Te Koki New Zealand School of Music has two Jazz Big Bands rehearsing throughout the university year, with players regularly auditioning for a place in either the first or second band. Both bands have regular performance opportunities in Wellington including the Southern Cross Hotel and in jazz festivals around the country - Tauranga, Manawatu, Napier, Queenstown and the Southern Jam Festival.
The musical director is Dr Rodger Fox, New Zealand's foremost jazz trombonist and big band leader. The Rodger Fox Big Band has been performing throughout New Zealand and around the world for about 50 years. Rodger's current project is to establish a New Zealand Jazz Orchestra, and we in the Whanganui jazz community fully endorse this initiative.
The NZSM Big Band One features the country's best up-and-coming jazz talent, drawn from the cream of the New Zealand School of Music jazz majors.
The band has been making history for many years, with different players as students complete their studies and move on with their careers. The one constant is Rodger, and I asked him to introduce the concert with a few words:
"Hear the future of New Zealand jazz in one concert. Twenty-two young musicians from all over New Zealand who attend the jazz programme at the NZ School of Music in Wellington. Now check them out in concert in Whanganui on August 7. Keep jazz alive."
