Elixir’s 4th album is based on the poetry of Melbourne born and based poet and National Living Treasure Michael Leunig (b. 1945).
Elixir was founded in 1997 by Katie Noonan, Nick Stewart and River Petein. In 1999 saxophonist Zac Hurren (Katie’s partner of 24 years) joined the band, in 2005 guitarist Stephen Magnusson joined the band and in 2019 they introduced guitarist Benjamin Hauptmann to their trio.
Their initial self-titled album ‘Elixir’ (2003) #1 ARIA Jazz chart, #2 ARIA Australian Artist chart, their 2nd album ‘First Seed Ripening’ (2011) was #1 ARIA Jazz chart for 9 weeks and won the ARIA Best Jazz album of the year and their 3rd album ‘Gratitude and Grief; (2018) was nominated for the 2018 ARIA best Jazz album.
This new album - A SMALL SHY TRUTH - will feature 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, AWMA, AIR and APRA award winning musician Katie Noonan.