Whirimako Black
New Zealand’s soul diva, Whirimako Black has built up a loyal jazz, blues and Maori fan base with her sublime reo Maori and English songs. She is, undoubtedly, one of this country’s finest musicians.
4 Aug 2004
Whirimako Black has performed throughout Aotearoa, Europe and Australia over the past decade. She creates a truly unique, intimate presence in her performances with a ‘sublime and exceptionally expressive voice’ that has been described as 'pure velvet’.
Whirimako’s distinctive sound, her use of traditional Māori musical forms and te reo Māori make her a unique and powerful voice for Aotearoa.
She is forever taking the beauty of te reo Māori to different audiences.
Artist Profile (Courtesy of Whirimako Black and Local Music.)
Whirimako, of Ngai Tuhoe, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Ngati Ranginui, Kahungunu, Te Whakatohea, Te Whanau-a-Apanui, Te Arawa, and Ngati Awa descent, has performed throughout the country and has six solo albums to her credit in just the last seven years.
Her debut album, 'Hinepukohurangi: Shrouded in the Mist', despite being independently released, won Best Maori Language Album at the 2001 NZ Music Awards and is now approaching gold sales status.
A track Whirimako recorded for concept album '1 Giant Leap', called 'The Way You Dream,' was subsequently licensed for worldwide use in the movie 'The Bulletproof Monk' and has since appeared on several compilation albums.
A second album, 'Hohou Te Rongo: Cultivate Peace', which Whirimako recorded and released herself in 2003, and Whirimako says the inspiration for this album came from her daughter, Mihi Ki Te Kapua.
"My whanau (family) are my puna - my source," she explains. "Each whanau member has a quality and values that fits in with me. In each area, they come through and tautoko (support) me. We all love music and I value all their opinions."
On her third album 'Tangihaku', Whirimako Black is presented in an intimate recording with acoustic guitarist Joel Haines (brother of NZ jazz star Nathan Haines) and her long-time collaborator Justin Kereama on taonga puoro (traditional Māori instruments).
Her fourth album was 'Kura Huna' (May 2006). This extraordinary and evocative soundscape featured her voice and internationally renowned oboe player Russel Walder.
Her ground-breaking bilingual jazz album, 'Soul Sessions' was the fastest-selling New Zealand jazz album of 2006 and earned her a spot as a finalist in the Best Jazz Album category at the 2007 New Zealand Music Awards.
A follow-up album, 'Whirimako Black Sings', continued the successful recipe from 'Soul Sessions' of taking jazz standards and giving them new life with her stunning vocal performances and Maori language translations. This album also subsequently became a finalist in the 2008 NZ Music Awards for Best Jazz Album.
This year she toured with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) and top kiwi dub outfit Salmonella Dub in an exciting show called ‘Feel the Seasons Change’. The show combined modern music and production values with the ancient arts of tāonga pūoro, te reo Māori and the NZSO’s classical tradition. She then featured in a musical collaboration with a group of world-renowned Gaelic musicians that toured NZ and performed at WOMAD. Whirimako also performed on her own with the NZSO twice, did 3 shows at the Southern Hemisphere’s top world music festival THE DREAMING, several jazz festivals, the Anzac commemorations at Gallipoli and shortly leaves for a tour in Asia.
Awards
- NZ Order of Merit (2006) for services to Māori music
- NZ Music Award (2001) – Best Māori Album
- APRA Maioha Award (2004) for her songwriting in te reo Māori
- Te Waka Toi Award (2004) for her contributions to contemporary Māori music
PAO PAO PAO
Selected to perform in 2006, 2007, 2008.
Solo Albums
- Whirimako Black Sings – Te Reo Māori Version (2007)
- Whirimako Black Sings (2007)
- Soul Sessions (2006)
- Kura Huna (2005)
- Tangihaku (2004)
- Hohou Te Rongo: Cultivate Peace (2003)
- Hinepukohurangi: Shrouded in the Mist (2001)
Collaboration Albums
- 1 GIANT LEAP album (2001/2), a world music project that saw worldwide release
- LAND OF OUR FATHERS movie soundtrack (2004), with Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi
- HONE TUWARE album project (2005), produced by Charlotte Yates and featuring some of NZ’s top artists
- Feel The Seasons Change (2007/8), with SALMONELLA DUB, as featured vocalist
DVD
- An Evening With Whirimako Black, in concert with Joel Haines and Russel Walder at the Trinity Cathedral.
You can purchase these albums online at www.maorimusic.com or at www.smokecds.com