Last weekend I went to the Trinity Wharf Hotel launch of a big, bold and beautiful new book.

‘Paperboy Writer’, by Tommy Kapai Wilson, is a lavishly-illustrated collection of a decade’s worth of columns written for the Bay Of Plenty Times.

I’ve always admired the clear-eyed honesty of Tommy’s columns and this really does look good. The inestimable Graham Clark designed it, partly returning a favour. Tommy once helped Graham find funding for his own magnum opus, his encyclopaedic study of Tauranga’s historic music scene, ‘The Right Note’.

But however good it looks, I recommend it mainly because of the wit and wisdom, the insight and humanity in Tommy’s writing.

A weekly column can become quickly dated. I’m sure mine have. But somehow Tommy’s ability to see a bigger picture, to tie small local events to larger societal shifts, means that this very individual history of Tauranga - for that’s what it is – is still fresh and relevant, whether talking about place names, Waitangi Day, rugby, family or a thousand other things.

Perhaps stop at Trinity Wharf and see for yourself: they’re limited and not in bookshops; for a uniquely local Christmas gift, this might be just the thing.

Moving on. Horn players. Tauranga has some crackers and one of the best features on a new album from Spliz Enz keyboard player Eddie Rayner. I reckon Eddie’s a somewhat overlooked influence on New Zealand music.

Remember, Split Enz weren’t a guitar band like Crowded House, but a keyboard band. Next time you hear ‘Six Months In A Leaky Boat’ check out that iconic arrangement – all Eddie. His music has unconciously become part of our psych...

Back to horns. Specifically, Mark Dennison, an Auckland refugee relocated in Papamoa. Originally from Sydney, Mark’s first NZ gig was sax with DD Smash at the 1984 Queen Street Riots. He’s since played with Australian Crawl, Barry White, Diesel, Don McGlashen, Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham (two world tours), Manhattan Transfer, and dozens more, including Gary Harvey’s recent ‘Outta My Head’ album in Tauranga.

The newly-released album, ‘Eddie Rayner Presents Double Life’, features Eddie, with Mark on saxes, flute and more, guitarist Adrian Stucky and drummer Patrick Kuhtze.

Mark says: “The four of us loved playing together, and wanted a way to equally share songwriting credits, and figured that going into the studio and just jamming - with no preparation - would give us the way to contribute equally. There was none of the usual studio banter. One of us would play the first thing that came to mind, the rest would find a ‘way in’...”

Mark Dennison.

Then Eddie shaped the results into more regular song structures.

After the initial jams Eddie and Split Enz colleague Tim Finn created new songs with six of the tunes for the album ‘Shades and Echoes’ under the Forenzics band name. Now all 17 tracks are available. It’s jazzy but not exactly jazz, funky but not funk, easy-listening grooves with some surprising touches and sounds. And cool horns. Nice.

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