AE MARIKA! 9 July 2013
Posted on July 10, 2013 by admin in Ae MarikaMusic may not be everything in life but the good stuff is like nectar from the gods, and last Thursday night Kaitaia got an overdose of the sweetness from four of the very best in a concert to celebrate Matariki, the Maori New Year.
Maisey Rika and Ria Hall, two of the new stars in the galaxy of Maori music, Whirimako Black, the queen of Aotearoa blues and jazz, and Betty Anne who, along with Ryan Monga and Ardijah gave us the “Poly-Fonk” sound, a blending of soul and R&B with the Pacific sounds of the ukulele and the drum.
Maisey and Ria are contemporary stars who sing with the vigour and style of youth, rippling up and down the scale without even blinking. Maisey did a powerful number from the ‘Songs from the Inside’ tour helping women in prison use music to rebuild their lives ‘songs. Ria, who featured on the Aotearoa Reggae All Stars’ reversioning of the Herbs classic ‘Sensitive to a Smile’, dedicated a beautiful track ‘I am a Child’ to the fight against child abuse. Tough songs delivered with class and passion.
They both spoke beautiful Maori, they were stunningly good looking, and they used their songs to tell the stories in their hearts. And as if they couldn’t get any better, they then joined together for ‘Ethnic Beauty’, a sweet, uplifting song about women being proud of their beauty, whatever their culture, sung in an upbeat Andrews Sisters style with style and joy.
And Whirimako … what can you say about a singer with the class of Ella Fitzgerald and the pitch perfect sound of Aretha Franklin? Whirimako is a native Maori speaker who is also a movie star as her recent success in ‘White Lies’ confirms. She is a singer with that special talent of melting haunting Maori lyrics with the warmth of her music to deliver a brew that will win even the grumpiest of non-believers to her cause. Regardless of the tempo of the moment, whenever Whirimako sang, she simply won the audience back to her special style.
And then of course there was Betty Anne, and whenever the mike moved her way or she reached down to pick up her electric uke, you could see people’s eyes light up, bodies lean forward, and feet start twitchin’ in expectation of the funky dance music that Ardijah is famous for, and she didn’t disappoint. Betty Anne is a dynamic artist who exudes energy and vigour and her songs can just pull you out of your chair and onto the dance floor, and that’s exactly what happened as she blazed Te Ahu with Ardijah classics like ‘Time Makes the Wine’, ‘Watchin’ You’, and covers like ‘Silly Love Songs’, ‘Love So Right’ and ‘Moonlighting’. Magic. Even got Don the Gecko up on the floor!
Individually they were all, very, very good; collectively they were even better. There’s gotta be an album coming out of this tour. When it does go out and buy one and then close your eyes and enjoy …
AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website at www.mana.net.nz.
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