Apr 8, 2025 1:23 PM
Blue Note Jazz Festival New York Posts 2025 Lineup
Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, featuring…
“Sassy Awards” winner April May Webb performs at this year’s finals.
(Photo: Shakiru Bola Okoya)As part of NJPAC’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark named April May Webb as the winner of the 13th annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition on Nov. 25. Hosted by WBGO Radio’s Sheila Anderson, the “Sassy Awards” presented the top five finalists on the iconic NJPAC stage in front of a live audience and a distinguished panel of judges that included drummer, producer and educator Terri Lyne Carrington; Bill Charlap, pianist and director of jazz studies at William Patterson University; powerhouse vocalist Lisa Fischer; bassist Christian McBride, NJPAC’s jazz advisor; and acclaimed singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux.
Pulled from 220-plus entrants from 21 different countries, the five finalists represent the next generation of jazz vocalists. Ultimately, it was Webb who received the top honor and a $5,000 cash award. Webb is originally from Kansas and currently calls Connecticut home.
A musician, composer, educator and co-founder of the jazz ensemble Sounds of A&R, she is a 2023 Chamber Music America Grant recipient and 2023 Jazz Road Artist, and has toured with Thelonious Sphere Monk III. She was selected by NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater as a Woodshed Network recipient, and she took center stage in Tschabalala Self’s New York play Sounding Board. Webb made history as the first Black woman to graduate from the William Paterson University Jazz Education program. Audiences can catch her performing at Dizzy’s Coca-Cola Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan during an engagement booked for spring 2025.
Second place honors and $1,500 prize went to Syndee Winters, a Los Angeles-based singer known for her role as “Nala” in Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway. Third place and a prize of $500 was awarded to Oberlin alumna Georgia Heers from South Carolina. Rounding out the top five finalists was Amira B of New York City and Angélique Nicolas of France.
The Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition is open to singers over the age of 18, of all genders and nationalities, from anywhere in the world, who are not signed by a major label. Entrants are judged on vocal quality, musicality, technique, performance, individuality, artistic interpretation and ability to swing. DB
The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.
Apr 8, 2025 1:23 PM
Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, featuring…
“I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson, during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival.
Apr 15, 2025 11:44 AM
Between last Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Ethan Iverson performed as part of the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival in…
“At the end of the day, once you’ve run out of differences, we’re left with similarities,” Collier says. “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.”
Apr 15, 2025 11:55 AM
DownBeat has a long association with the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference, the premiere…
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Davis was a two-time Grammy winner for liner notes.
Apr 22, 2025 11:50 AM
Francis Davis, an august jazz and cultural critic who won both awards and esteem in print, film and radio, died April…
