A love of all things Rivers | Taranaki News | Local News in Taranaki

A 20 cent record purchase a few years ago has led to much intrigue for Eltham local Kevin Bowen and has grown into a love for Mavis Rivers, an artist he stumbled across purely by chance, and one who has become a part of his life.

When Kevin took his newly purchased record home and placed the old '33' on his turntable, the smooth voice of a woman whose name he had heard, but her music was unfamiliar to him could clearly be heard despite the scratches and bumps on the recording.

He was suitably impressed and since that first experience, has spent years compiling information on the singer who was Samoan born, made records in New Zealand and was given acclaim by one of the world's greats, Frank Sinatra.

What started as a small manila folder of information, ended in boxes of paper and large ringbinders of tidbits that Kevin would continue to find.

His research prompted him to write an article on the singer he had leant so much about and it was this that would prove to be a goldmine of facts he thought inaccessible.

The article was published in 'New Zealand Memories' magazine in September 2005 and at the end of the text Kevin added his contact details so anyone with more information could get in touch with him.

After it was printed Kevin was met with correspondence from people he could never have imagined.

Mavis Rivers was one of the oldest children in a large family and several of her brothers and sisters are still in the Pacific area.

One of Mavis' sisters, Natalie (who also sang and was in a group with two other siblings called the Rivers Sisters) contacted Kevin to fill in some family history gaps.

He was also lucky enough to have contact with fans, friends and family members from as far away as America.

Being a music connoisseur, Kevin thought it only appropriate that Mavis Rivers' works be compiled.

He has spent a considerable amount of time turning his personal record collection, and those lent to him by other fans, into CDs, one of her New Zealand recordings under the umbrella of TANZA and one called 'The New Zealand Years', Considering the quality of some of the recordings he had to work with, compiling the works was a huge achievement and one that Mavis Rivers fans from across the globe have come to appreciate.

Kevin continues to expand his Mavis Rivers collection and has rare recordings of her doing radio shows, songs wtih jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn, and vital pieces of information from close associates.

Once touted as 'New Zealand's greatest jazz singer', Kevin Bowen hopes his passion for Mavis Rivers, and the research he has done on her will keep her memory alive for decades to come.