal Music release Gratitude and Grief, and each poem is followed by an exquisite musical arrangement by Katie Noonan’s Elixir band, featuring her unmistakeable crystal clear vocals alongside husband Zac Hurren on soprano and tenor saxophones and guitarist Stephen Magnusson.

And on the classical side nine Leunig poems appear on a double-disc Decca album featuring the work of Ballarat-born organist and composer Calvin Bowman. Its title, Real and Right and True, comes from one of those verses and Leunig’s inimitable artwork featuring a tree full of sulphur-crested cockatoos adorns the cover.

The Elixir collection is an absolute gem with the music bringing just the right mixture of lightness and gravitas to the 73-year-old Melbourne luminary’s works which manage to combine whimsy with acute observation, often with a life-affirming warmth as well.

Album artwork for Michael Leunig and Elixir's Gratitude and Grievance album released on Kin Music in August 2018.

Real and Right and True by Calvin Bowman

As he says in Little Tendrils: “Love is born/With a dark and troubled face/When hope is dead/And in the most unlikely place/Love is born/Love is always born.”

Magnusson’s gentle guitar lays the groundwork for the title track, as well as the haunting Departed, one of the highlights of the collection.

Hurren’s soprano sax brings a bouncy swing and groove to the perky Gentle Hum and some of the tracks are filled out with some nice string arrangements. Recorded at the height of the often toxic debate about same-sex marriage, the band has added a bonus track of the Muppets’ song The Rainbow Connection as a tribute to their LGBQTI friends.

Melbourne composer and organist Calvin Bowman’s art songs feature on a double album on Decca.

Bowman’s collection of art songs — inspired by various poets including Alfred Tennyson, Walter de la Mare and Hilaire Belloc alongside more obscure names — features three fine Australian singers in soprano Sarah Macliver, tenor Paul McMahon and baritone Christopher Richardson. Bowman shares piano duties with Ian Munro and the 34 songs were recorded in the ABC Melbourne studios.

Both albums are must-haves for Leunig fans and entertain and delight in their very different ways.

You can get Gratitude and Grief at JB Hi-Fi for $19.99, and Real and Right and True for $24.99.