The Word

CD Review: Te Vaka 'Olatia'

There is a whole lot more to Pacific Islander cultures than surfing, hula, sandy beaches, and swimming with (friendly) sharks in aqua blue seas.

Te Vaka take you to another level – their music is born of Polynesian culture and what it represents. You can hear the pride, joy and celebration of it in each track… and a sense of what could be lost. Te Vaka means ‘the Canoe’.

On their horizon, sea and sky meet in the same way the past meets the future. From the horizon came the first canoes.

In ancient times, they sailed to the shores of what is now Samoa, Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand. Now Te Vaka are taking Polynesian music and culture across the oceans to the world. Olatia is their fifth album. It means “be prosperous”, “do well”.

And each Island Nation is rich in poetry, symbol, myth and art. There’s plenty to celebrate, but there’s no time for complacency.

A sense of purpose pervades this album – themes of self-determination, and cultural preservation… and a chance to heal. These songs help us understand, and ask us to listen.

And people are listening. Te Vaka won best group, and Olatia won best album at the 2008 Pacific Music Awards held in Auckland.

The principle singer-songwriter is Opetaia Foa’i. Most of his songs are written in the rhythmic language of Tokelau, with the exception of Our Ocean, a song written in several languages including Fijian, Kiribati and One Tok.
Our Ocean was commissioned by Greenpeace to help raise awareness about overfishing in the Pacific.

Foa’i occasionally writes songs in English, but if he is writing about something that happened in Samoa or Tuvalu, he will use those languages. Tokelau is an original dialect of old Polynesia.

The CD liner notes include the English translations of most songs, to reveal the depth of meaning behind the music.

Although influenced by traditional pre-missionary musical roots, the songs of Te Vaka are original compositions. Foa’i is Samoan-born. From the age of nine, he was raised in a Tokelau community in New Zealand. His mother is from Tuvalu, and his father is from Tokelau – a Polynesian word meaning ‘north wind’.

The current line-up of Te Vaka includes musicians and dancers from New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti, and Hawaii. Vakaaitu is the album’s opening track. It creates at atmosphere of canoes gliding through a misty dawn, or perhaps moving through myth and time: ‘In the dark, Behind them spiritual canoes, Canoes on the move, Spirits standing before me… Something heavy on their minds, The power of this group, These are the ancestors…’

Although I haven’t seen Te Vaka perform live, I can imagine the drums in Mata O Tane would ignite the dance floor. In contrast, the bittersweet Vaitaimi Mihia (Missing Moments) is a deeply personal song, written by Foa’i about the loss of his brother.

I naturally gravitate toward percussion, so my favourite songs feature the pate ulu – a hollowed out log drum, and the Hawaiian ipu. The log drum is made from an extremely hard wood that is extremely difficult to find. The immense raw power of the log drum comes alive in Lua Afe, a track written and played for the Rugby World Cup in France in 2007.

The song Lima Tane features a Hawaiian ipu. An ipu drum is made from a specially grown vase-shaped bottle gourd. To play it, the neck of the gourd is held in one hand while the other hand slaps its base, to create the two distinct ‘ooh’ and ‘tey’ sounds used in hula.

Poetically and musically, my favourite song is The Word. The music was inspired by the group performing with Zakir Hussain. The words came later…

‘When you discover the (misunderstood) word
And blow it all away
The whole world clears
The sun shines through
And all around skyblue
It’s so simple There is only One way through’

This song blends drumming, haunting flute, and luscious voices into a beautifully sensuous listening experience – superb.

I felt the sequence of the 13 songs in this collection didn’t flow as smoothly as they could have, and the album would be enhanced by removing one or two songs. This would help build and maintain the momentum of these powerful and important stories.

The music (and dance) of Te Vaka is imbued with Polynesia's ‘ancient culture’ – the relationships between people, and relationships based on respect. In the modern world, and the increasing trend of ‘attitude’, it could be just the right time to embrace these old ideas.

- Reviewed by Kerry Awia Markey for www.diaspora.com.au

Listen with your heart in your ears...

CD Review: Introducing Mamane Barka


How can two words – African Blues – adequately describe the music of Malam Mamane Barka? They can’t. This is music you need to listen to with your heart in your ears.

As a singer-songwriter, Mamane Barka is popular with many modern Nigerians because he blends traditional music with songs about issues of contemporary life.

