Far South Coast Elder Uncle Ossie Cruse invited four of Australia's best gumleaf players to join him in a special performance at Jigamy Farm on April 9.

Coincidentally, the Giiyong Gumleaf Band performance will mark the centenary anniversary of the Wallaga Lake Gumleaf Band, who toured in the 1920s.

An instrument iconic to Australia, the gumleaf has been studied extensively and Giiyong Festival said it was proud to present the upcoming unique, historic performance.

Read more:

Jazz Williams, festival project manager, said South East Arts received funding to support Uncle Ossie Cruse's vision and bringing the musicians together was highly important.

"We have engaged a documentary crew to work with the men and capture their stories and rehearsals. A set of beautiful music is being developed to uplift audiences and introduce people to this traditional Aboriginal sound," Jazz said.

Performers are Uncle Ossie Cruse AM (Eden), Uncle Ossie Stewart (Batemans Bay/Eden), Uncle Herb Patten (Melbourne), Uncle Wayne Thorpe (Lake Tyers) and Uncle James Goori Dungay (West Kempsey).

The heyday of gumleaf playing peaked in the 1920s and the 1930s, and Wallaga Lake was considered the 'mecca' of gumleaf playing.

Uncle Ossie Cruse knew many of the old leaf bandsmen from Wallaga Lake and Lake Tyers, with family connections to both communities and said he didn't realise gumleaf playing would fade out.

"Because we grew up in an era of overt discrimination, we were more confident to play the leaf when we visited the missions," Uncle Ossie said.

Having begun playing the gumleaf at about seven years of age, Uncle Ossie has demonstrated the art to hundreds of non-Indigenous people.

Giiyong Gumleaf Band will play at Giiyong Festival on Saturday, April 9 at 2.50pm. www.giiyong.com.au

We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.