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{{Short description|Australian composer, musician, and playwright}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Jimmy Chi
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| birth_date = {{Birth year|1948}}
| birth_place = [[Broome, Western Australia]], Australia
| death_date = {{Death date and given age|2017|06|26|69|df=yes}}
| death_place = Broome
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| notablework = ''[[Bran Nue Dae]]'' ''[[Corrugation Road]]''
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'''James Ronald Chi''' (1948 – 26 June 2017) was an Australian composer, musician and playwright. His best known work is the 1990 musical ''[[Bran Nue Dae]]'', which was [[Bran Nue Dae (film)|adapted for film]] in 2009.

==Early life and education==
James Ronald Chi<ref name=austlitchi>{{cite web | title=Jimmy Chi | website=[[AustLit]] | date=30 May 2023 | url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A8396 | access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref><ref name=inquest/> was born in [[Broome, Western Australia]] in 1948 to a father of [[Chinese Australian|Chinese]] and [[Japanese Australian|Japanese]] descent and a mother of [[Scottish Australian|Scottish]] and [[Aboriginal Australian|Aboriginal]] ([[Bardi people|Bardi]] and [[Nyulnyul people|Nyulnyul]]) descent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/10/03/4100197.htm |title=Aboriginal playwright and composer Jimmy Chi on the strength to live with mental illness |first=Ben |last=Collins |date=6 October 2014 |work=ABC Local Kimberley |accessdate=29 April 2018}}</ref><ref name=austlitchi/>

Chi attended a Catholic school in [[Perth]], and went on to university in WA. However, he was involved in a serious car accident, and, after coming out of a three-week coma,<ref name="l407"/> developed [[bipolar affective disorder]].<ref name=inquest/> He became severely depressed, but was helped by his faith.<ref name="l407"/>

After returning to Broome in 1970, he bought a guitar and started writing songs, initially on his own. [[Stephen Pigram]] and Michael Manolis joined him in songwriting, and in the early 1980s the three of them, along with Garry Gower and Patrick Bin Amat moved to [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]], to study music at the [[Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music]] (CASM) and the [[University of Adelaide]].<ref name="l407">{{cite web | last=Plater | first=Diane | title=The other side of Broome | website=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] | date=6 August 2009 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/the-other-side-of-broome-20090806-ealp.html | access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref><ref name=austlit>{{cite web | title=Kuckles | website=[[AustLit]]| date=28 June 2023 | url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A131143 | access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref>

== Career ==
The five friends from Broome formed the band [[Kuckles]]<ref name="l407"/> in 1981, with Chi as one of the three songwriters, along with Manolis and Pigram.<ref name=austlit/>

Chi's most acclaimed work is ''[[Bran Nue Dae]]'', written in collaboration with his band [[Kuckles]], [[Scrap Metal (band)|Scrap Metal]], [[The Pigram Brothers]], and friends. ''Bran Nue Dae'' is a partly autobiographical work which took many years to write. It celebrates family, forgiveness, and [[Reconciliation Australia|reconciliation]], and was a hit at the [[Festival of Perth]] in 1990 where it was performed by the [[Black Swan Theatre]].<ref>Eckersley. M.(ed.) 2009. ''Drama from the Rim: Asian Pacific Drama Book''. Drama Victoria. Melbourne. 2009. (p. 9)</ref><ref name=ozco>{{cite web | title=JIMMY CHI | website=ozco.gov.au | publisher=[[Australia Council]] | date=10 October 2006 | url=http://www.ozco.gov.au/arts_in_australia/artists/artists_atsia/jimmy_chi/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830235133/http://www.ozco.gov.au/arts_in_australia/artists/artists_atsia/jimmy_chi/ | archive-date=30 August 2007 | url-status=dead | access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref> It went on to tour Australia extensively and it was Australia's most successful musical play of the early 1990s.<ref name=austlitchi/> A documentary film about it was made in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.greenleft.org.au/1991/27/618 |title=Jimmy Chi's magical musical 11 September 1991, reviewed by Peter Boyle |access-date=11 August 2007 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200344/http://www.greenleft.org.au/1991/27/618 |url-status=dead }} from ''Cultural Dissent, Green Left Weekly'' issue No. 27</ref>

One of the famous verses from a song in the musical sums up Chi's dry humour and sharp political approach:
<blockquote>There's nothing I would rather be 
Than to be an Aborigine 
and watch you take my precious land away. 
For nothing gives me greater joy 
than to watch you fill each girl and boy 
with superficial existential shit.</blockquote>

The musical won the prestigious [[Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards]] in 1990. The following year the published script and score won the Special Award in the [[Western Australian Premier's Book Awards]].<ref name="WA">{{cite web|title=Western Australian Premier's Book Awards – 1991 Winners |publisher=State Library of Western Australia |url=http://www.liswa.wa.gov.au/pbk91win.html |accessdate=11 August 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509092512/http://www.liswa.wa.gov.au/pbk91win.html |archivedate=9 May 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It brought acclaim for many Aboriginal artists, including [[Ernie Dingo]], [[Josie Ningali Lawford]], and [[Leah Purcell]], and its success was key in the establishment of the [[Black Swan State Theatre Company|Black Swan Theatre Company]].<ref name=ozco/>

