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Wed, 5 Sep 2001 19:25:28 -0700 |
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Fond as I am of both Naxos and Polynesian music, I find it disturbing and
sad that the meeting of the two turned out so badly. The upcoming Naxos CD
"The Maori Heart" features 21-year-old Jade Eru in traditional Maori songs,
with the chants of the magnificent Tawai Te Rangi. So what's wrong with
this picture?
Producer/director Ion Mark came up with an overproduced, garish,
cheap album, which masks and distorts Eru's simple, pleasant voice and
commercializes the music beyond the unfortunate "standards" established
in Hawaii for much of the last century to sell, not to honor, a culture.
Reverb-within-echo chambers, Melachrino-strength strings and obnoxious
mixing - it's Andrew Lloyd Webber karaoke, not the music of an ancient
people. There is one brief segment on the CD, the opening of "Po Ata Rau"
("Now Is the Time"), when Eru is allowed to be heard for a few lovely
measures - before the din returns and obliterates. I would love to hear
Eru and, especially Te Rangi, without the noisy, tasteless overlay.
Kia Ora!
Janos Gereben/SF
[log in to unmask]
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