Drawing on 39 interviews with leading New Zealand jazz musicians, New Zealand Jazz Life is a ground-breaking survey of the vibrant local scene. In best jazz style, eight solos - first-person portraits of major musicians - alternate with ensemble passages that enlarge on the key themes: discovering jazz learning to play starting a career living and working as a musician overseas what it means to play black American music in New Zealand the emergence of a New Zealand sound the state of jazz in contemporary New Zealand what jazz in New Zealand needs to go forward New Zealand Jazz Life is essential and inspiring reading for musicians and fans, and a fascinating insight into the opportunities and predicaments encountered by practitioners of any art form in New Zealand.