Tina Harrod’s stunning second solo album Worksongs proves she is equally at home channelling the power and emotion of jazz greats like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday as she is in more familiar soul terrain. And she does so with such impeccable intuition and raw feeling that it takes your breath away.
“My love of Nina Simone opened me up to a whole world of possibilities in music. The thing I love about Nina is that she could take a Bob Dylan song, change the feel, add a different kind of sophistication by manipulating a few chords and sing it with such depth without ever robbing the song of it’s essence,” says Tina.
Tina and her stellar band bring the same approach to the varied collection of songs on this album – from the excellent jazz spin on Stevie Wonder’s ‘Big Brother’ to her beautiful rendition of Nick Drake’s ‘Riverman’ or her sophisticated and revelatory take on Portishead’s ‘Glory Box’. Two of her own songs from her acclaimed debut album Shacked up in Paradise are also reinvigorated here as are a definitive collection of jazz classics such as ‘Comes Love’, ‘Round Midnight’ and ‘Feelin’ Good’. The musical pedigree of the trio of musicians featured on the album is also undeniable. “Jonathan Zwartz plays upright bass and has a big influence on what we play and how we play it. Hamish Stuart is a permanent member of my musical family. Matt McMahon is on piano. Some of his work on the album is achingly delicate and it reminds me of him as a person - softly spoken with never a bad word to say about anybody,” says Tina. The fact that she has been performing with this trio for almost six years meant that they were able to go into the recording studio and lay the tracks down in one day – an immediacy and truthfulness that is reflected on the album.
Tina is no stranger to working with Australia’s finest musicians starting back in the early 90s when she began performing with The Grandmasters and her subsequent long-standing personal and musical partnership with the much respected, late Jackie Orszaczky. “Although Jackie did not play on this album, he encouraged me to do this project, he supported me and he was there the day we recorded. He will always be part of my music, “ says Tina.
As soon as she has finished touring with Jimmy Barnes, Tina will be taking her own band on the road in late July to support the release of Worksongs including launch shows at The Basement in Sydney and Bennett’s Lane in Melbourne.