Kerri Simpson
Kerri Simpson is one of Australia's most respected and versatile singers. Her unique, powerful voice has traversed a huge expanse of musical styles across a large portion of the globe, enriched through the years by the music and musicians she has encountered.
Having toyed with singing for a few years, Kerri joined the Five Aces, an R&B outfit formed by Ken Farmer (of Paramount Trio) and Steve Purcell (who would later form the Swinging Sidewalks). It was a time when a handful of R&B bands had taken to playing impromptu on Melbourne's sidewalks and the Five Aces were often found busking in the city streets, with Kerri's distinctive voice gaining a great deal of attention.
A direct result of this was Kerri's participation in both Jumpin'Jive, a sultry Soul and R&B combo and Sophisticated Boom Boom, a band that recreated the musical ethic of classic '50s "girl groups". Kerri became a much talked-about member of the live scene with reviews that likened her to Aretha Franklin.
Kerri left Australia on an open-ended overseas journey that first took her to New Orleans, a city that held more than a little fascination for her with its legendary Heritage Festival and Mardi Gras. However, in the process of investigating the city's musical diversity, Kerri met and befriended some of the local musicians and was soon singing on stage with them. The inspiration of her surroundings led Kerri to more serious songwriting, a process she had dabbled in before but had never taken seriously until New Orleans - its musical heritage and musicians providing the kind of inspiration all songwriters crave.
After a time in Chicago, Kerri left the US and travelled to London, meeting up with Melbourne band The Bachelors From Prague, who were touring in England. After singing with the band in London, Kerri travelled to Europe and was once again singing with local musicians almost everywhere she went. She busked in the streets of Barcelona for a short time before meeting some musicians and consequently singing with them in the city's jazz clubs. Unable to speak Spanish, Kerri sang in English, leaving the band to introduce the songs in the audiencežs native language.
During her years overseas, Kerri spent a great deal of time refining her singing voice, gaining greater control and using her accumulated musical experience to great effect. Upon returning to Melbourne, she reacquainted herself with The Bachelors From Prague, with a long stint as a guest singer at their jazz and cabaret influenced gigs, as well as many performances with the Swinging Sidewalks.
Deciding to put her own band together, she gathered musicians such as percussionist Ray Pereira, John Betros, Tony Norris, Dean Hilson plus legendary musical identity Gus Till, and formed Vamos A La Gig. This unique outfit played original songs that touched upon elements of Salsa and Latin Funk, a style unique to Melbourne at the time. Her musical partnership with Gus Till saw Kerri performing with Sam Sejavka and John Murphy with Index and forming the EXP songwriting team with Gus and Ollie Olsen. Exploring yet another musical sphere, Kerri joined Ken Farmer, his wife Chris and Ron Tabuteau in The Mudcats, a blues jam outfit that took Chicago and country blues as a starting point, adding a distinct Cajun and New Orleans flavour to the set.
In 1989 the Swinging Sidewalks were invited to become the house band on the weekly national television comedy program The Big Gig, broadcasting live to air each week from Melbourne. Kerri, together with Shelly Scown and Rebecca Barnard performed as The Swing Sisters, which soon became a popular part of the show - not only singing but also performing with other artists on the show.
As a result of this work, Kerri was brought to a national audience and asked to put together a collection of bands of various styles for a recording project. Out of that project the legendary Peaceful Anticipation Social Aid and Pleasure Club was born. Kerri invited 12 local singers including Chris Wilson, Nichaud Fitzgibbon, and Joe Geia and presented Gospel music accapella. This had never been seen before in Melbourne and was a huge success, both at live venues and on various television programs. Around this time, producer Evan Kelly invited Kerri to write a song with him for the Mushroom Razor compilation "Razor cuts". A pounding dance track with spectacular gospel-influenced vocals, the song "Higher" became a nightclub favourite both here and in London and was released as a single followed by the chart success of "Kiss Him Goodbye". The success of the razor tracks saw Kerri invited as a special guest on Kylie Minogue's 1991 Rhythm Of Love tour.
After a short time playing with Melbourne band White Cross, Kerri ventured into the studio to record some of the material she had been writing since her New Orleans experiences. The resulting six-song CD titled "Veve", was released early 1993 to critical acclaim, the songs demonstrating a musical maturity matched by the vocal performance within. "Veve" was followed by the full-length album "The Arousing" in 1995, and in 1996 Kerri's third album "Speak" was released with much critical acclaim.
In April 1998 Kerri travelled to Haiti and New Orleans to make field recordings of Voudoun rituals and compose songs for her forthcoming "Songs of the Spirits" cd. Compositions for the album were co written with David Bridie, Ollie Olsen, Ray Periera, Chris Wilson, Paul Kelly, Lou Bennett, and Simon Polinski and in New Orleans with Norman Caesar, Jason Neville and Tajee Quilens. A double cd, one disk features songs recorded with the Achade Group from the hounfor cd of Houngan Edgar Jean Louis in Port au Prince, whilst the other cd features the original tracks.
Later in 1998 she recorded "Confessin' the Blues" with a host of the countryžs finest - Chris Wilson, Dean Addison, Ron Tabuteau, Ken Farmer, Karl Hird, Andy Baylor, Andrew Pendlebury, Dai Jones, John Watson, Mick O'Connor, Mike Andrews, Eugene Ball, Steve Dagg, Ben Gillespie, Bruce Sandel and Dean Hilson. The cd received airplay in the US, Canada and Australia and was nominated in the 1999 ARIA Awards. After the bandžs showcase at the East Coast Blues and Roots festival, Patrick Donovan from The Age newspaper dubbed Kerri "Australia's Queen of blues" and the band "one of the country's finest blues bands" their overall performance as a "highlight of the festival". Shortly after Kerri supported Dr John and Keb Mo on their national tour.
As a result of that release and her previous work in New Orleans, Kerri was invited to perform with Norman and Ricki Caesar, Jason and Aaron Neville Jnr at the 1999 Jazz and Heritage Festival, making Kerri one of the few Australians to appear at the prestigious festival and the first Australian female to perform there.
Discography
|
Kerri Simpson and V~ev~e |
| V~ev~e |
(EP CD) |
| The Arousing |
(Album CD) |
| Speak
| (Album CD ) |
|
Kerri Simpson |
| Confessin the Blues - Viridian |
(Album CD) |
| Songs of the Spirits |
( Album CD) |
|
Film Guest Appearances |
| Big Night Out |
(Australia 1990) |
| Last Drinks |
(Australia 1998) |
| Island of Salvation |
(US 1998) |
|
Print Guest Appearance |
| "Lakes of memory" chapter - Witch; a magikal year |
by F Horne (1999) |
|
|
Contact Details
Email: kerris@ozemail.com.au
Mobile: 0412 149 284
