‘Maori Music From My Films’ Compiled by Robert Steele

Te Ao Hou, March 1965, Page 59

‘Maori Music From My Films’ Compiled by Robert Steele Prestige PEP 2089 7in 45 EP Robert Steele of Auckland is a well known producer of documentary, industrial and travel films. Over the last twenty years he has made some one hundred and fifty films, many of them dealing with his own country as well as the surrounding Pacific Islands. In many such films the background music has featured Maori songs and hakas, and from these Robert Steele has made a selection for this record. The famous Ngati Poneke Young Maori Club of Wellington feature first with one of their best known numbers, ‘Haere Mai Poneke’. This group is the most durable concert party in New Zealand. It has been in existence and performing publicly without a break since 1936 and its ‘old boys’ and ‘old girls’ are spread throughout the length and breadth of the country. Those who have seen Ngati Poneke on stage will attest to the consistently high standard of their work (they won the Dominion Maori Choir championship in 1963). Strangely enough they have seldom featured on record so this brief offering is most welcome. ‘Haere Mai Poneke’ is performed out of doors but the verve and precision of the performance is still obvious. It is a great disappointment that the full song is not included—there is an abrupt termination half way through. Ngati Poneke also feature the famous Poi Waka. Again this is performed with strength and colour. Another group called Ngati Kauri (unfortunately there is no indication of their origin and composition) perform two spirited haka taparahi without the incoherence which mars many recorded haka. There is also a pleasantly sung ‘Hoea Ra te Waka nei’ from their group. Also in the disc is an attractive canoe song from a Cook Island group featured in the film ‘Children of Aitutaki’. Actually this gave me a nasty shock. Owing to a mislabelling of the record, this track is billed as Ngati Poneke's ‘Poi Waka’. For a horrible moment I thought Ngati Poneke had gone mad! ‘Maori Music From My Films’ is attractively packaged in a folder-type cover with full explanation of the items (unfortunately with several mis-spelt Maori names) and three photographs. As a ‘souvenir of New Zealand’ type of record it has much to commend it.