Some favourite Tahitian jams

Looking for some new tunes? Look no further! 🎸

We live next door to my sister-in-law’s pizzeria, which has Scène Ouverte (Open Stage) every Friday night.

This means that anyone can get up and belt out a tune. The musicians accompanying are a mix of professionals and enthusiastic amateurs, but overall the sound is usually pretty polished.

When we first arrived, I quickly came to recognise the regulars. The Froggy Mountain Brothers (two French brothers playing excellent bluegrass), Elizabeth the sax player, harmonica guy, the Taiwanese opera singer, the polished jazzy lounge of Shiny Flow.

And then a mix of whoever is there that night. Sometimes sounding amazing, sometimes struggling through a song they clearly shouldn’t have chosen.

After a while, I realised that people would choose the same songs a lot. It’s fine if you’re visiting once in a while. But we’re next door. We hear it every week. And yeah, after hearing some songs every single week for multiple years, I can officially say I would be so happy to never hear some of these songs ever again in my life (4 Non Blonds What’s Up, I’m looking at you).

My favourite thing is when someone gets up and sings a Tahitian song, and at the end of the night, when the amps are turned off, there’s often an acoustic jam session with ukuleles and guitars. I’ve started collecting a few of my favourite Tahitian songs in a playlist, and here are some I like if you’re looking for some playlist inspiration!

Fenua

If you’re looking for something to bop to, you have to check out Fenua, which has inspired many a kitchen dance party in our house. It’s is such a fun mix of 90s style electronic music with Tahitian language, chanting and traditional tunes.

Bobby Holcomb

I wrote about Bobby a while back, who isn’t Tahitian but lived a long time in Huahine, learning the language, writing music and making art based on Tahitian culture. His music is classic and very popular here.

Read the post about Bobby’s art here

It’s a funny connection that he sang a Tahitian version My Island Home with Angelo (another beloved) which was a song written by an Australian (Neil James Murray) and performed by some prominent Indigenous Australians (the Warumpi Band and Christine Anu).

Hauata

We saw Hauata and her band live, and this is beautiful, traditional Tahitian music. After the concert, everyone sat around jamming and singing the classics, us included.

The rest of the playlist

Do you have a favourite Tahitian song that’s not on my playlist? Share it with me in the comments!

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