SONGS OF THE MAORI

Te Ao Hou, December 1966, Page 58

SONGS OF THE MAORI Viking V.P. 137 33⅓ L.P. For the most part the record represents a welcome attempt to get away from some of the old chestnuts such as Pokarekare and Po Atarau without which it seems few records can be issued nowadays. The artists are the Ohinemutu Maori Cultural Group, a small troupe of eight under the leadership of Hamuera (Sambo) Mitchell. The recording was made on 26 June 1964 in the famous Tama-te-Kapua Meeting House, Ohinemutu. The material is well assembled and presented and the recording quality is good. Unfortunately with such a small group there tends to be an occasional lack of balance and the material is so interesting that it merits the attention of a larger team. However, it must be admitted that quantity often does not spell quality and Mitchell has obviously chosen a team which he feels will do justice to much of the traditional material presented. There are some most interesting chants including a splendid chanted lead-in to Pakete Whero. On both sides the inclusion of women singing a love song in modern style to guitar accompaniment is somewhat incongruous but the items themselves are pleasant enough. It is interesting to this critic to listen to recordings from different tribal areas and to note

that even with modern material there are marked differences in the styles of singing and performance. The characteristic stamp of Te Arawa in general and Ngati Whakaue in particular is obvious on much of this disc. It is unfortunate that the cover notes give little except the titles of the songs, a eulogy on Sam Mitchell (which the group ‘boasts as its musical director’) and the somewhat cosmic statement that he has composed or arranged everything on the entire record. The space could well have been devoted to notes by Mitchell himself on much of the interesting material which is featured on this disc.