GiGi Crayford

Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga

GiGi Crayford, a mokopuna of the "Crayford Jazz Dynasty" is a multi dimensional artist and musician, raised in the bustling Te Whanganui ā Tara.

A songwriter from a young age with a life long captivation for creativity. She believes to live is to create and to create is to heal; She makes alchemical art ranging from carving, story telling, painting, songwriting to weaving, sculpture and most recently Taonga Pūoro.

She stumbled upon Rob Thorne playing a Pūtātara at a small stage on Cuba St in 2018 and was deeply moved by the sounds which her ears had not heard before but her blood and bones remembered. Since then she has learned to make and play Taonga Pūoro as a mode of healing, a way to connect with the land, her tīpuna and compose music, adding to her repertoire of Guitar, Piano and Autoharp.

Some performances include:

Being a Taonga Pūoro practitioner for the Māoriland Matariki Ramaroa in 2023.

Singing and playing autoharp in one of the SOUNZ videos for 'Kia Oa Te Reo Waiti' Rangatahi mā.

Showcasing on a Radio Active live session under 'GiGi Genie' as a singer songwriter with my own original songs.

Having a live video captured playing the guitar and singing one of her songs, commissioned by Barnaby Weir from 'Fly my Pretties' and 'The Black Seeds' at Poquito bar.

Following the karanga of her tīpuna, she has created a very special project under the name 'HINE' due to release its debut waiata in August 2024 from a 5 track EP titled 'Ka Mua Ka Muri'. A mixture of Te Reo Māori and English. All original songs written by GiGi, with a fusion of folk, traditional jazz instrumentation by her whānau and woven Taonga Pūoro through each song

'Ka Mua Ka Muri' is intended as a legacy to this time we are all in collectively of re-balancing Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Hurihuri, as well as an ode to her whānau. Each song represents a different "HINE" Māreikura Māori, including Papatūānuku, Murirangawhenua, Hine te Iwa Iwa, Hine Raukatauri, Hine Moana and Hine Takurua. Honouring our sacred wāhine as vital pou in our past but also onwards into creating our future.

Me i kore ake ngā wāhine me i kore ake tātou katoa.