Author Topic: Ken in The Times 2009 part two  (Read 13514 times)

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Offline Iain Fisher

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Ken in The Times 2009 part two
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2009, 08:57:54 PM »
Ken in The Times 14 July 2009

As always there is a difference between the paper and online titles of Ken's articles.
Paper edition title: Words and music from another Dreamtine and another place
Online edition title: Gurrumul: an unlikely superstar

Ken writes about Aboriginal singer Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, known as Gurrumul. He has a CD out (Gurrumul) and is performing at the Latitude Festival in Southwold, Suffolk, UK and on 21 Jul 2009 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.



Ken says “In his songs you’ll hear his story — sung in Yolngu dialects as well as a smattering of English. His story is the story of his land, his ancestors, his kinship lineage… His melodic voice is pure, soothing and as penetrating as birdsong. Like listening to classical arias well done, you won’t give a toss that you don’t understand the languages... Did I mention he was born blind, 39 years ago? In his English-language autobiographical song, he leads with this information: “I was born blind, don’t know why. God loves me so.” … Heck, I want him to star in my next film.”

“…For Gurrumul, the world is his walkabout right now. He’s charming, funny, unpretentious, dignified and so vocally pure that it’s trance-inducing. A multi-instrumentalist, he prefers an acoustic guitar, played upside down. He performs for up to 12,000 as trustingly and simply as at a family campfire. Threaded throughout is a nostalgic tone that is his particular gift…"

“…The world can’t stop him. Why would it want to? He is the wind, is a flag torn from the masthead by the wind (as one of his haunting songs, Galiku, relates), and is moving, breezing effortlessly across the world. A “bridge person” — gliding, shredding, without moving a muscle. Gurrumul sits on stage quietly contained, singing seemingly simple songs in a pure tenor. But the energy builds.”

The website is www.gurrumul.com

Want to buy the CD?
Amazon UK www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002BBO4EE/savagmessiakenru

Amazon USA www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0013NFQ8O/savagemessiah