Mena Moeria Minstrels

Last updated

The Mena Moeria Minstrels were a popular Netherlands based Hawaiian music group. They were made up of mainly Moluccans from the former Dutch East Indies colony. The group was originally led by steel guitarist Rudi Wairata and also featured Joyce Aubrey and Ming Luhulima. They were prolific in their output releasing at least twenty singles in the 1950s.

Contents

Background

The Mena Moeria Minstrels, like their sister group the Amboina Serenaders were under the umbrella of Rudi Wairata. They were in the Hawaiian music bag. [1] In 1951, the line up consisted of Rudi Wairata, Ming Luhulima, Charlie Kuipers, Pariury and Patty. Around 1952, Joyce Aubrey joined the group. Guitarist Joop Sahanaya, a cousin of Wairata also joined. [2] In addition to them, [3] the act also included some dancing hula girls. [4]

In 1953, Wairata was able to get a recording contract from Dureco. The way they interpreted Hawaiian music had the interest of the record company. [5]

Having found success with the Mena Moeria Minstrels, Wairata started up another group, the Amboina Serenaders. This group basically had the same line up of members as the Minstrels with the exception of an extra member who played the vibraphone. [6]

Around 1957, a disagreement within the group developed, which resulted in the departure of Wairata. His departure also affected the Amboina Serenaders. This resulted in Luhulima being leader of both groups. [7] In 1958, Aubrey left the band to join her ex-husbands group, the Royal Hawaiian Minstrels. [8] [9]

In 1962, under the obvious leadership of Ming Luhulima, an EP was issued on the Omega label with all compositions by Luhulima. The tracks were "Waikiki Beach March", "Bongo March", "Polynesian March" and "Maori March". It also featured Coy Pereira on steel guitar. [10]

Later years

Founding member Rudi Wairata died in 1981. [11] The following year "Ola Bapa Dja" bw "Goro Goro Né was re released on Non records. [12]

Members

Discography

Singles

Extended play

Albums

The Mena Moeria Minstrels
The Mena Minstrels

Related Research Articles

The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part of Hollywood soundtracks. Hawaii also made a contribution to country music with the introduction of the steel guitar. In addition, the music which began to be played by Puerto Ricans in Hawaii in the early 1900s is called cachi cachi music, on the islands of Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sol Hoʻopiʻi</span> Native Hawaiian guitarist

Solomon Hoʻopiʻi Kaʻaiʻai was a Native Hawaiian lap steel guitarist. A virtuoso, he was one of the most famous original Hawaiian steel guitarists, along with Joseph Kekuku, Frank Ferera, Sam Ku West and "King" Bennie Nawahi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilo Hattie</span> Musical artist

Hilo Hattie was a Hawaiian singer, hula dancer, actress and comedian of Native Hawaiian ancestry.

Hawaii Calls was a radio program broadcast live from Waikiki Beach from 1935 through 1975 that reached 750 stations world-wide at the height of its popularity. It featured live Hawaiian music by an 11-piece dance orchestra conducted by Harry Owens, the composer of "Sweet Leilani". The show selected the best musicians and singers, with the purpose of showcasing what authentic Hawaiian music is like when played by native performers, but with one major difference—the lyrics were sung in English and intended for white audiences. Hawaiians called this hybrid with English hapa haole (half-white)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miriam Auhea Kekāuluohi Crowningburg</span> High chiefess during the Kingdom of Hawaii

Miriam Auhea Kekāuluohi Crowningburg Kamai was a Hawaiian high chiefess (aliʻi) during the Hawaiian Kingdom. She was a cousin of King Lunalilo and namesake of his mother Kekāuluohi who ruled as Kuhina Nui (premier) under Kamehameha III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winona Beamer</span> Musical artist

