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| London International Jazz Competition The London International Jazz Competition for vocalists, aims to become a significant annual event on the International Jazz calendar. The Jury, including Lee Gibson and Tina May, two of Britain's finest jazz vocalists, Ursula Malewski, Executive Director of the LIJC and Managing Director of MEhr Clef, sponsors of the competition, have had the difficult task these past months of choosing the 12 candidates from over 25 countries who will compete at the semi-finals on Saturday 18 March at The Vortex Jazz Club. The panel also consists of award-winning jazz vocalist Ian Shaw, Pete Churchill, and Adam Sieff, Jazz Consultant with Sony BMG Music International, Dune Records and DDE Records. The six finalists will then perform on 22 March for the LIJC award at Chelsea's Cadogan Hall, one of London's most prestigious concert venues. Presented by popular saxophonist Alan Barnes, the finals are to be recorded either by the sponsors and/or media partnership for broadcasting. The musicians for the vocalists in both the semi-final and final will be Pete Churchill, Jeff Clyne and Trevor Tomkins, three UK jazz musicians of international repute, with musical comedian extraordinaire Earl Okin performing during the judges' recess. The winner will receive the award of LIJC Jazz Vocalist 2006, a cash prize and engagements following the competition: Thursday 23 March at Jagz in Ascot and Sunday 26 March at the 606 Club in Chelsea. An additional prize, The Gibson May Award, will be presented for the Most Impressive Performance of an individual song by either a semi-finalist or finalist. The recipient will perform mini sets with the winner at the above venues. BACKGROUND: The application deadline for this year's competitors was 30th November 2005. 107 applications were received from UK, Armenia, Austria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and USA. All applicants were of an exceptionally high and professional standard. The competition was open to vocalists born on or before 1 March 1988, in possession of a professional CD or demo with three contrasting tracks. A list of recent performances, two recommendations from teachers and/or fellow musicians, publicity material and press releases were submitted for consideration. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |