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Nathan Haines – Judge
From Soundkilla Sessions Volume 1: huh!/Polydor huh7 [OOP]

Nathan Haines – O Misterio
From Squire for Hire: Chillifunk 336622 [Buy]

Even the briefest survey of jazz music in New Zealand must, at some point, touch on Nathan Haines. A saxophonist and flautist by trade (and no mean singer either), Nathan has been portrayed as the nerdy kid at school who was hip before his time: listening to Coltrane, Miles Davis and Monk when his classmates were headbanging to Guns ‘n’ Roses.

His musical family (father Kevin is a bass player, and brother Joel is a respected guitarist and composer) was also probably a major factor in Nathan becoming the powerful musician he is today. Initially released just in New Zealand, Nathan’s 1995 debut Shift Left was picked up by Verve – not bad for the kid from Northcote College…

While cutting his chops playing straightahead bop, Mr Haines has always been interested in the melding of jazz and dance music. The two songs here mark steps along this road. Judge is from a 1998 album recorded live at nightclubs around Auckland (yes, this was definitely dance music). O Misterio features on 2003′s album Squire for Hire, recorded with Mark de Clive-Lowe and Phil Asher in London.

Today Nathan Haines splits his time between New Zealand and London. What is most exciting is that this guy has yet to make his definitive musical statement.