You might recognise Neil Billington, but you may not know why.

Neil, who is coming to town next weekend to perform at the Tauranga Art Gallery, is one of the finest harmonica players to emerge from New Zealand. But that's not why you'd recognise him.

Neil Billington turned his back on television for a career in music.

In the 1970s Neil was a Wellington law student obsessed with playing the harmonica. His first television appearance was playing with the legendary 1860s Band on the ‘Brian Edwards' show in 1976. And it's from television that you could just recognise Neil.

When he graduated he stopped playing.

After five years of being virtually glued to the instrument, he just as abruptly gave it up, believing there would be no future in playing music or in the harmonica. It stayed in the bottom of his cupboard for more than 20 years.

Meanwhile, Neil turned to broadcasting.

Initially, it was National Radio, on Jessica Weddell's ‘Viewpoint' programme, on ‘Checkpoint' and on ‘Morning Report'. He went to England in the early ‘80s and worked as a producer, reporter and then presenter on the BBC World Service, interviewing political figures such as Enoch Powell.

He was one of the first BBC reporters to interview David Lange as the new Prime Minister of New Zealand in 1984. Lange, having known Neil from National Radio, greeted him with a hearty 'How's the refugee?”

Neil returned to New Zealand in the mid-1980s to work for television. He presented ‘Foreign Correspondent' and then co-presented the nightly news with Judy Bailey in 1986. After a year he left that to present ‘Frontline'.

Behind the scenes

But, even then, Neil found television becoming increasingly commercial and entertainment-driven. After a period where he returned to radio he moved directly into politics as press secretary for Foreign Minister Don McKinnon, whom he accompanied into war-torn Bosnia and to New York to meet the Secretary-General of the UN.

In the mid-1990s Neil returned to Wellington and picked up the harp again but this time he wasn't just playing the Chicago-style amplified blues that he had become so good at – he discovered the chromatic harmonica, instrument of choice for such harmonica luminaries as Larry Adler and Stevie Wonder.

Few musicians play both types of harmonica. They are effectively totally different instruments.

But the chromatic harmonica lends itself to jazz (if one is capable of mastering it). Neil discovered the world of Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester Young, the great horn players of the swing era, and then Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.

That makes Neil a unique musician, one who comes from the blues – with the passion and emotion of that music – yet with the added sophistication of jazz's musical complexities.

The combination has led to him playing with everyone from folk groups to the Rodger Fox Big Band and a couple of months ago – for the second time – to tour Japan playing the blues.

He'll be doing a bit of all of it at the Art Gallery – blues with veteran guitarist and singer Mike Garner and a little jazz with Tauranga guitarist Trevor Braunias. The details: Saturday 22 August, 8pm, tickets $25 from Eventfinder or the Gallery.

Ones to watch

In fact, that Saturday is a veritable feast of blues in Tauranga. There is another show on and it should also be fantastic. Laura Collins and the Back Porch Blues Band are at the Te Puna Memorial Hall and are promising to 'rock the joint”.

Laura, known for her soulful vocal delivery and on-stage energy, says, 'I'm all about putting on a show. I'm lucky enough to be playing with some men who are huge talents – they've all played many a juke joint in their time”.

Those men are indeed some of Wellington's finest: the legendary Wayne Mason (writer of 'Nature”) on keys, guitarist John O'Connor, George Barris on mellow upright bass and Pete Cogswell on Back Porch Drums.

You can expect a little Etta James, some Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters and many more favourites, a whole lot of cheek, some fine playing and a good old southern time on the back porch.

Doors open at 7pm and concert starts at 7.30pm with a licensed bar and light refreshments at the interval. Tickets $20 on the door or from Rosie on redruth@vodafone.co.nz

watusi@thesun.co.nz

The Weekend Sun has two double passes to the Art Gallery show to give away to two lucky readers who can tell us what Neil studied in Wellington?

Enter online at www.sunlive.co.nz under the competitions section.

Entries must be received before Wednesday, August 19.