Music / Resonant Spaces, David Bridie responds to the art of Sidney Nolan at the Canberra Museum and Gallery, March 28. Reviewed by MICHAEL WILSON.

Warm and intimate, this performance was one for the fans and devotees of David Bridie, multi-ARIA Award winner and founding member of Not Drowning Waving and My Friend the Chocolate Cake. 

Alone on a stage erected in one of the CMAG galleries, with a grand piano and backing soundscapes coaxed from a laptop, Bridie wove through a playlist of songs evocative of the landscapes that have moved him, interspersed with stories from his life and journeys. 

The new Resonant Spaces concert series at CMAG has been established to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Sidney Nolan’s gift to the nation of a collection of what he felt were his most significant works, now housed at CMAG and curated by Ross Heathcote. 

Musicians in this series have been asked to “reflect on Nolan’s themes of landscape, myth and identity” and Bridie’s engagement focused on Nolan’s use of distinctly Australian colours and his representation of broad landscapes. 

Bridie’s work with the Wantok Musik Foundation, a not-for-profit recording label he founded promoting indigenous music from Australia, Melanesia and Oceania, was the linking theme for the song choices.

Relating songs and stories to his time in the Western Desert of Australia (Kerosene, Red), his 45 visits to Papua New Guinea (The Tender Trap, Salt), his work on Bougainville, and his transformative visit to Antarctica learning about the impacts of climate change (Glacial Speed, If You Look Into the Abyss) provided an engaging tour. 

Bridie’s songs are observational, usually reflective, sometimes meditative, seeking the essential spirit of a scene or subject, perhaps in the same way a painter does. 

While the Cultural Facilities Corporation’s Steinway might be showing some scars of age, it was sounding magnificent in the gallery’s surprisingly resonant acoustic. Bridie played expertly, with only gentle amplification, which may not even have been needed in such a contained space. 

Overall, the performance was engaging, warm, both funny and wistful, and educational for those who may not have followed his career closely.

While the program’s connection with Nolan’s art may only have been occasional and perhaps tenuous, no one appeared to mind. 

May CMAG also build on this initiative to make it a more regular performance space for solo players, because this performance demonstrated surprisingly good potential.