Chi also wrote the musical ''[[Corrugation Road]]'', which was first performed by the Black Swan Theatre at the [[Arts Centre Melbourne|Fairfax Studio]] in Melbourne in 1996 before an Australian national tour.<ref>Eckersley. M.(ed.) 2009. Drama from the Rim: Asian Pacific Drama Book. Drama Victoria. Melbourne. 2009. (p9).</ref> ''Corrugation Road'' concerns mental health, abuse, sexuality, and religion.<ref name=ozco/>

Chi's songs have been covered by such artists as the Irish singer [[Mary Black]] and Aboriginal singer [[Archie Roach]].<ref name="THA">{{cite web|title="Bran Nue Dae (Part 2)" |date= 3 June 2020|publisher= Theatre Heritage Australia Inc|url=https://theatreheritage.org.au/on-stage-magazine/musicals/item/638-bran-nue-dae-part-2|access-date= 15 May 2024}}</ref>

Broome's Opera Under the Stars festival has featured Chi's "Child of Glory", from ''Bran Nue Dae'', at every festival since 1993. His hymns are regularly sung at Aboriginal funerals in Broome.<ref name="THA" />

==Other activities==
Chi was patron of [[SANE Australia]].<ref name=austlitchi/>

==Awards and honours==
In 1991, Chi was awarded the [[Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission]] Drama Award for ''Bran Nue Dae''.<ref name="human1">{{cite web|title=1991 Human Rights Medal and Awards |publisher=[[Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission]] |url=http://www.humanrights.gov.au/hr_awards/1990.html |accessdate=21 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020544/http://www.humanrights.gov.au/hr_awards/1990.html |archivedate=27 September 2007 }}</ref>

Che was awarded the [[Centenary Medal]] by the federal government, for his contribution to Australian society, and he was acknowledged by the [[Government of Western Australia|WA Government]] as a State Living Treasure.<ref name=austlitchi/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.artswa.wa.gov.au/documents/STATETREASURESBook.pdf |title=''WA State Living Treasures'' |access-date=29 May 2006 |archive-date=19 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819210510/http://www.artswa.wa.gov.au/documents/STATETREASURESBook.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===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.

{{awards table}}
|-
| [[Red Ochre Award|1997]]
| himself
| Red Ochre Award
| {{yes2|Awarded}}<ref name=austlitchi/>
|-
{{end}}

===Deadly Awards===
The [[Deadly Awards]] were an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. They ran from 1995 to 2013.<ref name="Pennycook">{{cite book|author1-link=Alastair Pennycook|author=Pennycook, Alastair|title=Global Englishes and Transcultural Flows|date=7 December 2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7GVyWedo95cC&pg=PA162|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-18876-5|page=162}}</ref>

{{awards table}} (wins only)
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[Deadly Awards 1998|1998]]
| ''Corrugation Road'' (with Kuckles and The Pigram Brothers)
| Excellence in Film or Theatrical Score
| {{won}}
|-
{{end}}

==Later life and death==
Chi spent most of his later life at home in Broome with his family and friends. He died in Broome Hospital on 26 June 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-27/brand-nu-dae-playwright-dies-age-69/8654418|title=Bran Nue Dae playwright, Indigenous 'WA state treasure' dies|date=27 June 2017|publisher=ABC News|access-date=27 June 2017}}</ref>

An inquest into his death published its results in 2019. It said that Chi had been an [[Involuntary commitment|involuntary patient]] under the ''Mental Health Act 2014'', and had died in the [[emergency department]] from [[chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]] and [[coronary atherosclerosis]], although he had also suffered from a number of other diseases.<ref name=inquest>{{cite web | title=Inquest Finding | website= Coroner's Court of Western Australia| date=7 October 2019 | url=https://www.coronerscourt.wa.gov.au/I/inquest_into_the_death_of_james_ronald_chi.aspx | access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref>

==Discography==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
! Title
! Details
|-
! scope="row"| ''[[Bran Nue Dae|Bran Nue Dae - Original Cast Recording]]'' (with [[Kuckles]])
|
* Released: 1993
* Label: BND Records Pty Ltd, PolyGram (BNDCD 002)
* Format: CD, Cassette
|-
! scope="row"| ''[[Corrugation Road]]'' (with [[The Pigram Brothers]] and [[Kuckles]])
|
* Released: 1997
* Label: Angoorrabin (AR-8)
* Format: CD
|-
|}

==Works==
* ''Broome songwriters'' with Michael Manolis and Ron Harper (Hodja Educational Resources, 1985) {{ISBN|0-949575-37-2}}
*'' Bran Nue Dae'' (Currency Press, 1991) {{ISBN|0-86819-293-7}}
* ''Corrugation Road'' (sound recording – Angoorrabin Records, p1996)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chi, Jimmy}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Australian people of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:Australian people of Japanese descent]]
[[Category:Australian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Indigenous Australian musicians]]
[[Category:Indigenous Australian writers]]
[[Category:Indigenous Australians from Western Australia]]
[[Category:People from Broome, Western Australia]]
[[Category:People with bipolar disorder]]
[[Category:Musicians from Western Australia]]
[[Category:Australian musical theatre composers]]
[[Category:Male musical theatre composers]]

Jimmy Chi - Revision history

imported>Tuesdayboiis2: /* References */Added related category.