Nerve by Rattle Jazz

BEST JAZZ ALBUM finalist 2014

Formed in late 2010, The Jac started out as a rehearsal band for students and tutors at the NZSM jazz school in Wellington, transcribing and performing charts by New York and San Francisco composers. Before long they began writing and performing their own music, and Nerve is the result, a suite of intelligent, dynamic compositions for jazz octet. Describing themselves as a ‘small big band’, The Jac are a tight eight-piece ensemble that performs with attitude and intensity. “That’s one of the cool things about the group,” says Callum Allardice. “We sit halfway between a combo and a big band, which allows us to draw from both.”