Jaqualyn Taimana Williams
Nau mai, haere mai and welcome to the creative works of Jaqualyn Taimana Williams (aka Jacqui), songwriter, musician, comedy performer, multiracial Kiwi mother of four and early childhood teacher.
Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Pūtuaki te maunga, ko Rangitaiki te awa, ko Kiwa te moana, ko Ngati Porou, Ngati Ranginui raua ko Ngati Apakura ngā iwi, ko Hinetamatea te marae, no Aotearoa ahau, ko Jacqui tōku ingoa. Ngā mihi nui.
“My birth parents are Chinese/Māori and French/Scottish/Māori in heritage but I didn’t always know that. I grew up believing I was Greek. My songs are all part of the story of the discovery of my identity which was withheld from me at birth by the Government adoption system of the late 1960s. It’s a personal journey and I know I’m but one of many displaced babies of that era. My DNA is predominantly Celtic/Māori and Scandinavian and I was raised by English and Australian adoptive parents. It’s a huge part of who I am as an artist – the sense of myself as being so culturally diverse as an individual in both nature and nurture that I’m free of the constraints of stereotyping.”
Jacqui’s music career began in 1987 at the Christchurch Arts Centre with a band of University students. “We were called The Statics, when we broke up we became ex-Statics.” Over thirty years of live performance including TV, radio and a tour of Germany in 1998. This has given Jacqui a strong base on which to build as an artist. Over the years an extensive, interesting range of original rock/pop songs, comedy songs, songs written in te reo Māori and songs for children have been waiting for their turn to be recorded.
