First, a thank-you to Matt at Benn loxo and Matt at Matsuli Music for their comments and links – welcome to all who have found your way via their fine sites. I hope you enjoy your time spent here.
The beautifully designed Mareva was a painfully short-lived label maintained by amateur French ethnographers Adolphe Sylvain and Marc Darnois, and sold on the waterfront in Tahiti ca. 1949-1950, and likely in France. Super scarce. The records feature authentic folk music of Tahiti as well as music from neighboring Tahitian islands. From what I can deduce, fewer than 30 discs were issued on Mareva. They were pressed in France and sold both separately, and in a box with photographs by Sylvain. From the sound of this recording, it seems to me as if they were dubbed from original acetates which Sylvain and Darnois recorded in the field.
I seem to be stuck on accordion music lately too, so I thought I’d pass this rarity along. I find the singing a real treat.
(If you’d like to hear more from the Sylvain and Darnois archives, a different track exists on Yazoo’s Secret Museum of Mankind, Volume 5 CD.)
Tefanake, Reia, and Moratai – Ute
Technical Notes
Label: Mareva
Issue Number: 115
Matrix Number: Part 13485-1PD
Excavated Shellac 
Hi,
I’m loving this blog, and have just written about you on my blog Squeezytunes. I’m loving the accordion music from all corners of the globe and hope we can hear more in the future.
Btw, I’ve taken the liberty of using one of your record scans on my site as way of illustrating the piece. I hope this is ok. If not, then let me know and I will remove it.
Keep up the good work
Thanks very much! I appreciate all the nice words and I’m glad you’re enjoying the music. No problem with the scan – thanks for giving me a heads-up to your site, too.
Are you ever gonna give us a taste of the BILL HAID & HIS CUBS? Or maybe you’re saving the blues/jazz for altogether different blog. I’ve been waiting for the almighty CUBS for nearly a decade now.
Ah! A memory jog. You mean BILL HAID AND HIS THIEVES OF SLEEP! Sure, The Cubs were great and all, but the Thieves of Sleep…those guys were the cat’s ass!
Hi – I found your site through the link on Matsuli Music. You’ve got some wonderful stuff here, and I’ve added a link to you on my blog…
Back in the day, I worked for John Storm Roberts’ Original Music label, and got to hear a lot of beautiful (and rare) recordings from around the world.
Thanks so much for your hard work and dedication to the music!
Best,
spinning
Thank YOU so much for your kind words.
Hi,
Just a big “THANK YOU” for your work. This release is lovely! 😉
cheers, javier
ps: I’m a friend of Tony in Sweden
Just purchased a small pile of Polynesian records, and in there were 5 78rpm discs – 2 TAHITI and 2 MAREVA. Those 2 were MA106 Chant de Monea-Paoa (recorded Bora-Bora) / Ini Raki (rec. Tuamoti) and MA109 Roimata (Orchestra NONO, chante par Eliane) / TERO (per NONO)
Thanks for the bit of background to this label.
Hi, I’m PhIlippe from Nantes west france, This morning I found on a flea market an Mareva album with 6 records called “folklore taïtien” .Recorded by Sylvain et darnois. Numbers : MA 101 till Ma 106. It looks like a photograph album with a very beautiful cover (kind of polychrome?). I found your blog doing a research about those records and I do love it: good work! ph
Hello,
Thank you very much for broadcasting this record, Mareva 115. It is one of the most beautiful of the series. I am currently preparing a discography of Tahitian recordings and I do not have this record. Could you send me the label on the other side? So I could complete the Mareva, which I think are few. Thank you in advance for your answer. Philippe Gemgembre from Paris France.