Think You Can Sing?

Written By Mike Greenblatt
Sarah Vaughan

Sarah Vaughan

Registration for the 15th Annual Sarah Vaughan International  Jazz Vocal Competition—otherwise known as The Sassy Awards—is now accepting entries. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark is encouraging vocalists from around the world to submit performances. To do so, visit  https://www.njpac.org/sarah-vaughan-international-jazz-vocal-competition/. The Top 5 will be announced in the fall and invited to sing November 22 on the NJPAC stage in front of a packed house and judges Jose James, Gretchen Parlato, Jason Olaine, Lillias White and TS Monk (son of Thelonious). You must be unsigned by a label and at least 18. The finals will be hosted by WBGO’s Gary Walker and will feature a performance by 2024 Sassy Award-winner April May Webb. Past winners include Cyrille Amie, Jazzmeia Horn, Samara Joy (2023 Grammy Award winner for Best New Artist), Tyreek McDole and Kate Kortum.

Sarah “Sassy” Vaughan [1924-1990] was a Newark teen when she won an amateur singing competition at The Apollo Theater that spurred her on to have one of the most legendary careers in music history. 

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Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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