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Seaman Dan
Seaman Dan
	Seaman Dan
Background information
Birth name	Henry Gibson Dan
Born	25 August 1929; Thursday Island, Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia
Died	30 December 2020 (aged 91); Edmonton, Queensland, Australia
Genres	Folk; Jazz; Hula;
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1990s–2016
Labels	Hot Records; Steady Steady Music;

Henry Gibson Dan AM (25 August 1929 – 30 December 2020), known as Seaman Dan, was a Torres Strait Islander singer-songwriter with a national and international reputation. His first recording, an album called Follow the Sun, was released in 2000, on his 70th birthday.

Early life

Seaman Dan was born on 25 August 1929 in the general hospital on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait Islands Region of Far North Queensland, Australia.^[1] His great-grandfather was a sailor from Jamaica in the West Indies, and his great-grandmother a chief's daughter from New Caledonia.^[2] Another grandfather came from the island of Niue in Polynesia.^[1]

"Seaman"

In the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Dan worked as a boat captain and pearl diver, gathering pearl and trochus shells across the north of Australia. He also did jobs such as mineral prospecting and taxi driving.^[1]

Music career

Dan's singing came from family, friends and associating with talented musicians in his multi-cultural maritime working life, creating a fusion of music from Australia, Melanesia, North America, Africa and Polynesia, notably the Thursday Island "hula" style. He was a regular performer at Thursday Island's local hotels and a community musician for decades.^{[citation needed]}

His first album, Follow the Sun, was released in 2000, on his 70th birthday.^[3]

He performed in Japan^[4]^{[better source needed]} and throughout Australia, most notably at the National Folk Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, Darwin Festival, Adelaide and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, Laura Dance and Music Festival, Tasmania's 10 Days on the Island Festival, NAIDOC Ball, and at the National Museum of Australia's Tracking Kultja Festival.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, Dan semi-retired at the age of 80 years.^[5]^[6]

Recognition

His album Perfect Pearl won the ARIA Award for Best World Music Album in 2004, and in 2009 won again with Sailing Home.^[7]^[8]

In its citation on awarding Dan the Australia Council for the Arts Red Ochre Award in 2005 for his outstanding contribution to the development and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture, the Council claimed he was a charismatic and consummate performer who blended traditional Torres Strait Islander and pearling songs with jazz, hula and blues.^[9]

In 2013, he received a Hall of Fame Award at the National Indigenous Music Awards in Darwin, Northern Territory.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019 Seaman Dan was honoured at the Queensland Music Awards with the Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award.^[10]

Death

Dan died in Edmonton, Queensland on 30 December 2020, aged 91.^[11]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details
Follow the Sun	Release date: 2000 Label: Hot Records (HOT 1075) Formats: CD
Steady, Steady	Release date: 2002 Label: Hot Records (HOT 1079) Formats: CD
Perfect Pearl	Release date: 2004 Label: Hot Records (HOT 1094) Formats: CD
Island Way	Release date: 2006 Label: Steady Steady Music (TI 1001) Formats: CD, DD
Sailing Home	Release date: 2009 Label: Steady Steady Music (TI 1004) Formats: CD, DD
Sunnyside	Release date: 2012 Label: Steady Steady Music (TI 1007) Formats: CD, DD
A Caribbean Songbook	Release date: 2014 Label: Steady Steady Music (TI 1010) Formats: CD, DD
An Old Man of the Sea	Release date: 2016 Label: Steady Steady Music (TI 1011) Formats: CD, DD

Compilation albums

Title	Details
Somewhere There's an Island-Best of 1999–2006	Release date: 2007 Label: Steady Steady Music (TI 1002) Formats: CD, DD
Still on Deck: Personal Favourites	Release date: 2013 Label: Steady Steady Music (TI 1008) Formats: CD, DD

Awards and nominations

Dan was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Australia Day Honours.^[12]

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Seaman Dan won two awards from four nominations.


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2004	Perfect Pearl	Best World Music Album	Won
2006	Island Way	Best World Music Album	Nominated
2009	Sailing Home	Best World Music Album	Won
2016	An Old Man of the Sea	Best World Music Album	Nominated

Australia Council for the Arts

The Australia Council for the Arts is the arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. Since 1993, it has awarded a Red Ochre Award. It is presented to an outstanding Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander) artist for lifetime achievement.


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2005	himself	Red Ochre Award	Awarded

National Indigenous Music Awards

The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) recognise excellence, dedication, innovation and outstanding contribution to the Northern Territory music industry. They commenced in 2004.


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2013	himself	Hall of Fame Inductee	Inductee

Queensland Music Awards

The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006.^[13]


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result (wins only)
2019^[14]	himself	Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award	awarded

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ""Hula Time!" with Seaman Dan". ABC Local Radio. Message Stick. 12 November 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
^ Canberra Times, 13 April 2006, "Island music escape"
^ Neuenfeldt, Karl. "Steady Steady". NewSouth Books. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
^ Hillier, Tony (18 April 2009). "Seaman's coda". The Australian.
^ Dan, Seaman (16 May 2010). "Sailing Away with Uncle Seaman Dan" (downloadable audio). Speaking Out (Interview). Interviewed by Rhianna Patrick. Australia: ABC Local Radio. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
^ Dan, Seaman (10 July 2013). "Life and times of Seaman Dan" (streaming audio). Magazine program (Interview). Interviewed by Richard Dinnen and Isaac Egan. Cairns, Australia: ABC Local Radio. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
^ The Cairns Post, 11 November 2009, "Seaman's success"
^ Albert, Jane (13 October 2004). "Old pearler surfaces with greatest prize". The Australian.
^ "Seaman Dan honoured with Red Ochre Award". Australia Council for the Arts. 2005. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
^ "Indigenous musos crowned at sold-out Brisbane show". National Indigenous Times. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
^ "Tributes for legendary Torres Strait Islander musician Henry Seaman Dan after his death at the age of 91". SBS News. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
^ "Mr Henry Gibson DAN". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
^ "About the Queensland Music Awards". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
^ "Past Winners 2019". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 25 March 2021.