Nick Tipping wears a number of hats. He’s best known to New Zealand jazz fans as one of the finest bass players in the country, having appeared on a number of Rattle releases, but more recently he has become widely known as the weekly jazz programme Inside Out on Radio New Zealand National, and on RNZ Concert where he plays full length masterpieces from across the classical spectrum on The Works.
Nick’s credits as a side man are impressive, from performances with artists as diverse as Bic Runga, the NZSO, Nathan Haines, Suzanne Prentice, Chris de Burgh, Kurt Elling, and Kenny Burrell. While he may have been an academic in a past life (holding a PhD from NZSM where he lectured for a decade) his roots are in classical music, having performed with orchestras and choirs throughout his life.
While he doesn’t have a favourite kind of music (if it sounds good he’ll listen to it, from Vaughan Williams to Tool, Miles Davis to barbershop quartets), Nick’s heart is firmly in jazz, as is clearly evident when you listen to his work on albums by The Jac (Nerve, The Green Hour) and Norman Meehan (Making Baby Float).
