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Shellie Morris’ Ngambala Wiji li-Wunungu album
by Chryss Carr
S
hellie Morris (pictured centre) is one of Australia’s finest Indigenous singer songwriters. Described by one critic as ‘an Aboriginal chanteuse of rare seriousness and grace’, Morris is a unique artist who can traverse world stages to campfire concerts in Australia’s remotest communities. Best known for her role in Black Arm Band, Shellie Morris is a twotime winner of Female Musician of the Year at the Indigenous Music Awards and has worked with some of the largest stars in the music industry around the world [Sinead O’Connor, John Cale, Gurrumul]. She is the 2012 national winner of the Music in Communities Award from the Music Council of Australia for her work in
Indigenous communities around the nation using music as a healing and sharing experience. Shellie’s new release Ngambala Wiji li-Wunungu [Together We Are Strong] is a career highlight and is said to be her most important work to date. As the first album by an Indigenous contemporary female singer/songwriter sung entirely in Indigenous languages of the Gulf Country, listeners will find that it has the same emotional connective qualities as that of Gurrumul. Working with family members from her grandmother’s country in Borroloola Ngambala Wiji li-Wunungu [Together We Are Strong] musically merges Shellie’s contemporary vocals with that of her ancient ancestors. The Borroloola Songwomen’s otherworldly vocals with Shellie’s
opera-trained voice combine to create a naturally expressionistic beautiful album of work. This album can be perceived as the ‘female’ side of The Song Peoples Sessions; a project conceived by Patrick McCloskey. Produced with Barkly Regional Arts in Tennant Creek, the ‘Sessions’ were also responsible for the creation of the highly acclaimed and 2012 ARIA nominated Winanjjara by Warren H Willliams & The Warumungu Songmen. About Shellie Morris Adopted at a young age to white parents, Shellie draws her roots back to the Yanyuwa people in the Gulf of Carpentaria. As an adult and encouraged by her adopted family she eventually made the trek to discover her ancescestry in the NT. It was here that Shellie experienced a profound Page 1
connection to her people resulting in a deep healing and leading her onto this new musical path that many say is her ‘calling’. ‘’Aboriginal people would say the family was singing me to come back home,’’ says Morris. Morris spent time learning Yanyuwa pronunciation and studying the traditional songs for this album. Then with guidance from the elder song women she wrote ballads that celebrate Yanyuwa stories, melodies and rhythms. The songs were then produced and mixed by ARIA Award winning producer, Tim Cole. Sadly, fewer than 10 fluent speakers of the Yanyuwa language
remain in the world and the majority of this album is sung in this seriously endangered language. Recognising the importance of this project in terms of language preservation, along with the sheer beauty of its simplicity, the album has been signed for national and international distribution by ABC/ Universal and released on June 7 “This groundswell of support for this project has been truly awe-inspiring and we hope that it resonates with people around the world as an album that speaks to everyone, no matter what language you speak,” Shellie Morris. Album Notes Genre: Indigenous/World Release Date: 7
Ngambala Wiji li-Wunungu (Together We Are Strong) is sung entirely in language. Simply summed up Disc One is a sublime musical experience for those with a sophisticated taste for music. Shellie’s contemporary songs are translated into Yanyuwa, the language of her grandmother Hilda Jarman Muir. Disc Two is an anthropological journey featuring four languages and 58 songlines handed down orally since time began [Yanyuwa, Marra, Garrwa and Gudanji]. Ngambala Wiji li-Wunungu is a culturally rich and layered album that will appeal to those with an ear for emotional depth and beauty.