Ailan Songs Project - Melbourne LAUNCH

Join us in celebrating Mabo Day and the musical traditions of the Torres Strait, with the launch of Jessie Lloyd's Ailan Songs Project.  Jessie will be joined by Songwomen from the Torres Strait and a 6 piece band.

A collaborative work from Australian Indigenous singer Jessie Lloyd, Ailan songs project is a contemporarised exploration of popular folk songs from the Torres Strait islands, between Australia and Papua New Guinea in the Coral Sea. Bringing together ancient languages and historical events with tropical island reggae grooves. Jessie Lloyd has researched and collaborated with senior Torres Strait songwomen to compile an album of ‘ailan’ songs (island songs), and well-known folk songs sung by families and communities in their various languages and dialects. The songs tell of how songs travelled across the Pacific and how islanders migrated to mainland Australia throughout the 20th century and their contribution to Australian society. A composer, performer and creative entrepreneur, Jessie Lloyd is a song keeper of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music and is dedicated to the continuation of song traditions through the presentation of stories and songs.