Winona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha Beamer was a champion of authentic and ancient Hawaiian culture, publishing many books, musical scores, as well as audio and video recordings on the subject. In her home state, she was known as Auntie Nona. She was an early proponent of the ancient form of the hula being perpetuated through teaching and public performances. Beamer was the granddaughter of Helen Desha Beamer. A cousin to Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame inductee Mahi Beamer, she teamed with him and her son Keola to form a touring North American troupe performing ancient hula and the Hawaiian art of storytelling. She was a teacher at Kamehameha Schools for almost 40 years, but had been expelled from that same school as a student in 1937 for dancing the standing hula. Beamer's sons Keola and Kapono are established performers in the Hawaiian music scene. Her grandson Kamanamaikalani Beamer is a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and CEO of the Kohala Center. She ran a Waikiki hula studio for three decades. In 1997—indignant at proposals to cut Hawaiian curriculum from Kamehameha Schools—Beamer became the catalyst for public protest and legal investigation into Bishop Estate management, which eventually led to the removal or resignation of the trustees.

Rudi Wairata aka Rudy Wairata(1929/1930 –1981) was an influential Indonesian musician who had fronted the Mena Moeria Minstrels and the Amboina Serenaders. Wairata's style of playing was influenced by Sol Hoʻopiʻi and Andy Iona. Along with George de Fretes he was a prominent musician in the genre of Hawaiian steel guitar music. His song "Rock'n Roll Breezes" may be the first Indo-rock song.

Ming Luhulima, also known as Lou Lima was a Netherlands-based recording artist originally from the Maluku Islands, which were part of the Dutch East Indies. He was closely associated with Rudi Wairata during his career. Luhulima was a member of the Amboina Serenaders and the Mena Moeria Minstrels, and also led the Krontjong Ensemble Pantja Warna.

George de Fretes (1921-1981) was a musician from Indonesia who found fame in the Netherlands. Like his fellow countrymen Ming Luhulima and Rudi Wairata, he found sizable popularity in the Netherlands and Europe playing Hawaiian music.

Joyce Aubrey was a singer and recording artist who was popular in the Netherlands in the 1960s as part of the duo Wanda & Joyce. She is also the mother of singer Wanda de Fretes as well as the ex-wife of legendary steel guitarist George de Fretes. In addition to her solo efforts, she also recorded with George de Fretes and the Amboina Serenaders, a popular Netherlands based band whose members included Ming Luhulima and Rudi Wairata. Some of their songs did well in Germany as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amboina Serenaders</span> Dutch musical group

The Amboina Serenaders were a successful and popular group that did well in the Netherlands in the 1950s. Its members included Ming Luhulima, Rudi Wairata and Joyce Aubrey, the ex-wife of George de Fretes. They had a top ten hit in the Netherlands with "Klappermelk Met Suiker".

Omega is a Dutch record label that released records under Omega and its sub label Omega International from the 1940s though to the 1990s. The distribution was handled by Dureco. In Belgium, its releases were handled by Fonior. Some of the artists to have their work released on the label in the early 1960s include The Dutch Cocktail Trio. In the 1970s, Omega pushed out MOR music and also artists from non English speaking European countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

"Hilo March" is a Hawaiian popular song written by Joseph Kapeau Ae`a. It was originally called "Ke Ala Tuberose". It has been covered by a number of musicians, Polynesian and non-Polynesian alike. It was also used in the soundtrack of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Dureco is a Dutch independent record label based in the Netherlands. Over the years many artists and groups such as the Amboina Serenaders, Judy Cheeks, Jules de Corte, De Dijk, Jef Elbers, Gotcha!, Samantha Jones, Ming Luhulima, the Mena Moeria Minstrels, Liz Mitchell, Julian Sas, Luv', Roger Peterson and Rene van Helsdingen have had their work released through Dureco.

