21 August 2025
John Rae, an award-winning composer and musician, recorded his first album at sixteen with saxophonist Tommy Smith and has since appeared on over 30 albums. He was the drummer for the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (2000-2003) and won a ‘Herald Angel’ at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Since moving to New Zealand in 2007, Rae has been a prominent figure in Wellington’s jazz scene, notably as front man for The Troubles. After years of advocacy, his vision for a national jazz orchestra will be realised with the Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra's inaugural performance at the 2025 Wellington Jazz Festival.
I caught up with John one chilly afternoon to talk about the Orchestra, his ambitions and The Nutcracker.
I began by asking how the Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra came to be.
“It’s something that’s taken over a decade,” John said in his Scottish brogue. “Obviously, I’m from Scotland. I arrived here in 2007, and I was in Hawkes Bay. I got the job as composer in residence at Victoria University, so I came down to Wellington - that’s what brought me here - and that’s when I first met Rodger Fox. Prior to that, when I was still in Scotland, I’d been the drummer in the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and I got talking to Rodger about whether there was a national jazz orchestra in New Zealand, and of course there wasn’t. So, we started discussing why not and why didn’t we put one together. And that was the beginning of a whole lot of trustees and a whole lot of people in the jazz community banding together, and yet, somehow it never happened.
“Then before you know it, it’s ten years later, and unfortunately Rodger has now passed away. Reflecting on it after he passed, I just thought we have to do this. It’s a proper homage to Rodger and all the work he and the trustees have done. It was just time to put the foot down and make it an actual thing, let’s get this orchestra together.”
As a national orchestra, I asked if they have musicians coming from all over New Zealand to take part.
“We do! We have musicians from Rotorua, from Auckland, from Christchurch, and of course there’ll be quite a few from Wellington. It really is a national institution already.”
The first performance by the Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra will be Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s vibrant reimagining of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite and I asked John what audiences can expect.
“A lot of thought went into this. If we’re going to start a national jazz orchestra we have to start with Duke Ellington who is basically the godfather of large ensembles. As a group, we make decisions by committee, and we decided that this was a piece that would appeal to a wide range of people. It will appeal to those who love the original Tchaikovsky, so we’ll bring in the classical music lovers, and obviously there are the jazz lovers who know Ellington’s version of it. We hope it will appeal to people all over Aotearoa who want to come and hear this piece of music.”
Bringing together the best jazz musicians from across Aotearoa to play this particular piece of music sounds like it might be challenging. I asked John if he’d faced any obstacles on his way to getting this event on sale.
“The main thing is that at the moment we’re completely unfunded, so everything we’ve done so far is out of a love for the music and belief in our vision for this group. That includes all the musicians, the volunteers, the trustees. We have a theory that this orchestra is going to be around for 50 years. One of our benchmarks is the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) and we hope that in 50 years’ time… no, let’s say less. In ten years’ time the AoJO will be regarded in the same way as all the other national orchestras.”
John discussed helping establish the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, noting that funders required evidence of its viability and audience before offering support. The orchestra operated independently for several years until Creative Scotland provided core funding.
“I think we’ll have to do the same here,” John went on. “Hopefully not for so long. To us it’s worth proving that this is something that will go on for a long time, that it will appeal not only to audiences, but to the essential infrastructure of the arts in New Zealand. It’s such an important stepping stone for young artists to play in a group like this. And jazz has one of the largest participation rates of any art in New Zealand. Just look at the Tauranga Jazz Festival which has a youth jazz competition. More than 40 big bands participate across four days, including over 180 smaller combos too. There’s obviously a need and a desire for jazz in New Zealand. We just need to take it to the big table now and present it not just nationally, but internationally – the great work jazz folks have done all around the country.”
I asked John what he thinks is unique about working as an artist in New Zealand.
“Lots of things. The first thing is it’s very self-contained. As you know, it’s very difficult to get out of New Zealand, especially if you’re involved in the arts, because everything’s so far away. But with that comes a great sense of community which we might not have if we were elsewhere. And generally, it’s a very, very good place to perform as an artist, although it is very difficult to make a living out of it. We’re working on it!”
We talked for a minute or two about how nice it would be if the arts were as valued here as say, IT or rugby.
“Some of the arts in New Zealand are very much appreciated,” John went on. “Some arts are core funded and are out there all over the place. We’d just like a little more diversity in which kinds of arts get funded. When I first came to Wellington it was incredible to me that there were two classical orchestras based here – the NZSO and Orchestra Wellington – and no national jazz orchestra. And that’s not including the plethora of other orchestras around the country. This isn’t a dig. Rodger, the trustees and myself, we saw this as an inspiration. These institutions took a long time and a lot of organisation and goodwill to get where they are today. We’re inspired by their examples and hope to replicate them.”
With time running short, I asked John if he had any final thoughts on his show, the orchestra, or the Jazz Festival.
“This concert we’re doing is unique. For audiences, it’s one of those concerts that in years to come people are going to want to say “I was there. I was at the inaugural concert of the Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra, New Zealand’s national jazz orchestra. We hope the public will come along to support us and get right behind this fantastic initiative.”
The Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra will perform The Nutcracker Suite at Meow Nui as part of the Wellington Jazz Festival on Thursday 16 October at 6:30pm. You can purchase tickets here.
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