LENT Photo #20 'Blind' Gurrumul

  

   'Geoffrey' Gurrumul Yunupingu played stellar guitar for 'Yothu Yindi' and is still an enthusiastic member of 'The Saltwater Band' who skyrocketed on the release of his first solo album... as his website puts it...

"Born blind, Gurrumul grew up as a member of the Gumatj clan on Elcho Island, off the coast of tropical North East Arnhemland. His fragile but powerfully emotive voice has affected the public in a way no other artist has done in this country.  This unique Aboriginal man sings songs about identity, spirit and connection with the land, its elements and the ancestral beings he is related to. His high tenor voice and aura-like persona creates emotion, compassion and a feeling of peacefulness and longing with audiences in Australia and around the world.

In today’s world where the media and the music industries are based around hype, fashion and disposable artists, Gurrumul has emerged as unique celebrity, who will ‘change the way you breathe’ (Brisbane Courier Mail, 2008) and change the way people listen to and experience his Yolngu cultural world through an accessible Western music style."

   He is a unique character, known for avoiding media hype and being picky about projects... there's a great story about him not really getting why everyone was excited to see he might collaborate on a duet with 'Sting'. He just didn't want to do it, including the irony of "Every Breath You Take" and it's line 'I'll be watching you' which just annoyed him... until at the last moment he agreed to go ahead. No disrespect to Sting, he's just his own man... but you can check it out here

   Gurrumul doesn't wear sunnies all the time, he's not self conscious about his eyes... he just loves his music and sharing his story through song and is just as excited to join his band as ply his own trade!!

   This week we read the story of a blind man, the subject of a miracle... through the ordinary elements of mud and spit... but we are also reminded, this man was not born blind because of anything he or his parents have done...

   Instead he becomes a voice from the edges, an unexpected teller of good news... urging us to grasp the unexplainable truth of God breaking into life and calling us to live differently...

   It follows the late night question from Nicodemus, the midday sun wrestle with the un-named woman from Samaria at Jacob's Well... something is going on here...