Granite Island Discs: Dave Graney
The ‘Rock N Roll Is Where I Hide’ singer is another Miles Davis lover.
Image by Charlie Kinross
What five songs would you take to a desert island?
1. Miles Davis – ‘In A Silent Way’
2. Quicksilver Messenger Service – ‘Who Do You Love?’
3. The Allman Brothers Band – ‘Dreams’
4. Sandy Denny/Fairport Convention – ‘Who Knows Where the Time Goes?’
5. Grateful Dead – ‘Dark Star’
These are all very long tunes. Each one (except for Sandy Denny) probably took up a whole side of a vinyl album.
If you could only pick one, what would it be?
‘In A Silent Way’ by Miles Davis. It has a beautifully dreamy introduction and then a really tight R&B middle before drifting off again, as the song says, in a silent way.
What’s your favourite album?
My favourite album as I am writing this would be either Quiet by John Scofield or Blues for a Hip King by Abdullah Ibrahim. The John Scofield one is full of naggingly familiar tones and melodic hints. Beautiful arrangements and unusual textures in the horns – must be flugelhorns or cor anglais, often sounding like fanfares. Blues for a Hip King is jazz but from a very African direction. Beautiful, hypnotic repetition. It sounds like it’s winding down to an end right from the start.
What’s your favourite song by an SA artist/band?
My favourite song by a South Australian artist would be either ‘Living In A Child’s Dream’ by The Masters Apprentices or ‘Girls Are The Devil’ by No Through Road. Or anything by Summer Flake!
Favourite music-related memory?
That would either be the last gig I did or the next one! Otherwise, as a punter, it would be the Beastie Boys at Livid in Brisbane in 1995. That, or Queens of the Stone Age at Metro in Melbourne for their Era Vulgaris tour; The Pop Group in Edinburgh and Melbourne in 2017; or Mark Stewart & The Maffia in London in 1998.
Dave Graney and Clare Moore perform at The Wheaty this July 27 to celebrate the launch of their new album, (strangely)(emotional). Tickets on sale now via Try Booking.
