Dixon Nacey and Jake Baxendale take out this year's Tuis.

Dixon Nacey

Today, on RNZ’s Music 101 show it was announced - the winners of the Recorded Music NZ Te Kaipuoro Tautito Toa | Best Jazz Artist and the APRA Best Jazz Composition.

Dixon Nacey won the Best Jazz Artist Tui for his 2019 album The Edge of Chaos and Jake Baxendale took out the the APRA Best Jazz Composition award for piece called ‘Tui’. Normally these awards are presented during the Wellington Jazz Festival. 

However, as the festival have been postponed until November due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the winners were announced by presenter Charlotte Ryan live on Radio New Zealand’s Music 101.

Dixon Nacey’s 2019 album 'The Edge of Chaos' features a raft of talent including himself on guitar, jazz stalwarts Roger Manins (saxophone), Kevin Field (piano), Olivier Holland (bass) and outstanding drummer Andy Keegan pumping in their magic across a truly memorable seven track album.

APRA Best Jazz Composition- Jake Baxendale is no stranger to the Jazz Awards, and is well known around the traps. As a saxophonist and composer for hire, those who frequently attend jazz gigs will know his name as a member of two ensembles – Antipodes, and The Jac. And he’s been a finalist in both categories multiple times. In 2020 he’s recognised for his composition ‘Tui’, a track from the Jac’s new album ‘The Gathering’, released this week. It’s a bold, seductive, rhythmic work for the luminary 8-piece ensemble, which in this case includes Matthew Allison on trombone, Shaun Anderson on drums, Alexis French on trumpet, RNZ’s Nick Tipping on bass, Chris Buckland on sax, Daniel Millward on piano, Callum Allardice playing guitar, and Jake Baxendale, himself on saxophones.

Recorded Music CEO Damian Vaughan says: “Every year, the calibre of our finalists for Te Kaipuoro Tautito Toa continues to impress. Safe to say, this year’s winner Dixon has paved an impressive career so far and I’m excited to see what he tackles next.”

APRA AMCOS Head of New Zealand Operations Ant Healey says: “The incredible craft and imagination on display in this year’s finalists and winners is continued testament to the quiet hard work of the composers and musicians in our jazz community. The range, expansive vision, and joyful expression in Jake Baxendale’s composition deserves to be celebrated.”

Wellington Jazz Festival Creative Director Marnie Karmelita said: “Congratulations to all the nominees for this year’s awards and in particular the winners Dixon Nacey and Jake Baxendale. “We are devastated that the impact of Covid-19 necessitated the postponement of the 2020 Wellington Jazz Festival to November but we know how important an event it is for our local musicians and our music and hospitality venues. We can’t wait to come together again to experience and celebrate our incredible Aotearoa-New Zealand jazz musicians and composers.”

Other finalists for the Recorded Music NZ Best Jazz Artist were ALCHEMY, and Michal Martyniuk, while Callum Allardice and Myele Manzanza were the finalists for the APRA Best Jazz Composition award.

THIS JUST IN: FINALISTS FOR THE 2020 NZ JAZZ AWARDS

Over the weekend the the 2020 finalists for the APRA Best Jazz Composition and Recorded Music NZ Te Kaipuoro Tautito Toa

The creativity of New Zealand’s jazz scene is exemplified by this year’s finalists for the Best Jazz Artist, with ALCHEMY, Dixon Nacey and Michal Martyniuk up for the Tui this year.

It was another impressive year for composers as well with three top finalists for the Best Jazz Composition.

Callum Allardice is in the running for  Phobos and Deimos, Jake Baxendale for  Tui, and Myele Manzanza for Mortality (all pictured above).

The winners will be announced live on Radio New Zealand’s Music 101 on Saturday 6 June and Groove will also be reporting right here.

APRA Best Jazz Composition 

After winning APRA Best Jazz Composition for the third time last year for his composition Chugin’, Callum Allardice is back for the fourth consecutive year with his song Phobos & Deimos.

In 2016 Callum’s Sons of Thunder took home the inaugural Best Jazz Composition Award at the NZ Jazz Awards, and he followed that up by winning the same award in 2017 for Deep Thought.

As part of the group Antipodes, Jake Baxendale is no stranger to the Jazz Awards.
In 2018 the group released their debut album Good Winter and went on to be a finalist for Best Jazz Artist at the 2019 awards.  Regularly touring both New Zealand and Australia, Jake has released the composition ‘Tui’, which is up for APRA Best Jazz Composition at this year’s awards.

Born in New Zealand to a Congolese master percussionist, Myele Manzanza is a drummer and composer who has since established himself on the world stage, collaborating with artists like Theo Parrish, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Amp Fiddler, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Jordan Rakei.  In June 2019, Myele released his eagerly anticipated third album A Love Requited, and his song Mortality is up for APRA Best Composition this year.

“The quality and inventiveness of  Aotearoa’s jazz composers continues to impress and delight us. 

While we’re disappointed that we’re unable to present these awards at the Wellington Jazz Festival as we normally would, these works all deserve celebration and recognition.” 
APRA Head of NZ Operations Anthony Healey

Recorded Music NZ Best Jazz Artist 

ALCHEMY was created with one goal in mind: the reinvention of iconic Kiwi pop songs as leading-edge jazz.  Featuring six of New Zealand’s finest jazz vocalists – Allana Goldsmith, Bex Peterson, Caitlin Smith, Chelsea Prastiti, Lou’ana Whitney, and Marjan Nelson – and six of New Zealand’s most accomplished jazz instrumentalists – Kevin Field (piano), Richard Hammond (bass), Roger Manins (tenor saxophone), Ron Samsom and Stephen Thomas (drums), and Michael Howell (guitar) -  the talent on display is formidable.  

The eponymous ALCHEMY album was released on 13 December 2019 to critical acclaim and remarkable sales results, reaching Number 11 on the Official New Zealand Top Twenty Albums Chart.

During a 27-year long career, Dixon Nacey has worked with some of the finest local and international musicians across a wide range of genres. He is in high demand as a session musician and sideman, and has been the Musical Director for the “Coca- Cola Christmas in the Park” since 2016.  His 2019 album The Edge of Chaos was his debut as bandleader, featuring seven superb compositions and a raft of talented musicians including Dixon on guitar, Roger Manins (saxophone), Kevin Field (piano), Olivier Holland (bass), Andy Keegan (drums), and Jonathan Leung & Chelsea Prastiti as vocals on Taupo.

Polish-born, New Zealand-based Michał Martyniuk is the third finalist for this year’s Recorded Music NZ Best Jazz Artist award for his album Resonate.  Dividing his time between Poland and New Zealand, Michal is a pianist, composer and a music producer whose jazz career skyrocketed after placing second at the prestigious Made In New York Jazz Competition in New York City in May 2018.

After performing his own compositions on stage alongside judges and jazz legends Randy Brecker, John Pattitucci, Mike Stern and Francisco Mela, he went on to release his first solo album Nothing To Prove later that year.   Recorded Music NZ CEO Damian Vaughan said the Best Jazz Artist Tui always brings an exciting collection of skilled musicians crafting unique compositions and 2020 is no different.  “Over the last 12 months there have been a wealth of technically impressive, emotionally charged jazz record.

For for info check out the APRA AMCOS website