BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician Award

Background and context The competition

The first Scottish Young Jazz Musician Award competition final took place in Glasgow in June.

Background and context

The Scottish Jazz Federation and BBC Radio Scotland have joined forces to create the BBC Scotland Young Jazz Musician Award, to highlight the wealth of talented young jazz musicians emerging in Scotland.

The competition final was to be hosted by Glasgow International Jazz Festival at the Old Fruitmarket and brought together the most talented of all young Scottish jazz musicians.  The judging panel was made up of a wide range of jazz musicians including Guest Artistic Director of the Glasgow International Jazz Festival, Dennis Rollins.

The winner will hold the title for a year with a chance to perform and to represent the best of what Scotland has to offer the jazz scene both at home and further a field.

The prize includes £500 to support career development, performances at Glasgow International Jazz Festival 2008, and with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland, and on the BBC Radio Scotland Jazz House programme.

The competition

The semi-final round of the competition was held at The Lot in Edinburgh on Saturday 26 May.  Of the 23 original applicants, 10 were invited to attend the semi-final to play with a professional rhythm section.  The judges were Dave Batchelor, Colin Steele and Rob Adams.  The standard was incredibly high and the judging panel had a difficult decision.  The six musicians to make it through to the final round were:

The competition final was held at The Old Fruitmarket on Monday 25 June at 7.30pm.  The event was recorded for later broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland Jazz House programme.

Each musician played a 10 minute set with a professional rhythm section. The judging panel included Dave Batchelor (musician and Chair of the Scottish Jazz Federation), Dennis Rollins (Guest Artistic Director of Glasgow International Jazz Festival), Lianne Carroll (musician), Ian Darrington (International Association of Jazz Educator) and John Ellis (Doncaster Youth Jazz Association).

Pianist Alan Benzie was the winner of this exciting new award.

The Scottish Young Jazz Musician of the Year award is supported by the Glasgow International Jazz Festival, The National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, Scottish Jazz Federation, Assembly Direct and the Scottish Art Council.