We chatted with him to find out what it's been like working on Waypeople again, and how the work has developed since the last time it was performed...
Looking back at the debut of Waypeople at the Wellington Jazz Festival last year, what was that experience like for you?
It was very yin and yang - weighty and heavy, in the sense of delivering a new body of work which I'd put a lot into, and which dealt with some quite serious themes; and light, ephemeral, in the sense that it was rather short and occasionally pretty funny. My family all came out which meant a lot to me, especially having my young daughter and niece there (who features on the recordings coughing loudly and saying "mama" in opportune silences)
Since that first performance, how has the music evolved or taken any new directions?
I've written music for about 10 or 12 more verses! I've added just a couple of new songs to the book for this concert, which I thought rounded out the set nicely. I've been thinking a lot about a studio recording, which is mostly figuring out how much of the arrangements I can discard: I want those versions of the songs to be glistening artefacts, trimmed of all excess. A little excess on the gig is all good though!
What are you most looking forward to performing Waypeople again, especially in Auckland?
I'm mostly looking forward to hearing Chelsea sing the lyrics again, and Jessie play the guzheng parts. Both of these women break my heart whenever they play, they're such wonderful musicians! I'm excited to present the music to a new crowd, and to show what I've been working on to some of my Auckland whānau.
Chelsea Prastiti - vocals
Jia Ling - guzheng
What do you hope audiences will take away from the performance, particularly in a new setting where people may not have heard this music before?
The Way- like music, is always there - you can go away, but it doesn't go away. That's a great comfort to me. I hope I can show that to others.
Are there any specific moments or movements in the work that have grown or changed meaning for you since its debut?
I'm working very hard on the opening theme, "Taoing", which is the first verse of the text. Le Guin calls it the aleph, it contains the whole book: I really want to get the piece to play as if it can represent the entire work. So it's getting a fairly thorough do-over as I figure that out!
How do you envision the growth or development of Waypeople? Any ideas you’re excited to explore further?
There are some important themes from the Tao that I haven't addressed in Waypeople yet. I'm particularly interested in the way it talks about weakness being greater than strength, likening it to water: "what's softest in the world rushes and runs over what's hardest in the world: the immaterial enters the impenetrable." etc. There's a lot of music to be explored within that!
A musical journey through the Tao Te Ching, using lyrics from Ursula K. Le Guin’s powerful and poetic English language version, Waypeople juxtaposes contemporary jazz and songwriting with ancient Chinese wisdom, creating a sonic accompaniment to the themes of the unseen, unheard, unnamable Tao, “wu-wei” (not-doing) and true Power.
Led by saxophonist/composer Jake Baxendale, sung by Chelsea Prastiti and anchored by the guzheng (Chinese string instrument) of renowned performer Jia Ling, Waypeople is a listening experience that will resonate with listeners long after the final notes sound.
Commissioned for the 2023 Wellington Jazz Festival, this is the first performance since.
Featuring:
Chelsea Prastiti - vocals
Jia Ling - guzheng
Jake Baxendale - alto sax & bass clarinet
Callum Passells - saxophones
Daniel Hayles - piano
Johnny Lawrence - bass
Cory Champion - drums