All star folk jazz trio Elixir celebrate fourth studio album with national tour

Australian folk jazz trio Elixir have announced their fourth studio album, A Small Shy Truth, is out on Friday, October 27 through ABC Classic.

The album, which will also be released on limited edition CD and vinyl, is based on the poetry of Melbourne poet Michael Leunig.

The record features the compositions of the three band members – National Jazz Award, ARIA Award-winning and Freedman Jazz Fellowship finalist saxophonist/composer Zac Hurren, Freedman Jazz Fellowship winning and National Jazz Award finalist guitarist Benjamin Hauptmann, and 5 x ARIA, and AWMA, AIR, and APRA Award-winning musician Katie Noonan.

The trio will be joined by legendary double bassist Jonathan Zwartz, a string quartet with arrangements penned by some of Australia finest composers – Iain Grandage, Joe Chindamo and Steve Newcomb, and Michael Leunig himself reading his poetry.

To celebrate the release, Elixir have also announced a national tour. Kicking off this month at Melbourne’s International Jazz Festival, the tour hits regional NSW, Wangaratta, Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide before wrapping up with two Perth shows at Lyric’s Underground on Saturday, December 9 and Sunday, December 10.

Supporting the band on tour is Charm of Finches, made up of Melbourne sister duo Mabel and Ivy Windred-Wornes. The sisters were the recipients of the Australian Folk Music Awards Best Folk Album (2022) and Music Victoria Best Folk Act (2021) and their music has been nominated twice for the prestigious Australian Music Prize. They released their third full length album Wonderful Oblivion in 2021 through New York-based label AntiFragile Music and they have since toured extensively through the UK, Europe and Canada.

Elixir were founded in 1997 by Katie Noonan, Nick Stewart and River Petein. Saxophonist Zac Hurren (Katie’s partner of 24 years) joined the band in 1999 and guitarist Stephen Magnusson joined the band in 2005. They introduced guitarist Benjamin Hauptmann to their trio in 2019.

Elixir’s initial self-titled album Elixir (2003) hit #1 on the ARIA Jazz chart and #2 on the ARIA Australian Artist chart, while their second album First Seed Ripening (2011) was #1 on the ARIA Jazz chart for nine weeks and won the ARIA Best Jazz album of the year. Their third album Gratitude and Grief (2018) was nominated for the 2018 ARIA Best Jazz album.

Elixir’s fourth studio album A Small Shy Truth is out on Friday, October 27, 2023. Pre-order the album here. Elixir play Lyric’s Underground on Saturday, December 9 and Sunday, December 10. Tickets are on sale now from katienoonan.com.au