VNZMA 'Best Roots Artist' winner Israel Starr celebrates Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori by blazing up the Moon stage with a Newtown institution Newtown Rocksteady for an evening of roots reggae, dancehall and hip hop infused waiata.
"Newtown Rocksteady have been bringing the sound and values of the original Rocksteady movement to festivals, events and established New Zealand venues with a generous dose of soul and a solid helping of skank since 2007. Newtown Rocksteady features key members of Wellington‘s music scene in an all brass, all bass, all party, big band, big dance, chant down MASH UP." - Loop records
With support from the legendary Good Taste Selection crew and guests blessing up the whare with toasting and righteous riddims till late
Starr's new album 'Keepers of the Flame' was released on 29th of July this year, which comes 35 years after te reo finally became an official language of Aotearoa on 1st August 1987. The album cover is of his whanau marching in Wellington during Māori Language Week in 1980 demanding that te reo be given equal standing with English.
"My son Ezekiel actually gave me the photo for this album cover! I had been searching for something that captured the essence of my songs in total and without thinking he just showed it to me on his phone. I asked him why... he just said he didnt know... the idea just came."
This year is also 50 years since the Māori language petition was delivered to parliament with over 30,000 signatures asking for active recognition for te reo Māori. One wonders if the petition were to be delivered today, how many many more signatures would be on that petition.
Moon is very grateful for Israel Starr to be joining us for our celebration of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori as his relationship with the language is much the same as many travelling in their own waka.
"Being honest I'm not fully confident in te reo. I can understand what's going on when spoken to but I couldn't hold a conversation. I did consider this before using the photo but ultimately I knew my worthiness of being Māori did not depended on how well I could speak."
"These whanau in my album cover are truly Keepers Of The Flame!"
It is our aim as a music venue and as a meeting place for many in the Newtown and Wellington community that we can do our part to make te reo a strong and vibrant part of Aotearoa, today and for long into the future. So kuhu mai! Join us this week and enrich your own te reo journey!
