Black Arm Band is an
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
and
Torres Strait Islander
Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...
music theatre organisation.
History
The organisation was founded in late 2005 by Steven Richardson and has produced seven large-scale productions since its debut performance at the Melbourne Festival of the Arts in 2006 in addition to ongoing educational and development work in remote Aboriginal communities. The organisation's name comes from a speech by former Australian prime minister
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
, who referred to a "
black armband view of history".
Their first show, ''
murundak'' (meaning "alive" in Woiwurrung), debuted at the 2006
Melbourne International Arts Festival
Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...
and afterwards played around Australia and internationally in London. Their second show, ''Hidden Republic'', debuted at the 2008 Melbourne International Arts Festival. Both the 2006 and 2008 festivals were under the artistic direction of Kristy Edmunds.
In 2009 the new artistic director of the renamed
Melbourne Festival
Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...
,
Brett Sheehy, continued the relationship with Black Arm Band. This saw the commissioning and presentation of the world premiere of ''Dirtsong'', a piece of
musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
conceived and directed by Steven Richardson, in 2009. With words written by
Miles Franklin Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...
-winner
Alexis Wright
Alexis Wright (born 25 November 1950) is a Waanyi (Aboriginal Australian) writer best known for winning the Miles Franklin Award for her 2006 novel ''Carpentaria'' and the 2018 Stella Prize for her "collective memoir" of Leigh Bruce "Tracker" T ...
, ''Dirtsong'', included both contemporary and traditional songs, and was a celebration of preservation of
Indigenous languages
An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not neces ...
.
The show was reprised for the 2014
Adelaide Festival
The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...
,
with performers including
Trevor Jamieson
Trevor Jamieson (born 7 March 1975) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actor, playwright, dancer, singer and didgeridoo player.
Early life
Trevor Jamieson was born on 7 March 1975 in Subiaco, Western Australia (WA).
He grew up in t ...
(who was not in the 2009 version),
Archie Roach
Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalu ...
,
Lou Bennett,
Emma Donovan
Emma Donovan (born 1981) is an Aboriginal Australian singer and songwriter. She is a member of the renowned musical Donovan family. She started her singing career at age seven with her uncle's band, the Donovans. In 2000, she became a founding m ...
,
Paul Dempsey
Paul Anthony Dempsey (born 25 May 1976) is an Australian musician. He is best known as the lead singer, guitarist and principal lyricist of rock group Something for Kate. Dempsey released his debut solo album, '' Everything Is True'', on 20 Au ...
, and many other singers and musicians. Some of the songs were sung in Aboriginal languages.
''Seven Songs to Leave Behind'' (2010) was also conceived and directed by Richardson. ''Seven Songs'' was an international collaboration by contemporary Indigenous singers and musicians, including
Gurrumul Yunupingu
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (22 January 1971 – 25 July 2017), commonly known as Gurrumul and also referred to since his death as Dr G. Yunupingu, was an Aboriginal Australian musician of the Yolŋu peoples. A multi-instrumentalist, he played ...
, joined by
Sinéad O'Connor
Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...
,
John Cale
John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...
,
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including Rock music, rock, Rhythm and blues, R&B ...
and
Meshell Ndegeocello
Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...
.
''Notes From the Hard Road And Beyond'' (2011, also by Richardson) saw
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...
,
Joss Stone
Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...
,
Emmanuel Jal
Emmanuel Jal (born Jal Jok 1 January 1980) is a South Sudanese-Canadian artist, actor, former child soldier, and political activist. His autobiography, ''War Child: A Child Soldier's Story'', was published in 2009.
Childhood
Jal was born to ...
and
Paul Dempsey
Paul Anthony Dempsey (born 25 May 1976) is an Australian musician. He is best known as the lead singer, guitarist and principal lyricist of rock group Something for Kate. Dempsey released his debut solo album, '' Everything Is True'', on 20 Au ...
join Black Arm Band to celebrate protest music from the 1960s through to contemporary Indigenous songs of activism.
Members
Members are drawn from around Australia and include both
blackfella and white musicians with diverse musical backgrounds.
[
* ]David Arden
David Arden is an Australian guitar player, singer and songwriter. He has performed with Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter, Tiddas, Bart Willoughby, Mixed Relations and with members of Shane Howard, Paul Kelly, Not Drowning Waving and Hunters and ...
* Mark Atkins
* Lou Bennett
* Deline Briscoe
* George Burarrwanga
* John Butler John Butler may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer
*John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist
* John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber
*John Butler (born 1954), ...
* Liz Cavanagh
* Sally Dastey
* Emma Donovan
Emma Donovan (born 1981) is an Aboriginal Australian singer and songwriter. She is a member of the renowned musical Donovan family. She started her singing career at age seven with her uncle's band, the Donovans. In 2000, she became a founding m ...
