Tyreek McDole Wins Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition

By Michael Barris I Dec. 12, 2023

From left, first runner-up Darynn Dean, winner Tyreek McDole and second runner-up Ekep Nkwelle at his year’s “Sassy Awards” on Nov. 19.
(Photo: Steve Susan)

Singer Tyreek McDole on Nov. 19 became the second man to win the annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. He also may have been the first competition winner to have been inspired by an animated trumpet-playing alligator named Louis.

McDole, 23, told DownBeat that hearing trumpeter Terence Blanchard play Louis’ trumpet parts in the 2009 animated Disney film The Princess and the Frog inspired the very young McDole to pursue music.

A smooth singer with a mellow baritone voice, McDole followed in the footsteps of the first male winner, G. Thomas Allen (2021), with his victory in the 12th annual competition at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark.

On all three of his songs, McDole, who started jazz singing five years ago after playing trumpet and percussion in his school band, showcased a vocal maturity and masculine sound that recalled the romantic styles of Johnny Hartman and Billy Eckstine.

The event is also known as the “Sassy Awards,” a nod to a nickname for singer Sarah Vaughan (1924–’90), a NEA Jazz Master and DownBeat Hall of Fame inductee. Vaughan, who hailed from Newark, is being honored throughout the year by NJPAC to mark the 100th anniversary of her birth, which will occur on March 27, 2024.

McDole, a resident of New York who grew up in St. Cloud, Florida, received a $5,000 cash prize and will perform alongside past winners and special guests at the Sarah Vaughan Centennial Concert hosted by Dee Dee Bridgewater on April 19–20, 2024, at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

He has never looked back since making his vocal debut in 2018 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition, where he won the Outstanding Vocalist award. He played a three-nighter in Philadelphia over Thanksgiving weekend at Chris’ Jazz Café and performed at the Black Cat Jazz Supper Club in San Francisco Dec 21–23.

With his victory at NJPAC, McDole joined the ranks of past winners such as Samara Joy (2019), who won the 2023 Best New Artist Grammy award earlier this year; Cyrille Aimee (2012); Jazzmeia Horn (2013); and last year’s winner, Lucía Gutiérrez Rebolloso.

This year, second place went to Darynn Dean of Los Angeles, who has sung at the Hollywood Bowl and was a participant in Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Residency at the Kennedy Center. Dean, who flashed both abundant technical skill and an ability to swing hard throughout her set, received a $1,500 cash prize. Ekep Nkwelle, a crowd-pleasing Cameroonian-American resident of New York, finished third and took home $500.

The other finalists were Emma Smith of London, England, and Bianca Love of New Orleans.

The competition — the final event of this year’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival at NJPAC — was open to singers over the age of 18, of all genders and nationalities and not signed by a major record label. Applicants from 37 countries submitted 281 audio tracks online.

The judges for the finals were vocalists Jane Monheit, Patti Austin and Lizz Wright; Christian McBride, NJPAC’s Jazz Advisor and multi-Grammy-winning bassist; and Al Pryor, a three-time Grammy-winning producer and executive vice president of Mack Avenue Records.

Singer Madeleine Peyroux, who was to have been a judge, was unable to attend owing to illness, competition host Pat Prescott, an on-air personality for Newark public radio station WBGO, announced before the proceedings began.

Accompanying the finalists was a trio led by pianist and musical director Sergio Salvatore, with bassist Gregory Jones and drummer Buddy Williams.

McDole opened his set with a medium-up rendition of “September In The Rain,” sounding horn-like in sections in which he scat-sang. He then tackled the complex, melodically difficult Billy Strayhorn ballad “Lush Life,” at times pausing at length to give key words in the lyrics their due. He finished with “Every Day I Have The Blues,” paying tribute to another vocal influence, Joe Williams, who recorded the song in 1955 with the Count Basie Orchestra.

The contest featured a high level of skill and a diversity of vocal styles, prompting NJPAC President and CEO John Schreiber to comment of the five finalists: “I hear so many of the great singers in their voices. Each of these singers has a unique sound that defines them.”

Nkwelle, who makes herself eminently watchable with every hand gesture and interaction with the crowd, kicked off the proceedings with “All Africa,” a 1960 tune recorded by drummer Max Roach with lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr. and originally sung by Abbey Lincoln. She followed with “Solitude,” putting on a show with her vocal swoops and extended lyric lines. She closed with the medium-tempo blues “See See Rider.”

Next up was Smith, a product of a musical family who said her grandfather, Chris Smith, had played trombone for years alongside Frank Sinatra. Smith displayed a confident sense of swing throughout her set, opening with a vigorous “But Not For Me.” She followed with Charles Mingus’ “Duke Ellington’s Sound Of Love” and ended with “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die.”

Dean opened with “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” then downshifted into a very strong performance of “The Good Life,” showcasing provocative phrasing and the beauty in her lower register. She finished with an emphatic performance of “Beautiful Love.”

After McDole performed, the final singer, Bianca Love, kicked off her set with an edgy “I Thought About You.” That was followed by “The Man I Love” and “Fine And Mellow.” DB