NEWS: Dudley Benson Album Release Tour

Golden Retriever Records is proud to announce today’s release of Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne – the second album from composer and performer Dudley Benson.

The much-anticipated follow-up to his 2008 debut The Awakening, Forest is a full-length album of Benson’s interpretations of bird waiata by renowned composer Hirini Melbourne (1949-2003). Recorded almost entirely with only the human voice, the album features guest performers including Richard Nunns, King Homeboy and Vashti Bunyan.

As ambitious as the album is, Benson has matched it in the upcoming Nov/Dec nationwide tour. Dudley Benson Live with The Dawn Chorus is a series of ten intimate a capella performances in marae and community halls across Aotearoa. Delivering material from the new album, Benson will be accompanied by his new all-vocal ensemble: a close-harmony quartet and beatboxer Hopey One, with maverick dance artist Cat Ruka opening each performance.

Tour Details

• Friday 12th November at Te Māhurehure Marae, Pt Chevalier, Auckland
• Sunday 14th November at Kingston House, Kerikeri
• Friday 19th November at Trafalgar St Hall, Nelson
• Saturday 20th November at Pipitea Marae, Wellington
• Wednesday 24th November at Māori Hill Coronation Hall, Dunedin
• Thursday 25th November at St Peter’s Church Hall, Queenstown
• Saturday 27th November at Deaf Society Hall, Christchurch
• Sunday 28th November at Gaiety Hall, Akaroa
• Saturday 4th December at Palm Beach Hall, Waiheke Island
• Sunday 5th December at Hoani Waititi Marae, Waitakere City

Hopey One AKA Hope Haami is a Brisbane-based beatboxer, officially ranked in the top four of female beatboxers worldwide. While stunning international crowds over the last six years, Dudley Benson Live with The Dawn Chorus is the Wellington-born beatboxer’s first major set of performances in Aotearoa.

Cat Ruka is an independent dance artist whose breakthrough solo performances have garnered critical acclaim both here and overseas. Her 2009 Playing Savage won Best Short Work at the Tempo NZ Festival of Dance awards, with Ruka recently returning from several performances in New York. For Dudley Benson Live with The Dawn Chorus, Ruka will present a new work inspired by the bird waiata of Hirini Melbourne.

Tickets available exclusively from www.dudleybenson.com, any remaining sold on the door. All performances at 8pm, doors open at 7.30pm.