Adelaide’s Shoo Shoo Mammas use music or World War II to honour sacrifice

SINGER Ali Durham is constantly moved by the stories she hears from war veterans at her show, which celebrates the music popular during World War II.

Ms Durham is a member of the Shoo Shoo Mammas, which will perform at the Blackwood Memorial Hall this month, to raise money for Legacy Australia.

“I remember at our last show, we were having a wonderful conversation with a lady who had served and it was moving to hear her reminiscing,” Ms Durham, of Hawthorndene, says.

“She spoke about the march after the war had ended ...It is really amazing to hear these stories first-hand.”

Ms Durham, 47, and her fellow band members, Bec Watt and Emma Lyndon, will be joined by six-piece swing band Ellington’s Heirs at the event, which will feature a sing-a-long.

The show is in memory of late Glenalta man Jack Wass, who was in London during The Blitz in the 1940s. He died in July 2013.

Ms Lyndon, of Hawthorndene, says the show is a time for reflection.

“I think is a fabulous opportunity for people to have an appreciation of music of a different era,” Ms Lyndon, 42, says.

“And honouring people who fought in the war at that time makes you appreciates what sacrifices were made.”

Since the Shoo Shoo Mammas started the show in 2012, it has raised $14,000 for Legacy.

The Jack Wass Legacy Show: Swinging Thru’ WW2 is at Blackwood Memorial Hall, 21 Coromandel Parade, Blackwood, on Sunday, April 30.

Tickets for adults matinee ($15) and evening $20 show, and children 12 and under are $5.

They are available at the Blackwood RSL and Blackwood Chemplus.