The Scottish Jazz Federation is re-launching its popular and successful Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year competition to make it even more beneficial to Scotland’s burgeoning crop of young players.

Now in its seventh year, the competition, which has proved an invaluable stepping stone for musicians including the prize-winning, Berklee School of Music-trained pianist Alan Benzie and Ruaridh Pattison, who is currently leading the internationally acclaimed Scottish National Jazz Orchestra’s saxophone section, is offering entrants greater incentives and opportunities including recordings and live performances that will enhance their career expectations.

From an initial audio audition, judged purely on the quality of entrants’ musicianship, ten semi-finalists will now advance to a mentoring weekend, where they will participate in workshops and receive advice on all aspects of working in the jazz sector before performing in a concert. Following this concert, the five top players chosen by a panel of judges headed by leading saxophonist Laura Macdonald will go forward to the final, which will be held in the Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen on July 31 in partnership with Aberdeen International Youth Festival and Shell UK and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland.

The winner, as well as receiving £1000 in cash plus a further £1000 towards a demo recording, will feature in a high profile, six venue tour of Scotland. The prize will also include performances on BBC Radio Scotland’s Jazzhouse and at Glasgow and London Jazz Festivals 2014 and professional publicity materials. The Winner will also appear in a special concert on August 1 in Aberdeen’s award-winning jazz venue, the Blue Lamp, along with a number of previous winners.

Announcing the competition’s upgrade, the Scottish Jazz Federation’s Cathie Rae said: “This new format offers entrants an experience that will be both fun and valuable to them as musicians. Previous winners have all gone on to successful careers and we are confident that the main prize will really help to kick-start the winner’s career as a top jazz musician. We are grateful for the support of Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Shell UK and main sponsor, Creative Scotland.”

The time line for entrants is: all entries for the initial audio panel must be received by May 29th at 5pm. Semi-finalists will be announced on June 3 and the mentoring weekend will take place in South Lanarkshire over the weekend of June 7-9.

For further information and an application form contact email admin@scottishjazzfederation.com , visit the SJF website at www.scottishjazzfederation.com or call the office on 01368 866895 for an application form.

Source: SJF