Wellington 8 Piece The Jac to tour Australia

From the media release

Album release (NZ)
Nerve The Jac

The Jac will be performing Oct 16^th in Brisbane at JMI Live; October 17^th in Melbourne at Cross St and Oct 19^th at Conduit Art Space; Oct 20^th in Adelaide for COMA at the Wheatsheaf Hotel; Oct 21^st for Jazzgroove Association at Foundry 616; and Oct 23^rd at Smith’s Alternative Bookshop in Canberra.

New Zealand band The Jac are to debut in Australia with a lightening tour, playing 7 dates over just 8 days in Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra. The band, led by alto saxophonist and composer Jake Baxendale, features some of New Zealand’s finest musical talent from the jazz, classical and metal scenes.

The Jac released their debut album Nerve on the Rattle Jazz label earlier in 2014. Comprised of 5 intricate and densely arranged original pieces, it has drawn considerable critical success. The release was quickly followed by a New Zealand tour. With a set of new material recently outed at a packed Wellington Jazz Festival show, the band is now looking to perform further afield.

‘Australia has a great jazz scene and I’m really looking forward to playing there again and catching up with some awesome people,’ says Jake, who toured there earlier this year with his group Antipodes. ‘We already have a bit of a relationship with some of the venues we’ll be playing. The guys from COMA in Adelaide are also signed to Rattle and toured here in NZ recently, and I played with some of the Jazzgroove crew on the Tiny Hearts NZ tour August.

Described in a recent review as being ‘on par with any global contemporary jazz bands (The Jac) is an exquisite slice of NZ jazz and one that deserves to be heard’, the band also features musicians bringing influences and expertise from outside the jazz spectrum. Notable among these are Matthew Allison, associate principal trombonist in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and Shaun Anderson, drummer for prominent metal bands Saving Grace and Depths. Completing the line-up are Alexis French, ex Black Seeds and leader of the Richter City Rebels, on trumpet; Nick Tipping, bass; Chris Buckland, tenor saxophone; Daniel Millward on piano; and Callum Allardice, guitarist and alongside Jake the other chief composer for the band.

Sitting somewhere between a small combo and a full big band, the four horn, four rhythm instrumentation of The Jac is highly flexible, capable of both explosive power and also quiet intimacy. Reviewer John Fenton said of the line-up ‘It is all too rare to see such configurations in New Zealand and I wish more would surface.’

This is a concert that commands your attention, with catchy melodies, rich harmonies, and driving grooves. The tunes are designed to take you on a journey; the long form, almost through-composed arrangements seamlessly weaving from the organised to the improvised and back again.