THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

The voices of Oz

The voices of Oz

The Idea of North need no instruments to sing the praises of Thai-Australian friendship

Thailand is certainly somewhere north-ish of Australia, so having the Idea of North – a popular a cappella group Down Under – help us celebrate 60 years of friendly relations with the Aussies sounds like a splendid idea.
The Australian Embassy and Chulalongkorn University are bringing the group in for a concert next week.
The Idea of North has performing jazz, folk, gospel, pop and classical music for more than 17 years. The quartet is one of Australia’s best-selling jazz groups, constantly reinventing itself to stay fresh and relevant, even in the complete absence of any instruments.
We asked tenor Nick Begbie what we can expect at the show, part of a tour to Laos and Thailand for a string of Australia Day events.
“We’re also visiting some schools to work with music students on vocal harmonising,” he says.
“And we’re getting ready to record our ninth album, which is a much-requested collection of Christmas songs. I know that seems a bit early in the year, but apparently we need to have it ready by June if it’s to be available for Christmas!”

How did you guys first get together?
The original four members were all students at the Canberra School of Music [at Australian National University] in Canberra. We never actually meant to form a singing group – we were just four friends who’d hang out together and not singing, until one day we all started jamming on a song, and we came up with a pretty cool arrangement.
We then sang it to some friends, who were most enthusiastic in their encouragement of us to learn some more songs. So we did. And so it began.

Do any of you play an instrument?
Andrew Piper plays the trumpet, and in fact has a master’s degree in jazz trumpet performance. Sally Cameron plays the saxophone very well and has played in many bands, as well as singing with the South Australian Police Band for five years before joining the Idea of North. Joy Hague is an excellent pianist.
And I had three months of flute lessons when I was 13.

Do you consider yourself a jazz group?
The overriding style of the Idea of North is jazz. It’s the most dominant style because of our study backgrounds, and it really does come through in many of our arrangements.
Having said that, we love to mix up genres in a concert, and we’ll perform anything from jazz to folk music, gospel to pop, with a good bit of comedy in between.

You released a CD with James Morrison. Any plans for more collaborations?
We’re always open, but we don’t have any plans in place as such.

Who would be your dream collaborator, if any?
Some of our favourite artists, who we would obviously love to perform with, include Sting, Stevie Wonder and James Taylor. Oh, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Is it a lot of fun being in a vocal group?
The hard part is that you have no one to rely on for pitch or timing – I think a cappella is one of the most difficult singing styles. The most rewarding thing is when you get to the point when you don’t need to rely on anyone for the pitch or the time. Yes, they are one in the same answer! 

What can we expect from your show next week?
Our concert will be full of a variety of contemporary covers – jazz, gospel, pop, folk and comedy. And we can’t wait!

Jazzy fun
See the Idea of North at the Chulalongkorn University Cultural Centre next Wednesday at 7pm.
Admission is free and no reservations are needed. The hall has 220 seats.
The quartet will also conduct a free master classes at Kasetsart University on Tuesday afternoon and at Chula on Wednesday afternoon. Get the details at (02) 218 4563.

 

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