Tararua: Bird Like Men
TARARUA: (from left) Phil Boniface, Ruby Solly, Ariana Tikao and Alistair Fraser
The use of taonga pūoro, Māori traditional instruments, has brought about a quiet revolution in New Zealand’s musical scene over recent decades. Genre boundaries have melted away as musicians classical and contemporary have explored our cultural history, legends, landscape, flora and fauna. Highly imaginative compositions using the instruments in combination with voices and classical western instruments have drawn on deeply personal inspiration to tell our stories.
Bird like Men, the debut album from the newly formed ensemble Tararua, is the latest example of how evocative taonga pūoro can be within musical textures. The waiata (songs) and pūrākau (stories) in te reo Māori and English have a strong southern Māori connection, the album title and cover design linking to the rock art of bird people at Maerewhenua in North Otago.
The four musicians of Tararua include two experienced and creative taonga pūoro practitioners, Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu) and Alistair Fraser alongside skilled bassist/composer Phil Boniface and Ruby Solly (Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe), a cellist, taonga pūoro musician and writer who represents the third contemporary generation of musicians playing the traditional instruments.
Kōhaka, one of the most engaging tracks, illustrates the complex web of influences in the collection. Based on an old oriori, it begins with the uniquely beautiful sound of the pahū pounamu, the greenstone gong, and tells the story of the pēpi (baby) through the mother’s labour. Tikao sings the words as a traditional chant, her strong voice full of authentic emotion over the lush instrumental accompaniment of pūkāea, flutes and low strings.
Mana wāhine pervades the album, the female theme potent in the lovely waiata Pū Harakeke, written by Tikao for a Homebirth Conference in Christchurch. The flax plant symbolises the strong whānau unit and the close harmonies of the two female voices add to the appeal here as elsewhere. Solly also brings the “klezmer groove” of her Jewish heritage to the collection, as in Tutumaiao, a jazzy feel woven with other instrumental effects to evoke the bush and landscapes of Aotearoa.
The fruitful collaboration that has created Bird like Men opens up rich multi-layered musical possibilities. What’s next, Tararua?
Tararua Bird like Men (Oro Records)
This review was first published in the NZ Listener issue 16 October 2021