Blair Latham

Blair Latham is a saxophonist, composer and multi-instrumentalist with a deep love of the bass clarinet. With an expansive creative vision inspired by the likes of John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman, he can be found lending his talents in Wellington, New Zealand to a diverse range of projects ranging from his first love Jazz, to Blues, Latin, Funk and on to his second love, avant-garde experimental music.

Born in Wellington and bred in Porirua, Blair completed his performance degree in Jazz at Massey University course (now part of the NZSM). Heading overseas, he played on cruise ships before eventually landing in Mexico, which became his spiritual second home. He lived and played in the Yucatan Peninsula and Quintana Roo before establishing himself as an essential member of the creative music scene in Mexico City during four or so years there. Highlights for him in Mexico include playing original material to thousands at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara on the same bill as Dave Douglas with his group La Idea Electrica, touring with a jazz band through narco-gang controlled territory in the northern state of Tamaulipas, and playing free jazz with a kiwi ensemble Rolling Eye to inmates at a boy's prison in Mexico City. In between his time in Mexico he managed to complete an Honours degree at Massey University in Wellington in Jazz Composition and Arranging whilst caring for his 2 year old.

Since returning to New Zealand, Blair makes his presence known in a multitude of musical contexts. He is the principal Bass Clarinetist in the Air Force band, was a winner of a newly created composition prize for the 2020 Wellington Jazz Festival, where he headlined the festival with the group The Noveltones, and he lends his unique musical sensibility to numerous jazz groups that perform at the main venues around wellington. He has toured NZ as part of Chamber Music NZ’s offerings to the community working with NZ icons such as Bill Manhire, has played at numerous editions of Art Deco in Napier and at Jazz Clubs around the country and has surprisingly even popped up from time to time on electric guitar playing well known hits.

Blair began composing seriously towards the end of his jazz performance degree in the late ‘90s. He has split his compositional time between writing jazz lead sheets that can be utilised by any sort of ensemble from duo upwards, with writing music that explores more chamber style settings such as wind trios or quartets, trios made up of guitar/drums/bass clarinet with no bass, or quartets that have no traditional harmonic instrument. Exploring the interplay of improvisation and composition in these non-traditional settings has been a constant, with utilisation of both free improvisation and structured improvising over a set harmony mixed into the repertoire of any one group, and sometimes the same piece. With all of these Blair has also shown a deep interest in the Ellingtonian concept of writing material not just for the instrument but the musician behind the instrument, and the specific character they bring to the music played.