Tom Burlinson’s salute to swing

THE irrepressible star of Australian stage and screen, Tom Burlinson, is returning to the region with his big band and a feast for lovers of swing.

Celebrating the music of Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat ‘King’ Cole, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra, Burlinson also pays homage to modern favourites such as Harry Connick Jr. and Michael Bublé.

This writer was 10 when the iconic TheMan from Snowy River hit Australian movie screens. Burlinson has built a long career on stage and screen between then and now, morphing into his suave salute to the swing masters.

The genre remains eternally popular with the traditional audience, older audience and younger fans. One of the current Top 10 finalists on Australian Idol is William Le Brun, a 21-year-old self-styled swing king. Burlinson said there was a good reason swing remained perennial.

“Many of the great artists chose from the Great American Songbook, and the songs themselves are of such good quality, with beautiful melodic structure,” he said.

“They were the greatest songwriters of 20th-century pop music – Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, and Rodgers and Hart.

The singer’s conversation with the audience in between songs illuminates the greats, and his relationship with the songs peppers the concert.

“It’s also about the song itself, like Birth of the Blues, which was a signature song by Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1950s and is 100 years old, but it’s a fine standard,” he said.

“I don’t dwell too much; I just try to find a little kernel of information to keep things interesting.”

Burlinson trained as a stage actor but said swing music was always in his blood.

“My parents were great lovers of swing jazz, so our house was filled with the sounds of Ellington and Armstrong, Peterson and Fitzgerald,” he said.

“It got under my skin, I guess, pardon the pun. My parents had a Sinatra album called A Swinging Affair.

“When I was five, I would point to the album cover and repeat over and over to my mum, ‘the man in the hat’ – it was my favourite album.

“After I wrote my show about Sinatra, I started exploring the repertoires of his contemporaries. That was a whole discovery and challenge for me.

With a 12-piece band, Burlinson’s show presents an authentic celebration of the era’s masters.

“It’s such a joy to do this, and there’s nothing like the live experience,” he said.

“I have no regrets about anything. I love working with the musicians, sharing my love for the music and seeing the joy it brings people. It’s very fulfilling.”

Burlinson and his big band play Tweed Heads on April 26 and Ballina on April 27.

For tickets, visit twintowns.com.au/events/tom-burlinson or ballinarsl.com.au/event/tom-burlinson-his-big-band .