On ‘Introduction to Mamane Barka’, stories are sung in the languages of the Niger (Hausa, Toubou, Kanuri and traditional Boudouma), and through the biram – a five-stringed boat-shaped harp with sonic similarities to the Ethiopian krar and Egyptian simsimiyya.

The Boudouma fishermen of Lake Tchad (Chad) consider the biram a sacred instrument imbued with spirits. Barka travelled to Tchad in 2002, to study the rare instrument and learn traditional Boudouma mystical stories under biram master Boukar Tar. The master gave Barka the last known biram and asked him to promote the instrument to the rest of the world.

The biram had not been played outside the Niger Republic until Barka took these mystical stories of spirits, animals and bravery, from Lake Tchad to China, Japan, Pakistan, France, Germany, Spain, and Holland.

From the opening track, Mashi, the biram resonates like the pulse of activity around the lake.

A natural soulmate of the biram is the douma – the spiritual drum – played by Mamane’s life-long friend, Oumarou Adamou.

Adamou’s traditional Nigerian percussion weaves through this rich tapestry with the unifying strength of a silk thread.

I love the energy of Banan, a song about the everyday challenges of confrontation with bad spirits. Although mostly Muslim, many Boudouma still practise pre-Islamic cults that include witchcraft.

On Kiota (gift):

There are simple gifts
For nothing and there are gifts like a bean
When planted they need to grow
Some people only make gifts because they want something from you.


Doro Lelewa could be an ode to modern life:

Oh, you can live well in the little village of Doro Lelewa.
There where the master of the Biram lives.
A little village right next to the lake.
Birds' singing all life long and creating harmony
Fishes, cows, horses and goats
Far from noises of the cities, far from noises of motors and cars.

Song lyrics aren’t included with the cd but can be found here: http://www.mamanebarka.com/CDIntroducing.html or visit www.diaspora.com.au for more info.

Does the past meet the present, or the present meet the past? Take a journey to Mamane Barka’s world to find out.

- Kerry Awia Markey (August 13, 2009)

Music that grows... and glows

CD Review: As Above, So Below - Jason Bruer



Jason Bruer’s CD is a like a cocktail – a heady fusion of bold elegance and luscious flavours that can blow away winter’s chill.

‘as above so below’ is Bruer’s debut solo. The title is a personal reflection by Bruer on the different realms we all exist in, and on writing songs ‘across two hemispheres’. It also captures his change in place and space from London to Sydney, and an evolution in his musical attitude, from frenetic to ethereal.

Sit back, relax, get mellow – you’re in good hands.

Bruer captures the smooth summer feel of Brazillian influenced jazz on the tracks Martha’s Dream, Tomorrow’s Goodbye, Truth Of The Lie and Spring Bossa.

Then we step off the beach, and head Uptown looking fly. Bossa For Sandy, Alfie’s Tree and Leaving Home are like a sip of fine scotch or a languid kiss.

My favourites include the dreamy meandering of Little Orb and Martha’s Dream. The track Bossa For Sandy is elegant and delicious. And if you’re in need of a quick winter warm up, Callysamba will have you doing shines in your living room.

Narrowing it right down, Bruer sites The Pat Metheney Group and Toninho Horta as major influencers. Toninho Horta’s compositions (described as jazz influenced Brazilian music) and original guitar playing has influenced a whole generation of musicians in Brazil, including Metheney.

Adelaide-born Bruer has freelanced with some of Australia’s finest - Models, the Dynamic Hepnotics, Eurogliders, and Steve Kilby, Kate Ceberano, John Morrison's swing city, and Monica and the Moochers before heading over to London in 1988.

Bruer spent 20 years in London where he co-lead Smith and Bruer Band and enjoyed success working London's club scene with their infectious retro jazz funk.

While across the pond, Bruer has also played sessions with Eric Clapton, Sting, Mick Hucknell, Mica Paris, BB King, Stevie Winwood, Madness, Paul Weller, All Saints, and Van Morrison.

Mark Johns, Martin Love and Fabian Hevia appear on this album, with Steve Rose, Tim Bruer, and Adam Ventoura and Neville Malcolm on electric bass. Dale Barlow appears as a guest flautist on the track Spring Bossa.

Keep it mellow… ‘as above so below’ grows and glows.

Jason Bruer will be playing at The Basement on September 22. For more info visit www.jasonbruer.com or www.diaspora.com.au

- Kerry Awia Markey (August 7, 2009)