Acclaimed saxophonist Nathan Haines was reared in a jazz family (father Kevin on bass, and brother Joel on guitar). Aged 19 he left New Zealand as an AGC Young Achiever to study in New York, and discovered the club scene. His bestselling 1994 debut Shift Left — which became one of New Zealand's biggest-selling jazz albums — set the template for his distinctive fusion of modern and traditional jazz sounds. A shift to the UK spawned several albums; track 'Earth is the Place’ became a club hit. Haines has toured with the NZSO, headlined at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, and recorded with drum and bass man A-Sides.

London-based jazz saxophonist Nathan Haines returns home to perform with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, where he's accompanied by his bassist father, Kevin, and guitarist brother, Joel in a musical family reunion. They've followed different paths since the mid-80s when Nathan was 14 and they used to play as a trio (seen here in archive footage). The NZSO concert features standards and new songs from the brothers. This documentary backgrounds those songs, and follows the tricky business of melding jazz group and orchestra in rehearsal and concert. 

‘Beda’ featured on saxophonist Nathan Haines’ live album Soundkilla Sessions Vol 1 (1996). This 1997 music video — directed by Carla Rotondo — is a woozy showcase of Haines’ trademark clubland jazz, shot through with reds and yellows as the camera sways and swings around an Auckland laundromat. A couple of young women get ready for a night out, an old fella perves, a young Oliver Driver gets intimate next to the Surf, and an equally fresh-faced Paolo Rotondo gets lost inside his headphones and sheepskin jacket.

On ‘Lady Lywa’, Nathan Haines swaps his trademark saxophone for a flute, serving up a slice of sleekly sophisticated cool. The video captures a live performance at London’s Lovebuzz Studios, with a sharply suited Haines leading a five piece ensemble of seasoned players — including his long term collaborator, keyboardist/producer Mike Patto. The track was penned by Haines, and features on his 2013 long-player Vermillion Skies, which debuted on the local top five on release, and won him his third Best Jazz Album Tui at the 2014 New Zealand Music Awards.

As smooth and laid-back as the song, this Josh Frizzell-directed music video takes inspiration from the geometric designs of album covers from 1960s label Blue Note Records. The track is from saxophonist Nathan Haines’ debut Shift Left (then New Zealand’s best-selling jazz album). Here Haines is a precocious 22, bespectacled, with his hair cropped unusually short. Sani Sagala (aka Dei Hamo) turns up to add a rap overlay to the song's ‘acid jazz’ influenced sax grooves. Frizzell also directed videos for Emma Paki (System Virtue) and Urban Disturbance (Static).

This 1999 documentary see presenter Gary McCormick exploring the lives of New Zealand expats living in London. London Kiwis – including MTV Europe head Brent Hansen, Angel at My Table actor Kerry Fox, chef Peter Gordon, house-boaters Karyn Hay and Andrew Fagan, and drunk backpackers at The Church – reflect on their overseas experience and the meaning of home. Produced alongside a companion documentary on Kiwis in Ireland, London Connection was a further collaboration between McCormick, director Bruce Morrison and producer William Grieve (Heartland). 

The Splore summer music festival has always been as much about alternative lifestyles as live music: in other words, it's a poi twirling, hippie paradise. Presenter Jane Yee teams up with Evan Short — one half of electronica act Concord Dawn — to wander around the idyllic Waharau Regional Park setting, take a wedding snap at the 'Las Vegas Wedding Chapel', and witness the air-cracking skills of The Wild Whip Man. Yee also chats to Fat Freddy's Drop and Nathan Haines, and showcases videos for 'Don't Tell Me' (Concord Dawn), 'Hope' (Fat Freddy's), and 'Doot Dude' (Haines). 

Opotiki-raised Tama Waipara was studying performance clarinet at New York’s Manhattan School of Music when a freak accident (a fuse box fell on his head) put studies on hold. While convalescing, he took up singing and songwriting. Three albums and a return to Auckland later, Waipara is a fixture on the NZ music scene: known for his powerful voice and eclectic style — ‘Alt/ Soul/ Indie/ Maori’ says his Facebook page — and collaborations (Nathan Haines, Annie Crummer, Maisey Rika). Fill Up the Silence won the 2014 NZ Music Award for Best Roots Album.

A hunter heads home, to add his latest catch to an extensive wall of animal trophies. Then he sets about making some music. But things do not go to plan: with a mouse loose in the building, the chase is on. The third film by Kiwi king of the kooky, director Grant Lahood was nominated for Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival, and took away a special technical award. It was also judged best short film at the 1993 NZ Film and Television Awards. The Singing Trophy was filmed at Kahutara Taxidermy museum in the Wairarapa.