Paul Kelly and Paul Grabowsky get up close and personal with new album
Song writer Paul Kelly gets up close and intimate with jazz guru Paul Grabowsky for his latest recording project.
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When people ask Paul Kelly who his favourite writer is he gives them three answers: “Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare.”
Some of his songs do have a Shakespearean sweep to them. It might be capturing a small but telling moment, describing young lovers (from an old man’s perspective), or simply setting one of the Bard’s sonnets to music.
The range of subject matter is equally broad, and for his latest project, a collaboration with jazz pianist and composer Paul Grabowsky, Kelly selected material from his vast catalogue honed for intimacy. Originally born of live performance as part of the pianist’s concert series in duo with various artists, Kelly and Grabowsky headed for the recording studios in time for its release on the Cooking Vinyl label in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The songs have all been recorded before and represent more than four decades of the song writer’s art, except for one, True to You, which Kelly describes as a nod to George and Ira Gershwin. In another fond backward glance the pair do a version of Cole Porter’s Every Time We Say Goodbye which, although it won’t replace Ella Fitzgerald’s recording on my shelf, is lovely nevertheless.
“We chose the other songs with a mind to their suitability for direct address, close, concentrated performance and room for silence to draw the listener in,” said Kelly.
Grabowsky’s arrangements are subtle and superb. There’s plenty of growling bass notes for God’s Grandeur whereas the track that follows, and the album’s closer, If I Could Start Again Today, has a piano equivalent of the simple clawhammer fingerstyle Kelly uses so effectively when he plays his guitar. For this outing, however, he concentrates on the singing, with occasional spoken word and a short harmonica solo on You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed.
Sonnet 138 gets a slow bluesy feel by Grabowsky, while Petrichor (a word that means the smell of rain after a drought) has a light and airy feel.
The simple and intimate feeling of the collaboration throws Kelly’s honest lyrics into sharp relief, especially in the song which gives the album its title, Please Leave Your Light On. Once again proving that Kelly is truly Australia’s finest songwriter and one who can stand alongside two of his heroes, Bob Dylan and Neil Young.
Please Leave Your Light On is available for download or from JB Hi-Fi of $20.99 (CD) or $47.99 (vinyl).