Album Review: Marlene Cummins - Koori Woman Blues

The Indigenous releases of 2014 are proving as interesting for their backstories as the music they present, and the debut album of Marlene Cummins, the subject of the recent Sydney Film Festival premiere of Black Panther Woman, is no exception. Australia's foremost Indigenous blues musician puts some often humorous spins on courageous stories of women's rights, injustice and addiction, cleverly inserting the former when the title track pays tribute to significant historical figures Truganinni and Oodgeroo Nunuccal in a familiar blues standard, with flourishes of didge. An easy listen, packed full of cultural lessons.