Sirocco is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

music group that began in 1980 with three musicians: Bill O'Toole, Guy Madigan and Andrew de Teliga. In 1981 Michael Atherton joined and the group recorded their first album ''Paths of the Wind''. They have been nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Indigenous Release in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

(''Voyage''), for Best Independent Release in 1990 (''Port of Call'') and for

Best World Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

three times, 1995 (''The Wetland Suite''), 1996 (''Stars and Fires'') and 1999 (''Falling Leaf''). The concept of the band was to find inspiration from the numerous cultures in Australia. When Sirocco started, the music scene in Australia was classical, rock,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

and a little

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

. However, the numerous migrant cultures, such as Chilean, Turkish,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

ic and Irish, had a vibrant music culture. Sirocco tapped into this and brought many of these expert musicians into the band for guest performances. The early albums and performances were known for the unusual array of instruments rarely seen outside their community, including the

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= *String instruments * Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum ...

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

cabrette The cabrette (French: literally "little goat", alternately ''musette'') is a type of bagpipe which appeared in Auvergne, France in the 19th century, and rapidly spread to Haute-Auvergne and Aubrac. Details The cabrette comprises a chanter f ...

kaval The kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and Anatolia (including Turkey and Armenia). The k ...

, dumbe, tupan. Their instruments were mixed and matched in the same way as the Australian population. Their performances were wild, always getting the audience up and dancing—"the excitement of rock and roll, the improvisation of jazz and the musicianship of classical". Of interest, they performed at many weddings because there are many intercultural marriages in Australia. The bride and groom came from very different cultures and it was only Sirocco who could perform their music in such an Australian manner. They are well known for innovation and it was demonstrated in their concert in the endangered

Macquarie Marshes The Macquarie Marshes comprise the wetlands associated with the floodplains of the Macquarie River and its tributaries, in northern New South Wales, Australia. The Macquarie River and the marshes eventually drain into the Darling River. The m ...

in 1993 and the concert with the

Dayaks The Dayak (; older spelling: Dajak) or Dyak or Dayuh are one of the native groups of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic groups, located principally in the central and southern interior of Borneo, each wi ...

in central

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

. Sirocco now have 14 albums released and a video. They have toured over 32 countries including

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

(four times), Laos,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, and were the first Australian group to tour both

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

and China.

Discography

Albums

Film/television composer or contributor

*''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by ...

'' "Belly" original song (2000) *''Perfume'' feature film score, directed by

Michael Rymer Michael Rymer (born 1 March 1963 in Melbourne) is an Australian television and film director, best known for his work on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica (reimagining), Battlestar Galactica'' TV series, for which he directed Battlestar Gal ...

(2001) *''Undertow'' Didgeridoo for feature film score by

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

(2004) *''Revolution'' TV film score, directed by

(2009)

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

, ''Voyage'' ,

ARIA Award for Best World Music Album The ARIA Music Award for Best World Music Album, is an award presented within the Fine Arts Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. It was inaugurated in 1995 as Best Folk/World/Traditional Release. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achieveme ...

, , , - ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, ''Port of Call'' ,

ARIA Award for Best Independent Release The ARIA Music Award for Best Independent Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording ...

, , , - ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, ''The Wetland Suite'' ,

, , ARIA Award previous winners. , - ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, ''Stars and Fires'' , Best World Music Album , , , - ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

, ''Falling Leaf'' , Best World Music Album , , , -

References

External links

* https://www.siroccomusic.org/ {{Authority control Australian folk music groups