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Wellington-based saxophonist and composer Jake Baxendale brings together a remarkable collective of Aotearoa’s leading jazz and contemporary musicians for Waypeople, a luminous new album inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s English-language version of the Tao Te Ching. Drawing from jazz, Chinese classical music and improvisation, the project fuses lyrical storytelling with meditative textures and powerful ensemble interplay.

Featuring Chelsea Prastiti (voice), Jia Ling (Jessie) (guzheng), Callum Passells (saxophones), Daniel Hayles (piano & vibraphone), Johnny Lawrence (double bass), and Cory Champion (drums), Waypeople transforms the timeless Taoist philosophy of harmony, balance, and paradox into sound. The result is a work of shimmering beauty — grounded in jazz but alive with the rhythm of ancient poetry and the pulse of contemporary life.

The Waypeople project began as a commission for the Wellington Jazz Festival, where Baxendale set verses from the Tao Te Ching to music for a newly formed ensemble featuring the Chinese guzheng (zither). “It was full of firsts,” says Baxendale. “The first time I’d set poetry to music, the first time I’d written for voice, and the first time I’d even heard a guzheng in person.” The result was a sold-out premiere, followed by appearances at the Creative Jazz Club Aotearoa, the NZ Fringe Festival (where the group was nominated for Best Musical Act), and Lōemis Winter Solstice Festival, with live visual art by Nikita 雅涵 Tu-Bryant.

Recorded at Massey University Studio in Wellington and Genie Bottle Studio in Auckland, Waypeople captures the ensemble’s dynamic range – from meditative intimacy to ecstatic collective improvisation. Guest appearances include Louisa Williamson (flute), Kaito Walley (trombone), Ben Hunt (trumpet), JY Lee (flute), and Millie Manins (oboe).

Baxendale describes Waypeople as “music about letting go of ego, embracing contradiction, and finding flow.” Drawing on the Taoist principle of wu-wei — “doing by not doing” — the band performs with what he calls “effortless action,” a collective state of trust and responsiveness. “The Tao reminds us to resist excess and to value simplicity, nature and humility,” says Baxendale. “These ideas feel urgent now – in art, in politics, in the environment. I wanted the music to reflect that: open, spacious, unforced, and deeply human.”

Across ten tracks, Waypeople journeys through the Tao’s many voices – mystical, playful, rebellious. From the tender “Mindful of Little Things” to the meditative “Techniques” and the explosive “Being Different”, the ensemble flows seamlessly between serenity and chaos, poetry and protest. “There’s a folk-like quality to the melodies,” Baxendale adds, “but the improvisations and arrangements keep it always in motion — familiar yet unfamiliar, like the Tao itself.”

Recorded by Mike Gibson and Dan Goodwin at Massey University Studio in Wellington and Callum Passells at Genie Bottle Studio in Auckland. Mixed by Brian Montgomery. Mastered by Jonathan Pearce. Produced by Callum Passells & Jake Baxendale.

Chelsea Prastiti – voice
Jia Ling (Jessie) – guzheng
Jake Baxendale – alto, tenor & baritone saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet
Callum Passells – sopranino & alto saxophones
Daniel Hayles – piano & vibraphone
Johnny Lawrence – double bass
Cory Champion – drums

Louisa Williamson – flute on “Mindful of Little Things”
Ben Hunt – trumpet on “Soul Food”
Kaito Walley – trombone on “Mindful of Little Things” and “Soul Food”
JY Lee – flute on “Freedom”
Millie Manins – oboe on “Freedom”
Cory Champion – effects on “Celebrating Mystery (Intro)”

Release events:

April 3rd: Baycourt Theatre, National Jazz Festival, Tauranga
April 8th: The Kingslander, Creative Jazz Club, Auckland
April 9th: Nivara Lounge, Hamilton
April 10th: Paisley Stage, Napier
April 11th: Bedlam & Squalor, Wellington
April 12th: The Globe Theatre, Palmerston North
April 24th: Grainstore Gallery, Oamaru
April 25th: Hanover Hall, Dunedin Jazz Club, Dunedin
April 26th: Space Academy, Christchurch

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