Jake Baxendale is an saxophonist, composer, and bandleader based in Wellington, New Zealand. Raised in remote Golden Bay, he demonstrates in his life and music a freedom of expression, a love of nature, and a community oriented mindset that is heavily influenced by his upbringing.
He holds a Bachelor of Music and a Post Graduate Diploma in Jazz Performance from Te Kōkī/New Zealand School of Music, and a Masters Degree in Music with First Class Honours from Auckland University. Jake has also studied overseas for short periods, including six weeks in 2016 with top composers and saxophonists in New York City, and three weeks at the Banff Centre for Performing Arts in 2024. An experienced educator himself, he tutored jazz theory at the NZSM 2011-12, and led combos, theory, and composition and arranging classes for the Young Musician’s Program in 2011, 2012, and 2014. He has taught private lessons in saxophone, clarinet, theory, and improvisation for the past 10 years, and directed the Rātā Jazz Band from 2020-2022 and again from 2024.
He has received a number of national awards and award nominations, including the Aotearoa Music Awards “Best Jazz Artist 2021” for his work with The Jac, and the APRA NZ “Best Jazz Composition 2020” for his composition “Tūī.” He has toured South Korea with The Jac, tours Aotearoa and Australia regularly with both The Jac and Antipodes, and has performed nationally with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, STROMA, Bazurka, The Troubles, Richter City Rebels, The Rodger Fox Big Band, The Wellington Mingus Ensemble, and his own trio JB3, among many others.
In recent years, Jake released Sanctuary, an album of large ensemble compositions in collaboration with Jasmine Lovell-Smith and launched “Gardening Music,” a new project interweaving improvisation, composition, and ideas from the environmental humanities. Most recently, Jake was commissioned for the 2023 Wellington Jazz Festival, arranging lyrics from Ursula Le Guin’s version of the Tao Te Ching for a 7-piece band, and has continued this work in 2024 through a Creative New Zealand funded fellowship.