Suite Aotearoa

"The clear, jewel-like tone of the pahū pounamu (greenstone gong) opens and closes Leonie Holmes' atmospheric Te Pūtahitanga - Convergence. It's a conversation between cultures, between piano and taonga pūoro, symbolic of the kaupapa of the album. Horo introduces us to a wide variety of instruments, the tapped pākuru, held in and amplified by the mouth, flute-like carved wooden pūmotomo, booming gourd hue puruhau, whirling porotiti and the short flute, koauau. The communicative gestures of the piano part respond to the taonga pūoro, which have an almost human quality at times. Splendidly played and recorded, it's a very effective piece and, like the whole album, needs a live performance soon." Elizabeth Kerr