milkay mununggurr | djalu gurruwiwi | didginus | mike lebien | jeremy cloake




Randy Graves
         
   

         

Biography

Randy Graves is currently living in the Aboriginal community of Yirrkala, Northeast Arnhem Land, in remote Northern Australia, working as Assistant Coordinator and Yidaki specialist at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka, the community's art centre. He is also conducting research towards a Master's Degree in Aboriginal Studies at Charles Darwin University, with a project called "Cultural Foundation of the Yidaki (Didjeridu) in Northeast Arnhem Land." All in all, he is keeping busy taking full advantage of this immersion in the culture that created the didjeridu. But it took a while to get there...

   


After a childhood of obsession with music, Randy went to the University of California at San Diego to study music composition in 1992. It was there that he met Professor Edwin Harkins, trumpeter and rhythmic genius, who taught a seminar entitled "The Unusual in World Music" which surveyed virtuosic use of the voice and unusual instruments from all over the planet. After years of guitar and keyboards, Randy learned the basics of throat singing, break singing, and other vocal techniques.

Later in the course, Ed demonstrated the basics of didgeridoo playing on PVC pipe. Randy was already familiar with the didgeridoo through the Tjapukai Dancers' album Proud to be Aborigine, which features contemporary didgeridoo by Aboriginal musician David Hudson, but it wasn't until seeing the instrument demonstrated that he knew he could learn to play it. He searched his home for suitable materials, and settled on a vacuum cleaner tube. After a few months, he asked Dr. Harkins where to obtain a real instrument, and was referred to Allan Shockley of Northern Sonoran Didjeridoo and Dreamtime Pipes.

Meanwhile, Randy began studying the Japanese koto at UCSD. Teacher Noriko Tsuboi, graduate of the esteemed Sawai School of Music, opened Randy up to another culture's music, even providing the opportunity for him to perform with her teachers and their ensemble when they toured the United States in 1996.

In 1995 Randy formed the world fusion ensemble Didginus. He brought voice, didgeridoo, koto, guitar and electronics to the group which also featured percussion and winds from around the world. More recently, Randy has joined the Chapman Stick-based world-jazz-rock fusion group Merge. Other projects have included solo work, performances with Scott Huckaby, Sunseri, Tony Karasek, the Lynx Renegade Jazz Quintet, the performance art pieces CrossArts III & IV, and session recording with Dominic Gaudious, Damaru, the Supersonic Samba School, and for an Activision DVD game. He has also set up Ginger Root Records to promote original San Diego "world music." Through workshops at didgeridoo events around the United States, Randy has earned a reputation as one of the finest teachers of the instrument around. His Your Didjeridu Companion cd's are some of the most useful didj teaching materials available.

In 1999, Randy first travelled to Australia, including a couple of weeks in Northeast Arnhem Land, thought by many to be the birthplace of the didgeridoo. He visited famed didgeridoo maker Djalu' Gurruwiwi and other Yolngu, developing relationships that have continued to today. Randy returned home with new experiences that profoundly affected his music and life. You can see his photojournal of the trip HERE. Randy has furthered his education about Aboriginal culture by earning a Graduate Certificate in Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Studies at Northern Territory University, and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree at Charles Darwin University. He hopes to continue bringing this important influence on his work to light in the US with proper respect. With this goal in mind, he hosts regular gatherings for didgeridoo players in San Diego, and teaches workshops regularly at LA Outback in Laguna Beach.

He has worked to bring a slice of "the real thing" to San Diego, arranging concerts and workshops for Aboriginal artists Mark Atkins, Janawirri Yiparrka and David Blanasi and the White Cockatoo Performing Group. In addition to bringing Aboriginal culture to his local community, Randy has worked to bring his community to Aboriginal culture. In 2001, he organized a group of USA didgeridoo fans to go to Australia and spend time in Queensland with David Hudson, and in Arnhem Land with Djalu' Gurruwiwi and family through their business, Rripangu Yirdaki. He looks forward to continuing to share with both his own community and his Aboriginal friends and family in Australia.

Randy appears on the following Ginger Root Recordings:

     
 
milkay | djalu | didginus | mike lebien | jeremy cloake