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