1 (edited by Peatle Jville 2017-07-29 11:40:22)

Topic: Gurrumul

Sad news for anyone on chordie who knew of Gurrumul. He has played with Sting and Elton John and also others.
World-renowned indigenous singer Gurrumul has died after a “long battle with illness” aged 46, his  management said Wednesday, as Australians hailed his contributions to music.
Born blind, the reluctant star never gave any interviews and was painfully shy, but his music drew worldwide acclaim, despite the fact that he performed in his Gumatj dialect which is understood by only around 3,000 people.
The singer -- whose full name is Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu -- passed away at the Royal Darwin Hospital, his record label Skinnyfish Music Australia said in a statement.
“Today we mourn the loss of a great Australian, Dr G. Yunupingu who sadly passed away yesterday in Royal Darwin Hospital at age 46 after a long battle with illness,” Skinnyfish said, without giving further details.
I will attach a short interview about his life done a while back.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ6BtzW4BzM

Re: Gurrumul

Peatle

Great story.  So sad he died.

This song by him and Australian Paul Kelly is beautiful, and ironically the line
" was blind,but now can see"   comes to fruition for Gurrumal  sad

It is such a beautiful rendition !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVORrx9jIiE

Thanks for sharing

Jim

Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but what your mind can imagine.
Make your life count, and the world will be a better place because you tried.

"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except only the the best." - Henry Van Dyke

Re: Gurrumul

Cheers TIG
Thank you for the excellent  link very moving sung in two languages.
He also performed for audiences including Queen Elizabeth II and former US president Barack Obama.
Blind from birth, he emerged from the remote Galiwin’ku community on Elcho Island off the coast of Arnhem Land in Australia’s north to sell over half a million albums worldwide.
The song which TIG put up is interesting also in that the words were writen by a white man and then adopted by black slaves. No one actually knows who wrote the music. As the notes in it are all part of the pentatonic scale it is assumed it is a Melody known to slaves of the time.
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779, with words written by the English poet and Anglican clergyman John Newton (1725–1807).
Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his recalcitrant insubordination. He was pressed (conscripted) into service in the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so severely that he called out to God for mercy, a moment that marked his spiritual conversion. He continued his slave trading career until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether and began studying Christian theology.
I will attach the only song I know of that Gurrumul sang in English which he wrote about himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOR5VvbGNds

Re: Gurrumul

Very talented.  Very emotional link to his performances.   You can so tell how much the music meant to him - that's my kind of performer!
Thanks again peatle

Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but what your mind can imagine.
Make your life count, and the world will be a better place because you tried.

"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except only the the best." - Henry Van Dyke