The wooden dresser is a very sturdy piece of furniture, with thick panelled doors. The late trumpet and cornet player Col Brain locked his musical relics in here, its history sealed for more than 25 years after his 1988 death.

Embarking on a radio documentary about his jazz musician grandfather, the ABC presenter and musician Joel Carnegie decided to open up the 1.5 x 1.5 metre dresser, which today sits in his parents’ garage in Geelong, Victoria.

The interior smelled musty, but inside was treasure, including sheet music dating from the 19th century across a variety of genres, from Wagner to big band standards, as well as musical instruments and diaries.

Joel Carnegie in Stardust. Photo © Theresa Harrison

Together, they would all ultimately enable Carnegie to play his grandfather in the one-man hybrid documentary theatre and cabaret show Stardust: The Col Brain Story, created with dramaturg James Jackson.

The story takes audiences from Brain’s tough childhood through to playing Sydney’s Trocadero club and includes original music by contemporary Australian trumpeter and composer Nadje Noordhuis.

But why had it taken so many years to unlock his grandfather’s dresser? “My mum [Colleen], as she...