VARIETY AND POLISH

Te Ao Hou, December 1959, Page 56

VARIETY AND POLISH Maori Concert ON THE MARAE—The Wai Patu Concert Party (Viking V250–8) Viking Record Coy., Wellington. This is a record which should particularly please Europeans because there are a number of familiar favourites on it, although I sometimes feel that Europeans are inclined to raise their eyebrows a little when they hear such old chestnuts as “Massa's in the Cold Cold Ground” rendered as an action song. Technically speaking, “On the Marae” is one of the best recordings of Maori music which I have heard. The enunciation of the singers is beautifully clear and in all the songs the words can be heard clearly. In the main also the recording is well balanced in that no one portion of the party comes over at the expense of the remainder. They sound an integrated whole. It is a pity therefore that the first and last action songs—“Haere Haere Mai” and “Aperira te Marama”—are marred by an obtrusive and particularly unimaginative guitar accompaniment. The guitarist seemed much too close to the microphone in relation to the performers. The brackets of group songs are the best. A number of tunes are presented in two brackets and the transition from one song to the next is done particularly well. A version of the canoe song Tainui is sung by a soloist in a most un-Maori way. It sounded like a Hawaiian pop tune. The East Coast haka “Ruaumoko,” is included on a commercial recording for the first time and is a good choice. A well sung version of the hymn “Regina Coeli” completes a very diverse recording. The record cover proudly announces “(This) will be for listeners a fresh musical experience, for it catches a Maori singing group in a much more intimate mood than is possible in a formal studio recording. Here they sing before their own people at a week-end concert on the marae…” Having heard several Maori records recorded at actual performances, I am convinced, and this disc strengthens the conviction, that an audience contributes little to this type of recording other than a lot of coughing and extraneous background noise. To sum up, “On the Marae” is pleasant listening. It has variety and polish and is a worthy addition to the growing number of LP discs of Maori music. A.G.A.