Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu
Gurrumul
Skinnyfish


Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu, or Gudjik to use his Gumatj nation name, is not one for convention. Formerly with Yothu Yindi and now with the Saltwater Band, Gudjik, who has been blind since birth, plays a right hand-strung guitar left handed, producing a velvety sound that washes over his superb angel like vocals that tell stories from North East Arnhem Land. His guitar is backed by very subtle double bass (note no didg nor music sticks) and additional acoustic guitar and harmonies supplied by several of his fellow countrymen.

Although all but Gurrumul History (I Was Born Blind) are sung in either GŠlpu, Gumatj or Djambarrpuynu, the emotion of what he is singing about is still evident, the accompanying English translations adding further gravitas. Gudjik though does not sing about the stolen generations, or the grievous issues that have infected the indigenous culture, areas that Kev Carmody and Archie Roach have poignantly brought to the attention of mainstream Australia. Gudjik sings about the stories of his land.

Wiyathul would appear to be about the importance of the Djilawurr or orange footed scrub fowl to the Gumatj Nation, while he 6 minute Gurrumul History sees Gudjik not complaining about his blindness, nor celebrating it, but rather seeing the condition as providing him with the opportunity to perceive through other senses what is happening not only in his nation, but other nations. He recounts how he is his ancestors and how he is Gurrumul, singing, "united we stand, divided we fall, together we'll stand in solidarity." Poignant stuff.

To me Marrandil seems to be a song about loss, given the English translation. The emotion in his voice is evident from the first bar, but the grief seems to lift when, "the wind caresses me, the arms of the northern winds." Gudjik then lifts the tempo with Marwurrumburr, which celebrates the cooling at the end of the day and how the cat will travel - esoteric for us Balanda or non-indigenous fellas, that's for sure, but obviously of great significance to the people of the Gumatj. And celebration seems to be the cause du jour on Galiku too, where one is urged to "dance, dance, dance, dance, dance." Gudjik's playing and voice are simply divine, and the production by Belanda Michael Hohnen is superb capturing this unique talent and his story telling - 'Gurrumul' is world class world music that is produced in our own backyard.

Mark Liebelt