Banbirrngu: The Orchestral Sessions

One of the most beautiful and distinctive voices to ever emerge from Australia, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu – better known simply as Gurrumul – was a truly unique individual. Blind from birth, this quiet Gumatj man from Arnhem Land’s Elcho Island was a member of seminal Indigenous groups Yothu Yothu and Saltwater Band, before launching his celebrated solo career in 2008. With his celestial vocals and left-handed, upside-down guitar playing, he first captivated Australia and then the world, singing in both his native Yolngu language and English. Gurrumul tragically died in 2017 at the age of 46 of liver and kidney damage, a result of childhood Hepatitis B. This latest posthumous album, lovingly produced by his longtime friend and double bassist Michael Hohnen, and delicately arranged by Finnish-Australian composer-violinist Erkki Veltheim, features Gurrumul’s extraordinary vocals within new orchestral versions of his songs, as performed by the Prague Metropolitan Orchestra. Gurrumul often performed live with orchestras, and 2018’s Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow) album previously highlighted that direction. But while several of those songs are repeated here, Banbirrngu: The Orchestral Sessions further explores the collaborative genre, and while not being radically new or absolutely essential listening, for devoted fans it adds an additional and welcome footnote to his remarkable legacy.