International jazz superstar hits town

International jazz superstar hits town

Nathan Haines, New Zealand’s own international jazz superstar, is headling the National Jazz Festival in Tauranga this Easter.

With tickets selling fast, the new organisers of the festival are delighted to have New Zealand's biggest international jazz star as their headline act.

Nathan Haines is an internationally renowned saxophonist, composer, producer, bandleader and vocalist with a body of work in multiple styles stretching back for over two decades. His albums – unusual for a jazz musician – have gained a constant place in the New Zealand music charts.

Festival director, Becks Chambers, says that Nathan's return to the festival for the first time since his sell-out shows in 2006 highlights the festival's renewed focus on “the best Kiwi jazz in the world”

“Nathan represents all that is great about the National Jazz Festival,” says Ms Chambers. “He played here as a teenager in the 1980s, performing and winning awards at the Youth Band Competitions. Now he's an internationally renowned musician, in demand from London to Japan. It's a real pleasure to have him leading the charge for the 51st festival.”

Following sell-out performances at the world famous jazz club Ronnie Scott’s in London Nathan returns, along with pianist Kevin Field and a talented line up of New Zealand’s finest jazz musicians, to showcase his unique brand of tenor and sax playing at the festival.

His latest album “The Poet’s Embrace” (released in New Zealand in 2012) has seen Haines return to his jazz roots and has been heralded by critics and musicians internationally as one of his finest.

“Tickets have been selling fast and there's a lot of excitement,” says Becks. “Nathan is in such demand we're very lucky to have him here. We've kept ticket prices as low as possible so everyone gets a chance to hear him – it's actually cheaper to go to the concert in Tauranga than it was for the English to see him at Ronnie Scotts!”

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