Roger Manins saxophone and band leader.
Born in 1970 in Waiuku, New Zealand is one of the foremost saxophonists in Australasia. He originally studied at the Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, building a solid reputation both in New Zealand and Australia for several years before leaving for New York in 1996. Recognised as an outstanding tenor player, Roger is also an accomplished doubler, playing alto, soprano and baritone saxophones, flute, clarinet and bass clarinet.

The 2 1/2 years Roger spent in New York (1996-1999), have had a profound influence on his playing. There he gained a deep understanding of the jazz tradition through his interactions with major players on the scene, and through a stream of constant playing - on the street, sessions, jams and gigs. He learned to play with New York rhythm sections and developed as a stronger and more powerful player with an individual sound and style. Roger made a living playing Latin, swing, free funk, Brazilian and blues with a wide variety of groups. He also studied privately with two main masters: George Garzone (advanced harmony) and Doug Lawrence (swing tenor).

In 1998 Roger spent two months in Havana, Cuba playing with the Cuban Churanga band ‘Orchestra Sublime’, learning the spoken language of Spanish and the aural language of Cuban music. Returning to Australia, Roger was declared the winner of the 2002 Wangaratta Australian National Jazz Awards. Winning Australia’s most prestigious under 35’s jazz award has allowed greater and much deserved recognition of Roger’s prodigious talent. He was also a finalist in the Australian Freedman Fellowship Jazz Awards.

Roger is featured on James Muller’s latest CD Thrum. The tune Paul Bley performed by the quartet on this album won an ARIA award for most played jazz piece on Australian radio 2003. He performs regularly with The Mike Nock Quintet and Big Small Band (BSB), and participated in a month long national Australian tour in October 2002. Roger is also featured on Mike Nock’s latest release Mike Nock Big Small Band Live (ABC) which has just won The Australian Bell Awards Jazz Album of the Year 2004 and Ashley Turner’s Beautiful Open Spaces which was also nominated for Australian Jazz Album of the Year 2004.

Roger’s television appearances include the ABC Pulse series both with the Mike Nock BSB and the Aron Ottignon Quartet which was recorded live in 2002 and broadcast again in 2003. He has also traveled and performed all over Australia with the James Morrison Septet from mid 2003 through to July 2004 when he returned to NZ.
In September 2004 the Roger Manins Quartet featured at Australia’s Bellingen Jazz Festival.

Roger now lives in New Zealand and divides his time between teaching at Auckland University and performing in Auckland as well as sorties to Australia

Gday Pete,
Sorry for not following it up but yes the entertainment went really well and the boss enjoyed Rogers playing. I will pass on your details to his PA, I’d say there’s a good chance they’ll be using him again for some functions.
Cheers for the hook up.
Best Regards
Luke Tempest
Captain
The Super Yacht Thalia
Roger Manins Duo

Hi Kellie
HipFlask were, as always, excellent. Everyone very much enjoyed their performance
Thanks
Lettie
Auckland University Business School

Hi Kellie
Thanks for your email. Hipflask were fantastic as always and everyone really enjoyed the evening
Thanks
Lettie

Hi Kellie
I was not in attendance of the event but my colleagues have reported that they were excellent and were really flexible in meeting our requirements such as volume and style of music. The guests really enjoyed their performance!
Thanks
Juliette Lacey
University of Auckland Business School

Hi Kellie,
Yes, they were both great.
Fantastic and enjoyed by all.
Thanks again,
Mel Corliss
Apollo Marketing

The guys were great, very friendly, professional and many people commented on how much they enjoyed the music. Our young boys watched them play with great enjoyment!
Thanks,
Sandy Hahn

Dear Pete and Robyn,
Thank you very much for supplying the Roger Manin’s Trio and Helen Clark / Suzanne Lee for our conference over the weekend.
I have booked the Roger Manin’s Trio in the past and again they proved themselves the consummate, extremely popular professionals that they are.
Yours sincerely
Mark Scherer
Cherry events + pr

hi Pete, Many thanks we had a great time, music was good, must have been , lots of people commented so, but alas i was so tied up didn't get a chance to thank them all, especially Roger for his solo sax during the entrance,
Regards
Peter Marshall

Yet again another successful concert on the Lawn here at Nathan Homestead and a great response from the crowd.Once again many thanks Pete for the excellent selection and high quality, professional performances to date.
Chantelle
Manakau City events at Nathan Homestead

REVIEW OF HIP FLASK CD:
A remarkable characteristic of this album is not just the exceptional musicianship of Roger Manins (his debut as leader and recorded in 2001), but his unusual use of both Hammond organ and piano in the line-up. Renowned Sydney organist-keyboardist Stuart Hunter joins forces with Adam Ponting on piano complementing mostly Manins' compositions.

Manins states in the liner notes "the focus of the music is the groove and the blues". While most of the compositions are simple and attractive, both melodically and in structure, each artist is anxious to explore outside the melody and the groove - albeit in the head-solo-head tradition. It's particularly evident on "Victoria" where the elementary blues turns avant-garde thanks to a spirited exchange between Ponting and Manins.

The immensely talented Brendan Clarke plays an unwavering role on both acoustic and electric basses. "Bang" takes time out from the prevailing bluesy flavour when Manins chooses the bass clarinet for a celestial introduction, developing into a canvas of shifting corridors and bright shafts of light, while Ponting is heard redeploying McCoy Tyner's thunderous heavy-handed bass chords. "Impulse" sees the return of the blues feel, but this time with a funky backbeat courtesy of Toby Hall.

Manins has a tough, beefy sound, which is boldly projected without any indefinable notes - a quality which blossomed from experiences in NYC between 1996 and 1999. A sound arguably recalling Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis' but with altoist Hank Crawford's Memphis overtones.

Another surprise is "Jacqueline Grace": a slower-than-heartbeat bass drum pulse underpins the transcendental contributions from Manins, Hunter and Ponting. "Big Sis" concludes the program in the broad brushstroke of earthy rhythm and gritty blues.

One gets the feeling there's a parallel between the bold Manins sound and the rationale behind this album. If you're being heard for the first time, make an impact. An ominous signal for the jazz world.