Day 19 — Share Your Music: 30 Days, 30 Songs

I’ve heard Frank Yamma described as a national treasure.  I agree.  And yet, until recently, I had never heard of him.  Thank goodness, I’ve finally caught up.

Mr Yamma is a Pitjantjatjara man from Australia’s central desert.  He has been writing  songs and performing most of his life — about country, culture, community, life, loss and love.  He sings in Pitjantjatjara and in English.  When he plays for Anangu (blackfella) audiences, he plays fast and hard.  It is a rock and roll dance party.  For us new Australians and other folk, he plays slow.  Mr Yamma has toured internationally with gigs at festivals in the UK, Canada and Spain.

I have included a link to a TEDx event at which Mr Yamma sings two songs.  I’ve chosen this video because it has good sound quality.  The first song — Nguta Waljilpa — is about country in the remote western corner of Australia; the second — She Cried — deals with indigenous issues from a personal perspective.  I must confess, I do like his slow songs.

The wonderful Sarah of Art Expedition is hosting 30 Days, 30 Songs for the month of June. You can see her latest post here.  It is not too late to join in the challenge.  Casual players welcome.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Further Information:
You can read more about Frank Yamma and listen to some of his music at his website here.  Information contained in this post was sourced from an interview conducted by Alister McKeich for NITV.  See the full article here (nb. international readers may not be able to access this site).

 

17 thoughts on “Country Man”

  3. Holy holy holy – Frank Yamma’s man’s voice is amazing. Thank you for introducing me to this indigenous music. Soulful, spiritual, plaintive, humble, deeply moving. I can hear him singing/playing the history of his people.

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  6. That was a very delightful 8 min and 44 seconds, Tracy! I’ve never heard of Mr Yamma before and am sooo glad that thanks to you now I have! Both songs are deeply moving and having just gushed about loving the cello on my blog, it won’t come as a surprise to you that I think it’s a perfect contribution to his songs. 😊 I would love to listen to his faster music as well, do you know a link or two? Or does he play them only off the record?

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