This page is dedicated to my publications, presentations, and media activities. If you would like to engage me as to write or research on your behalf on any NZ music history related topic just drop a message at the bottom of the page and I’ll get back to you.
Many of the journal articles and book chapters are behind a paywall so if you don’t have institutional access contact me and I’ll give you a PDF. I don’t get paid for this writing and I don’t want you to have to pay multi-national publishing companies just to read it.
Thesis
At University of Auckland Research Space
Journal Articles
Published:
2020: Jazz Research Journal Vol. 13 1-2: Jazzing Through the Luminiferous Ether: How International jazz Broadcasts Affected the Experience of Jazz in 1920s-1930s New Zealand.
2016: Comics Grid Special issue on comics and jazz- New Zealand Jazz Concerts, The Use and Abuse of Grand Pianos, and One Cartoonist’s Response
http://www.comicsgrid.com/articles/10.16995/cg.75/
2015: Jazz Research Journal Vol. 8 1-2: Got a Little Rhythm? The Australian Influence on Jazz in New Zealand during the 1930s and 1940s.
2014: Crescendo: Bulletin for the International Association of Music Libraries Issue 94: The Brubeck Collection at the University of the Pacific
2013: Current Research in Jazz: Artie Shaw in New Zealand 1943
http://www.crj-online.org/v5/CRJ-ShawNewZealand.php
August 2011: Crescendo: Bulletin for the International Association of Music Libraries Issue 89 Review article: Blue Smoke, the Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music 1918-1964, by Chris Bourke.
November 2010: Crescendo: Bulletin for the International Association of Music Libraries Issue 87: Jazz in New Zealand from the Jazz Age to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Era.
October 2008: Flute Focus: Pioneers of Jazz Flute
http://www.flutefocus.com/Jazz/pioneers-jazz-flute.html
Note: Flute Focus has closed down- my article Pioneers of Jazz Flute can now be read at International Flute Journal:
Book Chapters
2020: Performing History ed. Nancy November. CH. 14 “Saxophones Sobbed Out Jazz”: New Zealand’s First Jazz Recording
2017 Searches for Tradition, eds. Michael Brown and Samantha Owens. CH 9. Going to Town in the Big Jam: ‘Official’ Jam Sessions in the 1940s and the Development of the New Zealand Jazz Community.
2016 Antipodean Riffs: Essays on Australasian Jazz, ed. Bruce Johnson. CH 3: Got a Little Rhythm? The Australian Influence on Jazz in New Zealand during the 1930s and 1940s.
2010: Many Voices: Music and National Identity in Aotearoa/New Zealand, ed. Henry Johnson, CH 9: “ANZAC, Hollywood, and Home”: Constructing a New Zealand jazz culture
Other Writing
A Jazz Historian After Hours (aka, my other blog- on hiatus while I decide what to do with it)
Invited Seminar Presentations
2018 May: Ministry of Culture and Heritage Monthly Talk at National Library
Jazzy Nerves, Aching Feet and Foxtrots: The Jazz Age in New Zealand
Listen to it at: https://newzealandhistory.podbean.com/e/jazzy-nerves-aching-feet-and-foxtrots-new-zealand’s-jazz-age/
May: New Zealand School of Music, Music Forum
Jazzy Nerves, Aching Feet and Foxtrots: The Jazz Age in New Zealand
2017 May: New Zealand Music Month-
Dunedin City Library
Jazzy Nerves, Aching Feet and Foxtrots: The Jazz Age in New Zealand
Christchurch City Library
1950s Jazz Concerts
June: Wellington Jazz Festival
Jazz in New Zealand
October: Auckland City Libraries
Everybody’s Jazzing Now: Auckland’s Nightlife in the 1920s
November: IAML-NZ
Jazz and the City: A Virtual Tour of Auckland’s Jazz Venues
2016 April: International Jazz Day- University of Auckland
Auckland’s Jazz Heritage
May: New Zealand Music Month-
Birkenhead Library and Auckland City Library
Auckland’s Jazz Heritage
Birkenhead Library
1950s Jazz Concerts
July: University of Auckland Centre for Continuing Education Winter Week
Jazzy Nerves, Aching Feet and Foxtrots: The New Zealand Jazz Age
2015 May: New Zealand Music Month- Auckland City Library
Adventures in Sound: The New Zealand Tours of the Dave Brubeck Quartet
July: University of Auckland Continuing Education Winter Week:
Adventures in Sound: The New Zealand Tours of the Dave Brubeck Quartet
November: IAML- NZ
Jazzy Nerves, Aching Feet and Foxtrots: Representations of Jazz in New Zealand Media During the 1920s
2014 May: Cartoons, Comics and Caricatures Symposium (University of Auckland):
No Use Crying Over Split Pianos: The 1950s Jazz Concerts and the Grand Piano Controversy
2012 August: University of Auckland School of Music Jazz Studies department:
Jazz in New Zealand
2011 May: New Zealand School of Music (Wellington) Friday Music Forum:
“Any rags, any jazz, any boppers today?” Jazz in New Zealand from the Jazz Age to the Rock and Roll Era.
July: University of Auckland Continuing Education Winter Week:
Jazz in New Zealand from the Jazz Age to the Rock and Roll Era.
September: University of Auckland School of Music Fermata Series:
Aching Feet, Jazzy Nerves and Foxtrots: Representations of Jazz in the 1920s
2010 May: University of Auckland School of Music Lecture Series:
Jazz in New Zealand from the 1920s to the 1950s
November: New Zealand Music Libraries Conference:
Jazz in New Zealand from the Jazz Age to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Era
2008 October: University of Auckland School of Music Jazz Studies department:
Jazz in New Zealand
Media
2013 Radio New Zealand, Arts on Sunday:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/artsonsunday/20131117
2018 Radio New Zealand, Upbeat:
2018 Radio New Zealand, 1-4 with Jesse Mulligan:
Awards
2013 Dave Brubeck Collection Research Travel Grant
2016-2017 Sir George Grey Researcher in Residence (Auckland City Libraries)
2017 Douglas Lilburn Research Fellow
2017 Rebecca Coyle Publication Prize IASPM-ANZ for 2016: Comics Grid Special issue on comics and jazz- New Zealand Jazz Concerts, The Use and Abuse of Grand Pianos, and One Cartoonist’s Response
2018 Ministry of Culture and Heritage New Zealand History Research Trust Award
nzjazz 
Hi. I am doing a mural for the Hastings Council, for the Hastings Municipal Theatre, somtimes known as The Opera House. The mural has to relate to this venue
In a desperate attempt to make Hastings look vaguely cool, I would like to know, if you know of if any interesting Jazz gruops/singers might have played here to your knowledge?
Hi there.
Read an earlier post of yours about The Orange.
You might be pleased to learn that far from being demolished or converted into apartments, the bulk of the hall (including the ornate Orange Society meeting rooms, the original ballroom & dance floor, and the lower level Supper Room) has been retained, strengthened and extensively restored.
Soon to re-open as a venue for hire and open to the public, including a small cafe.
Could probably use some positive publicity!