Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition Still Accepting Registrations
The deadline to register for the 14th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition (known as The Sassy Awards) is September 2. The finals of the competition will be held November 23 in Newark as part of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) James Moody Festival. (If you’re over 18, you can register at https://www.njpac.org/sarah-vaughan-international-jazz-vocal-competition/.) Judges at the finals will be Broadway star Ann Hampton Callaway, trumpeter Jon Faddis, singer Nnenna Freelon, bassist Christian McBride and Manhattan Transfer co-founder Janis Siegel. Moderated by WBGO host Gary Walker, the event will also feature a performance from the 2023 Sassy Award Winner Tyreek McDole.
Sarah Vaughan was nicknamed Sassy early in life. In 1942, the shy teenager from Newark had the guts to travel to Harlem to enter an Apollo Theater amateur singing contest. She won the $10 cash and weeklong Apollo residency. It was that singular event that started a vocal career for the ages wherein she became a national treasure, one of the great American voices in history.