Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu - don't know the name? Listen to the music

Sometimes you just run across things on the net that you would never expect, and just as often you are enriched by the experience. This kind of unexpected find allows me to present Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu to my readers.

The name may seems strange to anyone not from Australia. Yunupingu is an Aborigine that taught himself how to play guitar, which is quite the accomplishment considering that he is blind, and plays with an upside down guitar. He is an acclaimed singer and counts among his fans Sting, Elton John, and Bjork besides tens of thousands, perhaps millions of fans worldwide. Which is also amazing when you consider that Yunupingu speaks almost no english, and sings in a native Aboriginal dialect.

Listening to him sing is a calming and unique experience. No flash, no forced emotion or tricks of music engineering. It’s just beautiful.

Yunupingu won best independent release at the annual Australian Record Industry Association Awards. Here is a sample of his songs live. Let me know what you think.