Oceania I

"Where Maori musical culture meets the modern world"

Many centuries before there was a New Zealand, there existed Aotearoa, the 'Long White Cloud' homeland of Maori culture and civilisation. The first Europeans arrived with the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642. The Maori, however, prevented Tasman from landing on the soil of Aotearoa, and it wasn't until Captain James Cook's voyages in the following century that the country finally capitulated to European interests. In 1840 Aotearoa became New Zealand, a British colony.

It is remarkable testament to the resilience of the Maori people, however, that Aotearoa has survived. It is the 'Long White Cloud' of the imagination - despite everything that has happened, Maori culture continues to articulate the essential hopes, heartbreaks, vulnerabilities and aspirations of the human condition.

And so to Oceania. This is no journey into the past, the last rites of a lapsed culture. Rather, it is a confident exploration of future possibilities, a vigorous celebration of life. Although the songs and music have been clearly informed from a Maori perspective, they have a universality that will connect and appeal to all peoples.

Oceania is what happens when Maori culture meets the modern world. The result is extraordinary contemporary music; a rich palette of new sonic possibilities all freshly stirred for our musical delight.

At the heart of Oceania are Maori instruments, legends, history and language, presented to the world for the first time via the talents of singer/songwriter Hinewehi Mohi and the lead singer of British post-punk band Killing Joke, Jaz Coleman.

If this seems an unlikely combination, then consider Coleman's career in recent years. Even during the tumultuous development of Killing Joke, Coleman was collaborating with composer Anne Dudley on a neo-classical project.

Over a decade ago Coleman left England for New Zealand, where he became the Composer in Residence for the Auckland Philharmonia. Coleman also recorded several albums for the Phillips Classics label, during which time he was fostering the idea of recording a contemporary Maori album.

This vague ambition was cemented when Jaz met Hinewehi at a traditional Maori blessing for the opening of a new building - in this case a recording studio.

Hinewehi's mother is Pakeha (New Zealander of English/Irish descent), but it is from her Maori father that she acquired her sense of cultural identity. With his encouragement, she enrolled at Waikato University where the academic curriculum centred on Maori studies. Among her mentors at the university was the late Dr Hirini Melbourne, a person who more latterly became an important part of Oceania.

By the time she met Jaz Coleman, Hinewehi had already established a formidable reputation as a singer/songwriter and as a director/producer for Maori programmes at Television New Zealand. Hinewehi has constantly championed the integrity of Maori culture and its contribution to the fabric of New Zealand.

"This is not a sampled album," says Coleman. "It's a written album, we wrote it and played all the instruments on it with the help of the best master musicians of the Maori people - I'm the only Westerner, apart from string players and programmers, who actually played on the album, all the rest is done by Maori hands."

Oceania is thus not an album of traditional music although it relies on Maori roots for its very identity. Hinewehi has drawn on the rich resource of poetry from her home and was inspired by her daughter, Hineraukatauri, to write the lyrics and is the featured vocalist on the album. The late Dr Hirini Melbourne is the master musician and composer who, with other learning under him have kept the traditional Maori instruments alive.

Released in September 1999, Oceania was the first international Maori album. It has achieved double platinum sales in New Zealand and exceeded sales of 70,000 copies worldwide.