Marlene Cummins
The Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts
Monash University Clayton Campus
$15 - $30
Festival Exclusive
A Kindred People exclusive performance from iconic blues elder, proud Guguyelandji and Woppaburra woman Marlene Cummins. A songwriter, broadcaster, vocalist, storyteller and saxophonist, the legendary Marlene will be joined by impresario Clayton Dooley on piano/Hammond organ. Expect blues anthems and soulful stories of vulnerability, strength and survival.
One of Australia’s foremost blues writers and performers, Marlene knows the blues from an Aboriginal woman’s perspective. Marlene is deeply influenced by the story of her people, and she tells it through her art, her lyrics, her onstage performance as both an actress and singer, and more recently through documentary filmmaking.
Born in the southwest Queensland town of Cunnamulla, Marlene’s traditional people on her father’s side are Guguyelandji, and Woppaburra on her mother’s side. Growing up under the cloud of the Aboriginal Protection Act of the 1950s and 60s, Marlene had a “grassroots” upbringing in a very politically aware family.
She refined her skills as a blues saxophonist and songwriter at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the mid-90s. In 2014, Marlene released her first full-length album Koori Woman Blues to coincide with the premiere of her biographical documentary film Black Panther Woman, co-written with Rachel Perkins.
Marlene presents a biographical journey through her music; a myriad of political, social and personal experiences that influence her lyrics and songs. With a mixture of original and traditional blues numbers, the centrepiece and original song is the stirring epic blues anthem “Koori Woman”. Marlene dedicates this song to Aboriginal women everywhere, as they were, in her words, “the backbone of the struggle”.
She has performed throughout Australia, the USA, Japan and Europe, and has performed with artists such as Charles Neville (Neville Bros) at Snug Harbour, New Orleans.
A regular broadcaster on Koori Radio with her renowned blues show “Marloo’s Blues”, Marlene won Broadcaster of the Year at the 2009 Deadly Awards and Gadigal Information Broadcaster of the Year in 2015.
“The life Marlene has lived is closer to the life that produced those original blues singers like Muddy Waters than any contemporary American blues artist.”
– Richard Field, Producer
Eat & Drink
Make a meal of it! The music gets underway at 7.30pm, but arrive a bit earlier if you can. From 6.30pm, enjoy pre-show dinner and drinks at The Count’s Italian-style kitchen and bar. Reservations are not required when you purchase a ticket to a show. Order from the QR code on your table, or at the bar. View the menu.
