March of the Octopus – Ben Wilcock & John Rae (Thick Records TH020)
Wellington-based Scottish drummer John Rae and New Zealand-born pianist Ben Wilcock follow their internationally acclaimed Splendid Isolation album with March of the Octopus, a suite of original compositions ranging from reflective solo piano pieces to quintet explorations, on Friday 28th November.
Recorded in Neil Finn of Crowded House’s Roundhead Studios, the album features Rae and Wilcock with NZ jazz stalwarts, bassist Patrick Bleakley and tenor saxophonist Roger Manins, plus emerging guitarist Theo Thompson.
Long-time collaborators and co-founders of Thick Records NZ, Rae and Wilcock brought their shared vision to life in the studio, reflecting their own ideas while also creating an open canvas for the quintet’s distinctive improvisational voices.
“Our years of performing together have shaped an organic, conversational interplay,” says Wilcock. “It’s music that – for us – feels at once deeply personal and effortlessly collective. It was also great to bring in Theo Thompson, whose fresh sound expands the ensemble’s tonal palette.”
The album comprises nine tracks, utilising eight compositions, with the writing credits split equally between Rae and Wilcock. Rae’s opening What’s in a Name, a solo piano feature for Wilcock, returns later as The Fox, arranged for the quintet. The piece has also featured as a big band arrangement for the inaugural concert by the Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra, the national jazz orchestra of New Zealand of which Rae is the musical director.
Inspiration for the music included family members, including Rae’s wife, Suzy, and a sniffy request from an audience member that Wilcock wittily transformed into a composition with a coded title.
“We really enjoyed the process of putting the music together and then recording at the now legendary Roundhead Studios,” says Wilcock. “We hope that enjoyment passes on to the listener and having premiered this material at Wellington Jazz Festival 2025 we’re looking forward to taking it out to more audiences.”
March of the Octopus was engineered and mixed by De Stevens and mastered in Scotland by Scottish guitarist Kevin Murray.
Ben Wilcock on March of the Octopus track by track
The album begins with What’s in a Name, a solo piano piece written by Rae but performed here by Wilcock. It’s a moment of quiet introspection that later returns in full colour as The Fox, arranged for the quintet. This transformation, from the intimacy of solo piano to the energy of the full ensemble, mirrors the piece’s recent life as a big band arrangement for the inaugural Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra concert.
Wilcock’s title track follows, March of the Octopus, a vivid and largely improvised tone poem that conjures the image of an octopus striding across the sea floor. Here, the listener meets the full ensemble for the first time—five voices moving as one creature, shifting and fluid.
Rae’s Suzy, dedicated to his wife, opens as a delicate trio meditation before gathering intensity into a cinematic crescendo. Wilcock’s Llueve en la Primavera (It Rains in Spring) follows, a graceful ballad that showcases the ensemble’s poise and command at slower tempos.
Next comes Song for Eddie, named after Rae’s Mother’s cousin Eddie Cambell, composer, musician and taxi driver, is a groove-driven tribute from Rae featuring the muscular and lyrical tenor of Roger Manins.
With Wilcock’s PSFJ, the band returns to the trio format. The title, taken from a note once passed to Wilcock on stage (“play some f$%^&’ jazz”), says as much about the pianist’s dry humour as it does his deep feel for swing.
Wilcock’s two-part Disruption begins as a whirlwind, a deliberate unravelling of conversation, before giving way to a second movement that’s all about release and breath.
From there, the group launches into a roaring quintet version of The Fox, this time dedicated to the late, great New Zealand bandleader and trombonist Rodger Fox.
The album closes on a gentler note with Kei te pēhea koe? (“How are you?” in te reo Māori), a ballad that opens with guitarist Theo Thompson’s flamenco-tinged prelude before giving space to Bleakley and Wilcock to bring the story to rest.
About Ben Wilcock
Ben Wilcock is a New Zealand pianist, composer, and recording artist known for his distinctive voice in contemporary jazz. After years of work as a sought-after session musician, Wilcock shifted his focus toward original composition, launching a prolific solo career defined by creative risk and stylistic range.
In 2014, he co-founded Thick Records NZ with drummer John Rae, marking the beginning of a long-standing collaboration. That same year, Wilcock released Sneaky Weasel with his trio The Jelly Rolls, followed by The Phantom Canoe (2017), a conceptual suite inspired by Te Arawa narratives.
Wilcock has since released five albums as a leader. His 2020 solo piano album Goodnight T.V. showcased a more introspective side of his artistry, while 2021’s The River Tethys pushed boundaries with its bold harmonic exploration and improvisational freedom.
In 2024 he released Splendid Isolation, a 14-track album of original material co-written with John Rae, continuing their innovative partnership and further solidifying Wilcock’s place as a leading voice in New Zealand jazz.
In addition to his recording career, Ben Wilcock is a senior music tutor at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Rotorua, where he mentors the next generation of musicians. He is the pianist in the Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra.
About John Rae
John is a drummer and award-winning composer originally from Scotland. In 2009/10 he was the first ever jazz musician to become Composer-in-Residence at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.
Having recorded his first album at the age of sixteen with the Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith, Rae has subsequently recorded over 70 albums both as a leader and side man, including two BBC Jazz Albums of the Year. From 2000-2003 he was the drummer for the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and he was awarded a Herald Angel for excellence in performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2005 with his band Celtic Feet.
He has played and recorded with many world-renowned musicians including the pianists Ethan Iverson, Vijay Iyer and Mike Nock. Since moving to New Zealand, he has led his own group, The Troubles and recorded albums including Where the Wild Clematis Grow and Uncouth and Without Form. He also maintained his long-standing connection with the Scottish pianist Brian Kellock until Brian’s untimely death in May 2025. John is co-producer of the album and co-founder of Thick Records NZ.
Adam Roberts
Radio Summerhall Arts 