Fringe show proves to be a triple threat

Fi & Frenz bring a stunning show to the Mount Gambier Bowls Club

Musical genius in spades – that’s what’s on offer at the Mount Gambier Bowls Club on April 1 at 8pm as part of Fringe Mount Gambier.

Fi & Frenz, an emerging local musical ensemble quickly making a name for themselves, are presenting their newest show, Carmen – Dedicated to You fresh from a stunning run of two shows at the Adelaide Fringe at historic Ayers House, and also one performance in Port Fairy.

Carmen – Dedicated to You is jam packed with musicality on steroids.

Fi & Frenz are a professional outfit boasting some of the best musical talent this region has ever seen, while the subject of the show – Carmen McRae is widely regarded as one of the most influential jazz vocalists of all time, standing comfortably alongside names including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.

And if that wasn’t enough, the need to call up a replacement saxophone player, has seen Fi & Frenz add Bill Harrower, a session musician with a resume that defies belief.

Bill has performed with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Liza Minelli and Tony Bennett, as well as featuring on some of John Farnham’s most iconic tracks.

Fiona Unger and Marie Holmes, along with their locally connected band, are so grateful to have this opportunity to play with such an iconic musician.

“Having this opportunity to play with someone of such high calibre and for the town to be able to get out and see someone of this calibre is so exciting,” Fiona said.

Fi & Frenz have called in another jazz icon, Graeme Lyall to create the charts for this latest show and it is Graeme who hooked them up with Bill Harrower, who now calls Portland home.

This is a show that has been more than 12 months in the making, with Fiona doing a deep dive into the life and music of Carmen McRae to put the cabaret offering together.

The African-American vocalist started her career as a pianist in big band circles, working alongside the likes of Count Basie, before her vocal talents were discovered and while she arguably missed the gold era of jazz by about a decade, she is considered one of the greats and has 71 albums to show for her critically acclaimed career.

Fiona can’t wait to share the Carmen McRae story with audiences and promises some interesting insight into a performer widely considered grumpy and difficult to get along with.

“She was performing up until the 1990s and was considered by other jazz musicians as good as Ella (Fitzgerald) and Sarah (Vaughan),” Fiona said. “She was constantly refurnishing her career to keep appealing to people.

“She was known as a lyricist specialist, the way she delivered lyrics, she could really tell a story. She refused to sing songs she didn’t believe in.

“Everything she sang had a message, even the lighter, fun songs.”

Carmen – Dedicated to You contains plenty of jazz standards so it is a program that will be familiar to jazz afficionados, while Fiona will share Carmen anecdotes that will bring the music and the performer she is looking to honour even more to life.

Fiona’s first obsession, and not coincidentally, her first major show, was Nina Simone.

It is clearly in her DNA that when she commits to something or someone, she really commits.

“My son told me to ‘broaden my horizons’ and I have done that, first with Billie Holiday and now Carmen McRae,” Fiona said.

“I discovered I really love Carmen McRae and her range is so similar to mine – not that it’s easy – but she really has a range that I can get stuck into.

And Marie Holmes agrees, this is Fiona’s finest work yet.

“I have been working with Fiona for six years now and have watched her develop.

I have seen her grow so much as a singer and in this show she is blowing me away.”

Fiona’s vocal development works hand in hand with her commitment to finding out everything she can about the performer she is honouring and the Carmen McRae project is arguably her deepest dive yet.

“I feel like you can’t know somebody until you do that deep dive,” Fiona said.

“I don’t think you can understand what she (McRae) put into her music unless you understand the back story of where she’s come from.”

AFL Licensed Products | Greeting Cards | Giftware | SA lotteries | Books | Magazines | Stationery | Music Cd’s | Dvd’s | Darrell Lea Gifts and decor for all occasions Chapmans Newsagency not just any newsagency 08 8725 3300 | 11 Commercial Street West, Mount Gambier This latest Fi & Frenz show has been made possible by the generous support of Regional Arts and Country Arts SA through a grants program.

“It (the grant) definitely got this show across the line,” Fiona said. “It means the musicians can be properly paid and has been a big, big help.”

The show has an 8pm start with cheese platters on offer at the bowls club while you sit back and enjoy the show. Tickets are available https:// events.humanitix.com/carmendedicated-to-you