The reviewers continue to praise Mahinarangi as ... "a breathtaking singer" .
"an extraordinary voice"... "A wonderful vocalist with an intricate, jazzy sense of phrasing" ... Mahinarangi Tocker can deliver the goose-flesh tingling sensation of witnessing greatness" ......
the mongel in me is a 29-song collection about love, loss, desire and heritage that comes from Mahinarangi's emotional and musical expressions with respect to her Maori, Hebrew and Celtic ancestry.
For this recording Mahinarangi has assembled all of the musicians she has been performing with recently at festivals such as WOMAD and NZ International Arts Festival ... Shona Laing (vocals/piano), James Wilkinson (vocals/guitars), David Downes (piano, drums, vocals) Anahera Higgins (vocals/bodhran), Ashley Brown (cello) and Denny Stanway (vocals/ bodhran) and Jimmy Young (northumbrian pipes, bodhran, tin whistle, vocals) of 'Rua" fame. Also appearing on four of the tracks is prominent composer and trumpet player extraordinaire, Ross Harris.
There are many, many highlights on this album ... to name a few - the first single Like I Used To, the radio-friendly I Was Deaf Then, the unmistakeable vocals of Shona Laing on the bi-lingual My Love Be Still, the Maori language Taku Kotiro, the tri-lingual The Wild Winged Messenger, the tribute to Sir Edmund Hillary (complete with throat singing harmonics!) The Beekeeper's Son From Tuakau and the poignant Arnold Brooker.