Coy Pereira (1919-2005) was a Netherlands based guitarist and steel guitarist originally from Batavia in the Dutch East Indies. He was a member of the Kilima Hawaiians and had recorded with the Mena Moeria Minstrels as well as having work released under his own name. He is said to be in the same class of fellow steel guitarists, George de Fretes and Rudi Wairata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosy Pereira</span> Indonesian-Dutch pop singer (born 1951)

Rosy Pereira is an Indonesian-Dutch pop singer. She is the daughter of steel guitarist Coy Pereira. She released singles in the 1960s under her name as well as Babe Pereira. In the mid to late 1970s she was the other half of the duo Rosy & Andres who had a hit with "My Love".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bina Mossman</span> American politician

Bina Kailipaina Nieper Mossman was a ukulele player, vocalist, composer, and Republican Party office holder. She was tutored in music and pronunciation of Hawaiian words by Queen Liliuokalani.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrtle K. Hilo</span> Hawaiian taxicab driver, radio personality, ukulele player and singer

Myrtle Kahea Hilo was a native Hawaiian taxicab driver, radio personality, ukulele player and singer. Her signature album The Singing Cab Driver was released in 1967 on Makaha Records. She was born in Hauʻula, Hawaii on the island of O'ahu. In 1998 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts.

Na Lani ʻEhā, translated as The Royal Four or The Heavenly Four, refers to the siblings King Kalākaua (1836–1891), Queen Liliʻuokalani (1838–1917), Princess Likelike (1851–1887) and Prince William Pitt Leleiohoku II (1854–1877). All four were composers, known for their patronage and enrichment of Hawaii's musical culture and history. All four of them organized glee clubs. William Pitt Leleiohoku II, the youngest brother who died at age 22, was a guitar master and leader of the Kawaihau Glee Club. Youngest sister Likelike was a musician and a co-founder of the Kaohuokalani Singing Club.

Haunani Kahalewai was a singer and entertainer known as the "First Lady of Song in Hawai‘i". Her distinctive contralto voice spanned three octaves. She was featured on dozens of recordings and headlined the Polynesian Review at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. Kahalewai was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 1996.

References

  1. ↑ The Komedie Stamboel: Popular Theater in Colonial Indonesia, 1891-1903 by Matthew Isaac Cohen Page 359 Mahieu's Legacy
  2. ↑ Waikiki Islanders Website Rudi Wairata 1929 - 1981, The Mena Moeria Minstrels - The Amboina Serenaders, biografie, 1951, 1952
  3. ↑ Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters Edited by Bart Barendregt and Els Boegerts Page 286 Chapter twelve, Rein Spoorman
  4. ↑ Dutch Exotica Artists, 15. The Mena Moeria Minstrels – South Sea Breeze Archived 2016-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Harry Knipschild Artikelen, 04 - Dutch-East Indies artists and their role in the music industry 1950-1970, Rudi Wairata and George de Fretes
  6. ↑ Dutch Exotica Artists, 11. Amboina Serenaders – Bali Bali Boogie Archived 2016-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Waikiki Islanders Rudi Wairata
  8. ↑ Recollecting Resonances: Indonesian-Dutch Musical Encounters Edited by Bart Barendregt and Els Boegerts Page 286 Chapter twelve, Rein Spoorman
  9. ↑ Billboard March 30, 1963 Page 37 International News Reports, Holland
  10. ↑ 45Cat Mena Moeria Minstrels - Discography
  11. ↑ Billboard August 1, 1981 Page 68 General News, Deaths
  12. ↑ NLDiscografie.nl Mena Moeria Minstrels
  13. ↑ Waikiki Islanders Website Rudi Wairata, Rudi Wairata 1929-1981, biography (With English translation)
  14. ↑ NLDiscografie.nl Mena Moeria Minstrels
  15. ↑ Discogs Rudi Wairata & His Mena Moeria Minstrels Discography
  16. ↑ kanaalridder Mena Moeria Minstrels
  17. ↑ Discogs Rudi Wairata & His Mena Moeria Minstrels Discography
  18. ↑ Discogs The Mena Minstrels Discography
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.