Announcing

BENDIGO AUTUMN MUSIC FESTIVAL’S

Special Feature Shows

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With a huge musical offering spanning many genres, from rock n roll to flamenco, afro beats to gospel, world music to jazz, Bendigo Autumn Music festival delivers over 80 acts across 4 days. All taking place at 12 venues around Bendigo’s arts precinct, the line up includes some very special feature shows that see unique collaborations, visual arts and the reimagining of classics come to life.

Zimbabwean born and Melbourne based singer-songwriter, Thando, has been gracing stages around Australia with her electric presence and powerhouse vocals and brings Thando’s Soul & RnB Improv Nights to BAM. Thando grew up feasting on the musical offerings of Ladysmith, Black Mambazo, QUEEN and TLC. Along the way, she found Jill Scott and crafted her genre bending sound with an electric live set. On both Friday and Saturday night you can catch many festival artists getting up and improvising alongside Thando late into the night.

Maskandi, malombo, the desert blues and jazz all figure in Sibusile Xaba’s expansive vocabulary, a charismatic guitar savant with a vocal style that is part dreamscaping and part ancestral invocation. Combined with a guitar style that is rooted in expressive picking, Xaba’s music shatters the confines of genre, taking only the fundamentals from mentors such as Madala Kunene and Dr Philip Tabane and imbuing these with a mythology and improvisational intensity all of his own.

45 Packin’ Mama will bring the Gospel, Jazz and Blues to BAM. Having performed with Betty Harris, and supported The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Tracey Miller’s 45 Packin’ Mama is a show that pays tribute to the strength, resilience and toughness of the great female singers from the 20’s to the 50’s, performing songs by Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Dinah Washington, Koko Taylor, Billie Holiday, Big Mama Thornton, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

We also welcome a very special performance that sees original The Go Between’s members Lindy Morrison, Amanda Brown and John Willsteed reunite to perform their album 16 Lovers Lane in its entirety, along with special guests Dan Kelly, Danny Widdicombe and Luke Daniel Peacock. The tribute will also feature Dave Graney, Clare Moore, Rob Snarski, Alex Gow (Oh Mercy), Katie Noonan, Emily Lubitz (Tinpan Orange) and Laura Jean.

ARIA Award winning Katie Noonan will present one of the other festival highlights – ‘Gratitude & Grief’ – a not to be missed collaboration between Noonan’s jazz trio Elixir and acclaimed Melbourne artist and poet, Michael Leunig. The innovative performance will take place in Bendigo’s stunning Ulumbarra Theatre and will combine spoken word poetry, music and art.

Flamenco troupe Arte Kanela are unsurpassed on the Australian Flamenco music scene. At the core are the exceptionally gifted Tedesco brothers: musical director, guitarist and composer Richard and dancer and choreographer Johnny. Join with dancer Chantelle Cano as well as several guest artists. The troupe have appeared on Spicks and Specks, The Panel and Dancing with The Stars. They will also be running a Flamenco workshop during the festival.

After their splendid VIVID shows at the Sydney Opera House, Xylouris White, the visionary duo, formed of Cretan lute player George Xylouris and Australian post-punk drummer Jim White (Dirty Three), return to Australia to perform their concoction of free-jazz, avant-rock and ages-old Greek folk traditions at BAM.

Esteemed Melbourne artist Grand Salvo brings his hugely acclaimed new album Sea Glass to BAM. A richly allegorical album, layering the dreams of childhood and the memories of adulthood into a woozy contemplation of eternity and the cyclic, ever evolving nature of memory. The album was recorded using a number of non- western instruments including qanun (Persian dulcimer), kora (African harp), koto (Japanese stringed instrument) and Indian percussion, with a heady female chorus (Laura Jean, Lisa Salvo, Hannah Cameron, Michelle Surowiec) who will be performing with the band for a very special performance at Capital Theatre at BAM.

All taking place a short drive from Melbourne, in existing venues of Bendigo, BAM offers a jam packed, family friendly, comfortable weekend of music, art, film, comedy and workshops. Tickets on sale now with full weekend and day passes available.

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