The James Moody Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held in Newark, New Jersey.
Background The festival, organized by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center has been a fall gathering of musicians and audiences held at various Newark venues since 2012. Jazz musician Christian McBride oversees and curates the event. The festival is named for jazz saxophonist James Moody.
Venues Various locations throughout Newark host festival events. Sites include the Newark Museum of Art, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark jazz club Clement's Place, Bethany Baptist Church, and NICO Kitchen + Bar.
Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition
The festival hosts an annual jazz vocalist competition named for Newark-born jazz singer Sarah Vaughan. The event, as of the 2020s, is open to solo vocalists of all nationalities who are not signed to a major record label. The competition judges contestants on criteria "that includes vocal quality, intonation, ability to swing, individuality, and improvisation."
Initially open only to female vocalists, in the early 2020s the competition began allowing male vocalists to apply. The competition is also known as the "Sassy Awards" for Vaughn's nickname. Winning vocalists by year
Winners to date are:
2012: Cyrille Aimee
2013: Jazzmeia Horn
2014: Ashleigh Smith
2015: Arianna Neikrug
2016: Deelee Dubé
2017: Quiana Lynell
2018: Laurin Talese
2019: Samara Joy
2020: Gabrielle Cavassa, Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim
2021: G. Thomas Allen
2022: Lucía Gutiérrez Rebolloso
2023: Tyreek McDole
2024: April May Webb
2025: Kate Kortum
See also New Jersey music venues by capacity North to Shore Festival
References