Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Giveton Gelin, the 2019 Rising Stars winner in North America
(Photo: Courtesy Giveton Gelin)While the live music industry is slowly recovering from the pandemic, the LetterOne Rising Stars Jazz Award is once again open for entries to offer a bit of hope to aspiring musicians.
The award presents an opportunity to win a tour of seven shows at major jazz festivals in Europe for the European winner, and 10 shows at major jazz festivals in the United States and Canada for the winner of the North American edition. Both tours will take place in summer 2022 and are accompanied by a full year of public relations and marketing support courtesy of the Air Artist Agency.
Jazz musicians can submit material (three sound samples and one video link) at l1risingstarsjazzaward, and a jury will select winners.
Submissions are open until midnight on Oct. 30, with winners announced in mid-January 2022. Musicians based in Europe must apply for the European edition, while musicians based in the U.S. and Canada must apply for the North American edition. There are no age restrictions.
The LetterOne Rising Stars Jazz Award started in Europe in 2017 and expanded into North America soon after.
The European winner will perform at European festivals including the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, Nice Jazzfestival in France, the Jazzopen in Germany, the Leopolis Jazzfestival in the Ukraine, the Kongsberg Jazzfestival in Norway and Love Supreme in the United Kingdom.
The North American winner perform at the Blue Note Jazz Festival, the DC Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Iowa City’s Summer of the Arts, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Earshot Festival.
Last year’s winners Itamar Borochov (Europe) and Immanuel Wilkins (North America) were announced during an online award ceremony broadcast by WBGO in the U.S. and Jazz FM in the U.K. Hosted by Jamie Cullum, the broadcast featured performances by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Christian McBride and Terri Lyne Carrington.
The jury of the LetterOne Rising Stars Jazz Award consists of jazz business specialists, journalists, producers and promoters. It is chaired every year by a well-known artist — starting with Cullum in 2017, Dee Dee Bridgewater in 2018, George Benson in 2019 and Carrington in 2020.
The LetterOne Rising Stars Jazz Award is an investment in the brightest jazz talents in Europe and North America and benefits from the sponsorship and dedicated backing of Mikhail Fridman, a philanthropist and the founder of the LetterOne Group.
Air Artist Agency produces the event. Its director, Burkhard Hopper, has a long career of introducing new artists. For nine years he ran the Rising Stars concert series, which helped introduce such artists as Diana Krall, Brad Mehldau, Nicholas Payton, Kurt Elling, Jane Monheit and Esbjörn Svensson to audiences in Europe.
To apply, go to l1risingstarsjazzaward.com. DB
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
Aug 26, 2025 1:32 PM
Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
Butcher Brown, clockwise from top left: Marcus Tenney, DJ Harrison, Morgan Burrs, Corey Fonville and Andrew Randazzo. (Keyboardist Harrison couldn’t make the gig, so special guest Jacob Mann sat in with the band at the Reno Jazz Festival.)
Aug 19, 2025 12:41 PM
The band known as Butcher Brown has enjoyed the last half-decade basking in the glow from the twin engines of critical…
This year’s Jazz em Agosto set by the Darius Jones Trio captured the titular alto saxophonist at his most ferocious.
Aug 26, 2025 1:31 PM
The organizers of Lisbon, Portugal’s Jazz em Agosto Festival assume its audience is thoughtful and independent. Over…