* Kutcha Edwards
Kutcha Edwards is an indigenous Australian singer and songwriter. He was born in Balranald, New South Wales, in 1965. A survivor of the Stolen Generations, he was removed from his parents at the age of 18 months. He is a Mutti Mutti man. He was ...
* Dewayne Everettsmith
* Leah Flanagan
Leah Flanagan is an Australian singer-songwriter and arts administrator from Darwin, Northern Territory. based in Sydney. She has released several albums and has toured Australia with her music and as a part of festival ensembles.
Early life ...
* Carole Fraser
* Joe Geia
Joseph Benjamin Geia (born 1959, Ingham, Queensland, Ingham) is an Australian musician of Murri (people), Murri Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal heritage. As a solo artist he has released three albums, ''Yil Lull'' (1988), ''Tribal Journey'' ( ...
* Shane Howard
Shane Michael Howard (born 26 January 1955) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist, he was the mainstay of folk rock group Goanna (1977–85, 1998) which had hit singles with " Solid Rock" (September 1982, No. 3) and "Let the F ...
* Ruby Hunter
Ruby Charlotte Margaret Hunter (31 October 195517 February 2010), also known as Aunty Ruby, was an Aboriginal Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist, and the life and musical partner of Archie Roach .
Early life
Ruby Hunter was born on 31 ...
* Paul Kelly
* Bunna Lawrie
Coloured Stone is an Aboriginal Australian band whose members originate from the Koonibba Mission, west of Ceduna, South Australia. The band performs using guitar, bass, drums, and Aboriginal instruments – didjeridu, bundawuthada (gong sto ...
* Jimmy Little
* Rachael Maza
Rachael Zoa Maza is an Indigenous Australian television and film actress and stage director.
Early life and education
Maza is of Dutch, Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal Australian heritage, the daughter of Bob Maza, also an actor.
She is ...
* Djolpa McKenzie
* Lee Morgan
* Shellie Morris
Shellie Morris is an Indigenous Australian singer/songwriter who plays a mix of contemporary folk music and contemporary acoustic ballads.
Biography and career
Shellie Morris was raised in Sydney and began singing at an early age. She often perf ...
* Stephen Pigram
* Archie Roach
Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalu ...
* Peter Rotumah
* Amy Saunders
Amy Saunders also known as Miss Behave, is a British-born producer, performer, comedian and curator. She is a self-taught sword swallower and performs in cabarets.
Career
Saunders is mostly known as a sword swallower. She has broken the G ...
* Greg Sheehan
* Dan Sultan
Daniel Leo Sultan (born 1983) is an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, actor and author. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 he won ARIA Award for Best Male Artist, Best Male Artist and ARIA Award for Best Blues and Root ...
* Bart Willoughby
Bart Willoughby (born 12 September 1960) is an Indigenous Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia.
A Pitj ...
* Ursula Yovich
Ursula Yovich is an Aboriginal Australian actress and singer.
Early life and education
Yovich was born and grew up in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Her father, Slobodan Jović, was a Serbian immigrant who anglicised his name to Stan ...
* Gurrumul Yunupingu
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (22 January 1971 – 25 July 2017), commonly known as Gurrumul and also referred to since his death as Dr G. Yunupingu, was an Aboriginal Australian musician of the Yolŋu peoples. A multi-instrumentalist, he played ...
* Gabanbulu Yunupingu
Productions
*''murundak'', 2006
*''Hidden Republic'', 2008
*''Dirtsong'', 2009
*''Seven Songs to Leave Behind'', 2010
*''Notes from the Hard Road and Beyond'', 2011
*''Mamiaith - Mother Tongue'', 2012
*''Ngangwarra means heart'', 2013
*''Nyami'', a collaboration with the Bangarra Dance Theatre
Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-born ...
, in production 2018
Discography
Albums
Awards
*In 2013, the group won the Building Health through the Arts Award.
The Deadly Awards
The Deadly Awards
The Deadly Awards, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was held from 1995 to 2013.
Description
T ...
, commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The ran from 1995 to 2013.
!
, -
, Deadly Awards 2008
, Black Arm Band
, Band of the Year
,
,
, -
Helpmann Awards
The Helpmann Awards
The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001.
The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical t ...
is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group ''Live Performance Australia'' since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
!
, -
, 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, ''Dirtsong'' (with Steven Richardson and Alexis Wright)
, Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work
__NOTOC__
The Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA), an employers' organisation which serves as the peak body in the live entertainment and performing arts industries in Australia ...
,
,
, -
Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards
The Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards
The Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards were created in 1984 by the trustees of the Sidney Myer Fund to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Sidney Myer
Sidney Myer (born Simcha Myer Baevski (); 8 February 18785 September 1934) was a Ru ...
commenced in 1984 and recognise outstanding achievements in dance, drama, comedy, music, opera, circus and puppetry.
!
, -
, 2010 , , Black Arm Band , , Group Award , , , ,
, -
References
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Arm Band, The
Indigenous Australian musical groups
Indigenous Australian theatre