Bird Like Men

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Oro Records is proud to present art music ensemble ‘Tararua’ and the release of their first album ‘Bird Like Men’ which brings together their southern influences with sound worlds from both te ao Māori and te ao Pākehā.

‘Tararua’ (meaning ‘two peaks’), connects whakapapa, from mountains in both North and South Islands, this contemporary New Zealand art music weaves the voices of Aoraki, the tūrakawaewae of Ruby Solly and Ariana Tikao, winding through Te Waipounamu-raised, Wellington based artist Al Fraser, and merging into Phil Boniface’s birthplace and connection with the Tararua ranges.

Their evocative music combines taonga pūoro, waiata, karakia and pūrākau (story) with a strong southern Māori influence, with the western instrumental elements of the cello and doublebass. The ensemble is made up of four established artists Al Fraser, Ariana Tikao, Ruby Solly and Phil Boniface; who are each leaders in their various fields.

The album draws upon a range of musical stylings including, jazz, folk, and traditional musics from the whakapapa of different band members. With kōrero in the form of lyrics and poetry from both Solly and Tikao, as well as from whānau manuscripts of Tikao, such as in their second single ‘Tūtūmaiao’. “I started singing the reo Māori lyrics, some of which came from an excerpt of an ancient waiata partially quoted in the book Tikao Talks, by my pōua Teone Taare Tikao. He talked about Tūtūmaiao being the name of an ancient battle in “one the Hawaikis””, said Tikao. Other lyrics woven into the klezmer-inspired groove are by Ruby Solly. “My lyrics are a tribute to kōrero from Kāi Tahu Whānui about how our people are like the tītī birds, migrating and travelling around the world, but always coming back to our spiritual homeland of Te Waipounamu,” said Solly. There is also a thematic connection to the southern Māori rock art of bird people at the Maerewhenua site in Otago, adding a deeper layer still to the music.

credits
released July 19, 2021
published July 20, 2021 (publish_date)
modified September 27, 2021 (mod_date)

Released July 23rd 2021

Ruby Solly cello, vocal ngā taonga pūoro
Ariana Tikao vocal, ngā taonga pūoro
Phil Boniface double bass
Alistair Fraser ngā taonga puoro

Recorded by Lee Prebble at The Surgery
Mixed by David Long
Mastered by Mike Gibson

Artwork by Ruby Solly
Design by Alistair Fraser

Thanks to Creative New Zealand for their assistance with this project.

Thanks to Te Runanga o Moeraki for permission to use the bird-man art work inspired by the rock art at Maerewhenua.

Ngā mihi nui.