With 23 albums over 30 years, Ms Kate Ceberano has been a treasure of the National Music Scene for the past 4 decades. The first Australian woman to be inducted into the Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) Hall Of Fame, she has a reputation as one of the country’s finest performers and has enjoyed over 1.5 million albums sold within Australia alone. She is undoubtedly the most prolific Australian female artist of this era, with her music now imbued in our collective DNA. Ahead of her upcoming performance in Cairns at The Tanks Arts Centre for the Jazz Up North Series, Kate is releasing a brand new ‘Anthology’ 3 Disc set to celebrate her 30 years in the industry.
Featuring a variety of hits, rarities and collaborations, the collection is a must for all Ceberano fans. Speaking to Kate hours after the news of the release on her social media accounts, she said:
“I’m very excited. It contains over 50 tracks including collaborations and music that actually hasn’t seen the light of day before this. There’s a variety of collaborations I’d done over the years with people like John Farnham and Paul Kelly. It’s been 30 years since my first album so it’s a bit of a celebration in a sense”.
Ceberano first came to prominence singing back-up vocals with ‘The Models’ on their Top 5 album ‘Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight’ in 1985. She also toured with The Models before finding fame with her funk band ‘I’m Talking’ who was credited with pioneering a New York-style art pop into the Australian Music Scene while Pub Rock was at its height. In 1987 whilst still performing with ‘I’m Talking’, Ceberano was asked to step in to perform for a cancelled Jazz performer at the Perth International Jazz Festival with just a weeks’ notice. The gig was an unexpected success with the live recording going on to be Kate’s first solo album titled ‘Kate Ceberano and her Septet’ released in 1987.
Her first studio album ‘Brave’ was released in 89 and spawned 4 singles and 2 ARIA’s for ‘Best Female Artist’ and ‘Highest Selling Single’ for ‘Bedroom Eyes’. In the early 1990s she stepped into the coveted role of Mary in the massive production of Jesus Christ Superstar alongside John Farnham and Jon Stevens. The production demonstrated Kate’s rare talent and that she can turn her hand to anything and make it her own.
“I get really easily enthusiastic about projects. I’m not a person who’ll drag themselves into something then say I wish I didn’t do this. That’s not me. I quite enjoy the challenge of being a little overwhelmed. I’ve really had a great musical journey and I’m very proud, I’m sought of like a music traveller, like a gypsy. I don’t think you ever age living that way”.
Coming to The Tanks as part of the Jazz Up North series, Kate’s love of Jazz will be on show with the artist promising a sparkling performance of her jazz favourites on Friday 15th April.
“I don’t actually get to sing a lot of Jazz these days so I’ll be relying a lot on what we call happy accidents. We’ve got a great band of players together for the gig so we’ll be throwing away any preconceived ideas and just simply being in the moment and creating songs together which I think is really beautiful”.
“My very first album when I was 17 was Jazz and at the time it was amongst my Pop stuff. The Jazz I like I guess is more the music of Julie London, Peggy Lee, Nancy Sinatra, more of the Pop Jazz”.
Kate Ceberano is without doubt one of the country’s most iconic artists and any evening in her company is guaranteed to be unforgettable. Whether it is her soulful voice, her charismatic nature or exotic looks: Kate will captivate you in this extraordinary performance.
Don’t miss Kate Ceberano at The Tanks on Friday 15th April.
Kate Ceberano performs at The Tanks Arts Centre as part of the Jazz Up North Series on Fri 15th April. Tickets from Ticketlink. Doors open 6.30pm. Show starts 7.30pm.
Pre-order Kate Ceberano – Anthology from her website.
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