Temple View Māori Concert Party

"Temple View Māori Concert Party" album cover art

The Temple View Māori Concert Party were performers from the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Hamilton. The group was formed in the 1950s, around the time the temple was being built. They released two albums in the 1960s, Temple View Māori Concert Party (1965; Zodiac ZLP1015) and Music from Temple View (Zodiac ZLP1017).

The songs on the first album were primarily about the migration of Māori from the mythical Hawaiki. These include Nga Waka, about the seven canoes in the migration. Some of the tracks on this album were recorded in the Waitomo Caves. It received a mixed review in the Te Ao Hou magazine. Of the recording in the caves the reviewer reported "For some unexplained reason some of the tracks in this album were recorded in Waitomo caves. A romantic thought perhaps, but the record neither gains nor loses from the fact". While stating "its version of ‘Pokarekare’ will stand out as easily one of the best recordings of this much used and abused song", it also critisised "a remarkably dispirited rendition of ‘Ka Mate’ which has my vote as one of the most spineless haka renditions on record".

References

• Review: Temple View Maori Concert Party by Alan Armstrong, Te Au Hou 50, p59 [1]

External Links

• Recording of Nga Waka, YouTube
• Recording of Matthew Cowley Lament, YouTube