Te Vaka – Te Vaka Beats Vol. 2 (Spirit of Play Productions, 2020)
Te Vaka is a fabulous Polynesian band that is known for its melodic songs, engaging percussion sets and fascinating dance. In the Te Vaka recordings and live performances there is always time for percussion segments. Te Vaka Beats Vol. 2 focuses on percussion pieces accompanied by chant.
Percussion albums from the Pacific are very rare so this album is a real treat. It presents the enthralling pate (log drums) that Te Vaka is known for. This recording features Te Vaka master drummer and actor Matatia Foa’i (also spelled Matatia Foai) with a fantastic set of percussion compositions. Matatia is the son of Te Vaka founder Opetaia Foa’i and jazz singer Julie Foa’i.
Te Vaka made innovations to the traditional log drum. The group invented the 3-tier log drum stand that allows each drummer a variety of log drums to play during a performance or recording. This groundbreaking idea is now used by other log drumming groups in the Pacific Ocean region.
The 3-tier log drum set was initially designed by Te Vaka band leader Opetaia Foa’I and his father in law, Brian Clay in 1997 to adapt the new rhythms being performed live by the band.
In 1996, while trying out the log drum beats, it became essential to give each percussive instrument a name so that the drummers knew promptly which drum was being referred to during rehearsals and recordings. These names are now familiar to Te Vaka members but they were all names made up by Opetaia. These include pate ulu (lead log drum), pate toa (rhythm log drum), pate liki (small log drums). The group also uses two skin drums: pa’u malu (skin bass drum) and pa’u vili (running drum).
Te Vaka Beats Vol. 2 is a great introduction to the wonderful world of Polynesian drums and can be enjoyed as a straight ahead music album as well as a recording ideal for Polynesian dance fans.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
I love this album…and my whole collection of TeVaka albums!