"The success of the fusion"
Ruby's Story Dunstan Playhouse Fri 11 June 2004
It started off as Ruby's story but ended bigger than Ben Hur! Ruby Hunter began by issuing an appeal to each person in the audience to join her in a song-related sojourn from her traditional birth in the Coorong to her nascent relationship with "Mr Roach," as she affectionately liked to refer to her soul mate.
The first few ballads inspired us to reflect on her birth which was intrinsically linked to the Aboriginal traditions associated with the estuary and lower River Murray - and later to a carefree childhood of daisy chains and knucklebones. Archie Roach, who came on stage with Hunter at the beginning and seemed beside himself with nervousness, supported Hunter with loving care and pantomimed some of the her word pictures.
Hunter was also supported by nothing less than the nine piece Australian Art Orchestra led by Paul Grabowsky directing his arrangements of the ballads. This put an entire different perspective on the proceedings and the fusion of folk and jazz was nearly always in danger of swamping the diminutive Hunter. A notable highlight of the collaboration was Vanessa Tomlinson's whimsical musical interpretation of childhood games and play.
The danger passed when Archie Roach sang They Took The Children Away to a risk-taking military-styled drum march - the orchestra built to such a crescendo that the success of the fusion was no longer in doubt.
But the music was only part of the evening. Each song was prefaced by intimate details of its meaning to the couple. In the introduction to Old So & So, Roach recalled his feelings when he first met Hunter, after a flip of a coin determined he would hitch to Adelaide instead of returning to Melbourne from picking grapes in Mildura. After all the hard yards, the enduring love and respect that Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach have for each other was moving and inspirational, and out there for all to see with unabashed pride.
- David Grybowski (dBmagazine Adelaide Issue 332) June 2004
