White Cockatoo didjeridu master Darryl Dikarrna suffered a serious heart attack in March 2009 and is now recovering.
As a result of his debilitation Darryl needs a Toyota 4 wheel drive vehicle to get him around and assist with his recovery.
Prior to the heart attack, when not busy with his cultural and ceremonial responsibilities, Darryl had been working in a mud brick factory at his commmunity. He was saving to purchase his first truck. Now unable to tour with his performing company or work in the dusty conditions of the brick factory Darryl's truck plans have been devastated.
The truck is now an urgent priority to enable Darryl to keep in touch with his family, carry out his ceremony business and particularily, to get the medical attention he needs to make a speedy recovery.
We are asking all of Darryl's and the company's supporters, and didjeridu lovers world wide, to contribute to help Darryl buy his truck.
Contributions can be made direct to Darryl's bank account.
All contibutions will be acknowledged by Darryl and contibutors who consent to being named will be acknowleged here on our web site.
This is a classy CD in all respects. Competent studio recording/mastering coupled with professional graphic design and layout. The Western Arnhem Land mago has been neglected for too long, and this new CD brings new perspectives to the ancient Gunborg tradition of which the late David Blanasi was a world-renowned exponent. Darryl Dikarrna, Blanasi's grandson, carries on this tradition with style and confidence. Comprising of tuition, solo demonstrations, mouth sounds, explanations and stories in the Kuninjku and English language, and the full emsemble of voice, clapsticks and mago accompaniment, this is a must-have CD for all didgeridoo enthusiasts looking for cultural insight and technical advancement. 6 pages of liner notes. Of special interest is the story of the special Djunggirriny often talked about by Djalu Gurruwiwi.
Darryl Dikarrna
Darryl is one of the senior artists and Mago (Didjeridu) master of The White Cockatoo Performing Group. Darryl was born at the Mudginberri outstation near Ubirr rock in what is now the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. He grew up at the Gochanjinyjirra outstation near the Maningrida community in Western Arnhem Land. The languages Darryl speaks include Mayali and Kuninjku, and his social affiliation or moiety is Yirritja.
Darryl Dikarrna: 'I first started playing the Mago at the age of six. My grandfather (the legendary "Mago master", David Blanasi, the "White Cockatoo") came to Maningrida for business and festivals and I listened to him playing and picked that style. One day my grandfather asked if there were any young boys playing that Mago Buyngaliyn Buyngaliyn way (see Kunborrk, below) and they called my (skin) name. I was seven years old.'
'I was playing Mago beside that old Junggayi (Law Man), David Yirindilli, at the ceremony making young man business (initiation) and all of those elders were sitting down listening including my Grandfather. He was listening and said, "I'm getting old and I want someone to take over so I will hand this one on to you son, you play very well, so one day I will hand this Mago business over to you. You will take over from me."'
'In the year 2000, when we were driving down to Adelaide, he said, "well young man, now I give you permission. So you can take over this Mago business now." I've got his word in my mind.'
In this way David Blanasi, the greatest exponent of the Kunborrk tradition in living memory, appointed Darryl as his successor. As such, Darryl is the latest representative of a line of Mago masters believed by many to span millennia, and is heir to the cultural knowledge and practices of the world's oldest unbroken artistic tradition. Through Darryl's active participation in ceremonies at home, and performance, composition and teaching abroad, the Kunborrk tradition continues to flourish in the present day.
The Mago
This instrument (the didjeridu) is known as Mago in the Mayali language group of Western and Southern Arnhem Land. In Mayali, the word Mago also means night bird, or Owl. Darryl's home, Western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, is the original birthplace of the Mago.
The Songmen
Despite the prominence of the Mago it is the songmen who own and create the songs and decide what kind of accompaniment the Mago player will provide. The focus on the Mago is purely a Western preoccupation. Within traditional culture the songmen are considered the more important members of any music ensemble.
Kunborrk
The Kunborrk (alt. spelling Gunborg) song tradition originates from the Western Arnhem region. This style is characterized by a continual drone of the Mago. The drone is syncopated in time with the songmen who set the tempo by playing Mannbelinj (Mayali) or clap sticks.
Darryl Dikarrna: "There is a big mob different Kunborrk. There is the Yirritja Buyngaliyn Buyngaliyn style. That's a little bit rough." (meaning it is very vigorous. Perhaps the greatest exponent of this 'rough' style was Darryl's virtuoso grandfather 'The Bomb' David Blanasi, "I play straight out! No muckin' around!")
'Other Kunborrk is the Dhuwa Moiety Mimi (Earth Spirit) style from the Maningrida region and the Dhuwa Manngalinj (Sacred Yam) style also from Maningrida. "These ones are not so rough."'
Kunborrk is an enormous classical tradition that musicologists and linguists are just starting to describe. Understanding the Mago accompaniment to particular songs is a complex process of learning from childhood, and this short introductory disc can show Western Mago players only a few of the tradition's fundamental techniques.
Much remains to be learned about the deeper structural processes which govern composition and improvisation in this classical tradition, and until further research is undertaken Westerners cannot presume any more than a superficial acquaintance with the art form. Mastering a few Mago basics can never be a substitute for the kind of understanding that comes from many years of education from within traditional indigenous culture. It is not possible to acquire a deep intuitive appreciation for the aesthetics of good Kunborrk accompaniment simply by amassing more didjeridu playing techniques.
There is no objection to players who "make their own style" but Western practitioners who assimilate a few preliminaries in a particular traditional style and then think they are just as good as traditional indigenous Kunborrk artists, for example, are both deluding themselves and misrepresenting this venerable tradition to the world at large.
Darryl Dikarrna: '"I do my own style. I am a traditional Kunborrk player but I don't pinch my Grandfather's style, I play my own way, no animal calls. 'You mob listening to this CD, do your own style too. You have to find your own way. You can't be one of us, you have to find your own way."'
Hello friends of Woodroot World, in addition to our webradio we've installed a new music-video-portal www.woodroot-video.eu. Hence we would be glad to upload your high quality videos. To our concerns it's only the quality that counts, the filesize of the video is irrelevant. We are also looking for good music for our webradio www.woodroot-radio.eu. So if you send a CD to us we will also appreciate it. Kind regards and best wishes - Ballog Hallo Freunde der Woodroot World; Neben unserem Webradio haben wir ein neues Musik-Video-Portal www.woodroot-video.eu. Gerne würden wir ein Video von Euch in unser Portal stellen. Bitte von guter Qualität, das Volumen spielt keine Rolle – es zählt alleine die Qualität. Unser Webradio www.woodroot-radio.eu sucht immer gute Musik zum Senden. Wenn ihr eine CD habt, lasst sie uns bitte zukommen. Viele Grüße und alles Gute – Ballog
Hi Darryl, Great sounding Didge brother, enjoyed the story of the first Mago too. Welcome to the GLOBAL THUNDA NETWORK We are proud supporters of Aussie indie music. Visit our website sometime. www.globalthundanetwork.com Cheers Dave & Merry GTN SANTAZ
Darryl D. Brown , I'm thankful for your friendship . How are things with you and your band cockatoo ? please take care of yourself . I really enjoy the Kunborrk Didjeridu music chants . Sop by and leave a message anytime . talk to you later . jim from U.S.A. MICHIGAN
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