Jammin' with the piano man

Jools Holland has been playing piano since he was eight years old. Photo / Supplied

Ask Jools Holland if there is anyone who he has felt truly honoured to play piano with and he reels off names like Beatle George Harrison ("A great honour") and the Empress of Soul, Gladys Knight.

"From the age of about 12 I bought all her records," says the pianist, band leader and TV host before he finally comes round to concluding, "But everybody really." By everybody he not only means the Harrisons and McCartneys of this world, but the players in his 20-piece rhythm and blues orchestra with whom returns to New Zealand on March 30 for a show at the Aotea Centre.

"Essentially, it's a spectacle that you don't really see any more. It's a big band, with a rock'n'roll rhythm section," he says.

So that's guitars, drums, bass, five saxophones, four trombones, three trumpets, Holland on piano, and three singers, including Ruby Turner who he declares is "the fire, the rain, the heaven and the hell" all wrapped up into one.

Holland, best known in New Zealand as the host of the excellent live performance and chat show, Later ... With Jools Holland, started the orchestra in 1987 with drummer Gilson Lavis, a friend he was in 70s pop band Squeeze with, and also includes reggae and ska trombone-playing great Rico Rodriguez.

"Bit by bit people joined and we've been very fortunate because it's evolved into what it is," says Holland. He laughs how Rodriguez was at a loose end one day, started playing in the band, and never left.

"The whole band have this communication where we all know what the rest of us are thinking. And one of the best things about playing music is if you can communicate how you are feeling without having spoken a word. So the longer you spend your life playing with people the better understanding you have."

Holland started playing the piano at eight, when he learned to play boogie woogie music - "and all the chaos of the universe made sense and I just kept playing".

And boogie-woogie remains his first love. "Yes, well," he pauses, "there are two words there, boogie and woogie. The feeling of boogie is great. That's a great thing. Then with boogie-woogie, it's something that makes you want to jump up and dance around and makes you feel sexy at the same time. So be careful."

Holland has been in the music business 35 years but admits it's only now, at the age of 52, that he's having the time of his life because he spends most of his time playing piano rather than doing TV work and writing.

"I think playing is the most enjoyable thing because you don't have to think, you have to feel. That takes you to a different place altogether because the best place to be is where you're feeling and not thinking.

"And I'm a very fortunate person because I'm playing the music I love, and I also get to see a lot of incredible musicians."

"But ultimately the thing I will always have is the orchestra because TV shows come and go."

One of his first major forays into TV, the hip and happening 80s music show The Tube which he hosted with Paula Yates, the former wife of Bob Geldof and partner of INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, did come and go.

Yet Later ... With Jools Holland first screened in 1992 on the BBC and it's still going.

While its unique format keeps it fresh, what makes it so good is the mix of big name acts (think Metallica, Coldplay, and Radiohead) playing alongside up and comers and lesser known and more obscure artists. "I'm amazed how long it's been on," he says, sounding chuffed. "And the thing is there is no other show that has been able to capture and archive the music the way we do. A lot of the stuff we capture, no one else will capture."

It's also about keeping your audience entertained, which is a belief he takes through into the orchestra.

"The key is having good players and having everybody realise that once the music begins you all become the servant of the song to make sure you're doing the best for the song.

"It's important to play what you love and love what you play, and you've got to love the people you're playing with as well."

Lowdown

Who: Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra
What: Boogie-woogie big band rock'n'roll
Where & when: Aotea Centre, Auckland, March 30