Te Vaka won two of the top awards at the 2008 Pacific Music Awards on Saturday night – “Best Pacific Album” for their 5th Album Olatia. This is the most coveted award as it is the only “Tui” in the Pacific Music Awards. The group will be honored again in October when the New Zealand Music Awards are held. They also won “Best Pacific Group”. Although Te Vaka has previously won a “Tui” for their fourth Album “Tutuki” to win two awards this year is a well deserved acknowledgment for the musical path that they have taken.The group consists of eleven musicians and dancers from Tokelau, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Samoa, Maori and New Zealand cultures brought together under the inspired leadership of Opetaia Foa’i. Numerous world tours, successful WOMAD performances and five acclaimed CDs have given the band a huge reputation in the burgeoning international arena of World Music.
Te Vaka’s music always embraces indigenous Oceanic roots and this is what gives them the edge internationally. Asked about the future of “Pacific Music”, Opetaia Foa’i, the lead singer and songwriter for the group says “ There’s a lot of talented Pacific Artists out there, unfortunately we are getting to a point where “Pacific Music” is being confused with American and Jamaican music, it would be great to see more artists using the wealth of influences they have available to them from within the Pacific and incorporate these into their own music. When we are united in that, Pacific Music will be a force to be reckoned with in the future”.
Read the CD review of the band’s latest recording:
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Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
