www.ritareys.eu Rita Reys & The Kilima Hawaiians performing the Hawaiian War Chant, originally known as Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai, on a TV show in 1975 on occasion of Rita's 50 birthday.
Rita Reys started her singing career performing this type of repertoire with a group called the Hawaiian Minstrels, in Rotterdam back in 1941. Two years later she left her home town and moved to Hilversum where she met her first husband Wessel Ilcken (1923-1957) who introduced her to jazz. Eventually Rita became The Netherlands' most popular jazz singer. She would record and perform with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Griffin a.o. After winning the Antibes Juan-Les-Pins jazz festival award in 1960 she became widely known as Europe's First Lady of Jazz. In 1969 she was the first Dutch jazz artist to perform at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, with Zoot Sims, Milt Hinton, Clark Terry and her second husband pianist Pim Jacobs (1934-1996).
The Hawaiian War Chant - Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai was also recorded by Ella Fitzgerald. Its best known rendition is by Spike Jones from 1946.
6 сен 2024
