Mme Riviere's Hawaiians
| Madame Riviere's Hawaiians | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Hawaiian Music |
| founding | 1927 |
| resolution | 1934 |
| former members | |
guitar |
Sam Ku West |
Vocals, guitar |
Tau Moe's Family |
Mme Riviere's Hawaiians , also known as Mme Riviere's Serenaders and Mme Riviere's Moe Family , was an American Hawaiian group.
Career
The group was founded in Honolulu , Hawaii by French professor Madame Claude Riviere in the early 1920s . Riviere had been interested in Polynesian music for a long time, having lived on Tahiti , Samoa , Tonga , New Zealand and various other islands. In 1927 she opened her large house to tourists and had local musicians perform there. Guitarist Tau Moe and his uncle Pulu were also some of these musicians. A mix of Tahitian, Samoan and Hawaiian music, Madame Rivieres Show is considered the first regular Polynesian show in Honolulu.
The troupe's show, which also included three of Tau Moe's uncles, consisted of Hawaiian music, various dances from the field, samoan culture, and various rituals. On December 28, 1927, Rivieres Show left Hawaii to open a carnival in the Philippines and then go on tour. Even Irene West's Royal Hawaiian Troupe was during this tour, both of which, particularly in the Asian region led (they were including in Hong Kong , Shanghai and Singapore on). In 1927 a few records had been recorded for Columbia Records .
In 1932 Riviere and Tau Moe met Mahatma Gandhi . The meeting was arranged through Riviere's extensive contacts with the intellectual upper class. While the show was touring India, a salesman persuaded Riviere to take on an entire carnival. The company got Rivieres' full attention, so Tau Moe's uncle Pulu and the other musicians on the show joined Ernest Ka'ai from Ceylon , Sri Lanka . Riviere's Carnival quickly turned out to be a bad investment, however, as the previous owner had passed away and left large debts. The government confiscated the carnival, leaving Riviere penniless with no show and no carnival. Tau Moe and his wife Rose stood by her until Riviere found a job at the French consulate in Shanghai. While Tau Moe toured the world, Riviere's whereabouts remain unclear.
Discography
| year | title | Record company |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Mama E / He Aloha No O Honolulu | Columbia Records |
| 1929 | Ellis March / Fort Street | Columbia Records |
| 1929 | Paahana /? | Columbia Records |
literature
- Lorene Ruymar: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and its Great Hawaiian Musicians , Centerstream Publications, (1996), pp. 33f., ISBN 1574240218 .