Nigel Gavin
Introduction '''Nigel Gavin''' is a New Zealand based musician and composer, best known as a guitar player. In addition to being a highly regarded solo artist and session musician, Nigel has been a member of bands such as popular New Zealand jazz quartett The Nairobi Trio, Robert Fripp's The League of Crafty Guitarists, klezmer "Jews Brothers", and Jonathan Besser's Bravura, as well as collaborator with artists such as folk singers Luke Hurley,  Wayne Gillespie and Lorina Harding, Maori soul diva Whirimako Black, multi-instrumentalist Tom Ludvigson, jazz singer Caitlin Smith and harmonica maestro Brendan Power. He has a vast musical vocabulary which ranges from acoustic blues and folk to jazz, rock, fusion, surf pop, complex ambient grooves and various world music genres, in particular klezmer. Nigel's original jazz compositions cross boundaries of genre and combine musical traditions. He has toured extensively and performed at numerous music and art festivals in New Zealand, America, Australia and Europe. An active mentor to young artists, Nigel founded and mentored the New Zealand guitar collective concept bands Gitbox and Gitbox Rebellion. As a constant innovator, he is a regular contributor to the Auckland experimental music salon Vitamin S and has given multimedia performances with photographer Ralph Talmont's photographs.
Solo albums Nigel Gavin has recorded four solo albums. Music for Flem volume II, Thrum in 2003, Visitation in 2007 and Waggle Dance in 2017.
Instruments Nigel started out as a bass player and is best known as a guitarist but should probably be described as a stringed instrument player. His signature instrument is a 7-string acoustic guitar, made by New Zealand luthier Laurie Williams. His favourite electric guitars are a Fender Telecaster and an Ibanez 7-string, both of which he uses with a variety of effects. He also plays a Yamaha 6-string steel string acoustic, acoustic and electric mandolins, a banjo and an 11-string Godin Glissentar – in effect a fretless electric oud with the same scale and size as a conventional guitar. He is also a proficient piano player and percussionist.Nigel often employs live loops in both performance and recording, using a custom effects box with a large variety of foot pedals. He plays with both fingers and a pick but also has been known to strike, pick, strum and pluck an instrument's strings with a variety of implements, including a pipe cleaner.
Discography Date Title Label Catalog NumberArtist/Group  Solo1998'''''Music For Flem'''''thrum0012003'''''Thrum'''''Ode Recordsthrum0022007'''''Visitation''''' Ode Recordsthrum0032017'''''Waggle Dance''''' Thrum Records Other '''''Songs from down the Line'''''indieRichard Watt'''''Kura Huna '''''Mai musicWhirimako Black1993''''' Living in Exile'''''Wayward/Sony Music NZWayne Gillespie2006''''' Live at the Bunker with Wayne Gillespie'''''Wayward MusicWM006Wayne Gillespie and Nigel Gavin'''''The Nairobi Trio Live'''''ManuManu 1338the Nairobi Trio'''''Through the Clouds'''''manumanu 1432nairobi trio'''''Shelf Life'''''Zulu zcd001Nairobi Trio'''''Live at the McDonald Winery'''''Zulu zcd002Nairobi trio'''''The Jew Brothers live at Gerhards'''''rouge recordsthe Jews Brothers'''''My Yiddish Swing'''''rouge recordsThe Jews Brothers'''''the Braeburn album'''''rouge recordsthe Jews Brothers'''''Too much Talent'''''rouge recordsthe Jews Brothers'''''Mr. Darwin's Dances'''''atollacd 200Besser & Bravura'''''You Got Your Wish'''''atollacd 302Bravura'''''Music for Peace vol. one'''''unsungunsung 109Bravura and Friends'''''Turn'''''rattlerat do13Bravura'''''New Orleans Gumbo Jazz-Live'''''bbsbbs 102The Blue Bottom Stompers'''''"But is it Folk? "'''''bbsbbs 103The Blue Bottom Stompers'''''Live on Waiheke Island Jazz festival'''''bbsbbs 104The Blue Bottom Stompers'''''Pesky Digits'''''rattlerattle doo1Gitbox Rebellion'''''Touch Wood'''''rattle / DGMrat doo5/ DGM 9511Gitbox Rebellion'''''Different Tracks'''''rattlerat DOO3Misc. '''''Parting Shots'''''OdeCDODE 1290Last Man Down'''''King of the Mercuries'''''ODECD Manu 1526Ross Mullins and the Snaps'''''Tidemarks'''''Red ShaverRS 101Ross Mullins1991'''''Show of Hands'''''EGEEG 2102-2Robert Fripp & the League of Crafty Guitarists'''''Intergalactic Boogie Express'''''DGMDGM 9502Robert Fripp & the League of Crafty Guitarists2005'''''Clean Break '''''global routesLorina Harding2007'''''East of the Sun'''''global roots musicCM001Carolina Moon'''''precious legacy'''''johnathan besser and co'''''Welcome to the Big Room'''''jazzscoreCD001Trip to the Moon2008'''''Ecstacy'''''attarattar1003Bravura'''''Kokomo, In The Well'''''jayremBRPCD009Kokomo2009'''''Famous Blue Raincoat EP'''''wayward musicnafamous blue raincoat/Wayne Gillespie Rob Grosser2009'''''Recent Works'''''Odemanu 3004Nigel Gavin and Richard Adams (violinist)'''''A Job with the Circus'''''Ode recordsdvdmanu 8005Nigel Gavin2010'''''Decadence Live'''''AtollACD 409Besser & Bravura
References  * Trevor Reekie, ''Moments Like These: Nigel Gavin'', NZ Musician, 2009.Vol: 14 No: 8* Andrew Healey, ''Nigel Gavin – One out of the Box'', NZ Musician, 2007.Vol: 13 No: 4
External links * Nigel Gavin – Official Home Page* AudioCulture profile* Nigel Gavin's "Thrum" in iTunes* Blog entry about the cover of Richard Adams's and Nigel Gavin's "Recent Works" by collaborator, photographer Ralph Talmont