Two - Out

Roger Manins is one of New Zealand's best kept secrets and - as quiet as it's kept - one of the world's great saxophonists! We first met many years ago through the Sydney Conservatorium's jazz studies program and have been friends ever since. Roger joined my quartet and became a featured member of my BigSmalBand until his move back to New Zealand in 2004.

We still find opportunities to play together and on a recent visit to Sydney he stopped by my house where we jammed 'two-out', having so much fun we decided to record a duo album.

The main obstacles were co-ordinating our schedules and locating a suitable venue. Engineer Bob Scott suggested Sydney Conservatorium's Verbrugghen Hall as the ideal space for our project, which came with a big bonus for me when I discovered the hall housed a wonderful Fazioli grand piano.

It was a pretty relaxed and spontaneous session with us recording 16 songs in less than four hours, 11 of those tracks making the final cut - not an easy decision when there are so many choices. Most were first takes, as Roger and I wanted to capture some of that elusive magic that can happen when you 'look the other way'.

I hope you enjoy the journey with us, as we explore and have fun with music we've known as listeners and players for most of our lives.

Mike Nock, Sydney May 2015