Report To The Community 2022

2019 Sarah Vaughan
International Jazz
Vocal Competition
winner Samara
Joy won the 2023
GRAMMY® for Best
New Artist.
2022 Sarah
Vaughan
International
Jazz Vocal
Competition
winner Lucía
Gutiérrez
Rebolloso.
at home
in the
spotlight
David Rodriguez and Jazz
Advisor Christian McBride
curate the 2022 Moody lineup.
Another jazz-dance hybrid
followed when violinist and NEA
Jazz Master Regina Carter
performed with the Carolyn
Dorfman Dance Company —
at times playing right in the
midst of the choreography, with
dancers swirling around her.
The company presented the
world-premiere of an NJPAC
commission, Jazz Legends and
the Power of NOW!, as well as
other jazz-inspired works.
The festival kicked off on
November 10 with GRAMMY®winning
composer and
trumpeter Terence Blanchard,
fresh from his triumph at the
Metropolitan Opera, where
his Fire Shut Up in My Bones
premiered last season, making
him the first African American
composer to have his work
staged at that prestigious
venue. For NJPAC’s Moody
Festival, Blanchard arrived
Clockwise from top: Dee Dee Bridgewater and Savion Glover joined
forces for Interpretations; big band sounds with the GRAMMY®-winning
Maria Schneider Orchestra; acclaimed composer-trumpeter Terence
Blanchard arrived with The E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet;
dynamic vocalist and former American Idol Fantasia in Prudential Hall.
with The E-Collective and
Turtle Island Quartet.
That same night featured a
dynamic double bill: GRAMMY®winning
vocalist (and former
American Idol) Fantasia
along with rising jazz star
Jazzmeia Horn, one of the
earliest winners of NJPAC’s
Sarah Vaughan International
Jazz Vocal Competition.
Other festival highlights
included performances by the
Yellowjackets, the Vanessa Rubin
Trio and the Maria Schneider
Orchestra. Schneider, a MacArthur
“Genius Grant” recipient, was a
return visitor, having established a
residency at NJPAC last season.
As always, the festival also
included many free community
concerts and educational
programs. Free performances
included Jazz Jams presented
with Rutgers University-Newark
at Clement’s Place (on the
college’s campus) plus concerts
at Bethany Baptist Church,
Ahavas Sholom, the Jewish
Museum of New Jersey and
more. Fortunate students were
treated to master classes with
McBride and Blanchard, while
McBride also guest-starred at
the annual NJMEA All-State
Jazz Band and Choir concert.
“By now, the Moody Festival
has become one of the largest
jazz festivals in the country,”
says Rodriguez, “and also one
of the most accessible, thanks
to a wealth of community
and virtual programs.” •
joymeets
world
Several winners of NJPAC’s
Sarah Vaughan International
Jazz Vocal Competition have
gone on to impressive careers.
But perhaps none have had
as high-profile successes as
the 2019 winner, Samara Joy,
who in February 2023 picked
up not one but two GRAMMY®
Awards for her debut album on
Verve Records, Linger Awhile.
The 23-year-old picked up
the Best Jazz Vocal Album
prize first — then returned to
the stage to receive the Best
New Artist trophy during
the televised portion of the
awards show, in front of a
bevy of music superstars, from
Lizzo and Adele to Beyoncé.
“All of you inspire me because
of who you are. You express
yourselves for exactly who
you are, authentically — so
to be here by just being
myself, by just being who I
was born as, I’m so thankful,”
she said as she accepted.
Born and raised in the Castle
Hill section of the Bronx, Joy
came from a musical family;
her grandparents were leaders
of the Philadelphia-based
gospel group the Savettes,
and her father is a singer and
producer who toured with
gospel artist Andraé Crouch.
She had already performed
at jazz hot spots like Dizzy’s
Club Coca Cola, Mezzrow
and the Blue Note when she
entered the Sarah Vaughan
competition. In addition to
performing often at NJPAC
since her Sassy Award win —
including at a Jazz Vespers
program at Bethany Baptist
Church in April — she’s been
touring to support her album. •
“When I’m on stage, that’s
when I’m happiest,” said
Lucía Gutiérrez Rebolloso,
a 21-year-old vocalist born and
raised in Veracruz, Mexico, as
she introduced herself at NJPAC’s
Sarah Vaughan International
Jazz Vocal Competition on the
final night of the TD James
Moody Jazz Festival.
Feeling comfortable in front
of an audience makes sense:
Rebolloso started singing
as a 5-year-old, performing
son jarocho (a musical style
originating in the Gulf Coast of
Mexico) with her parents’ group.
Rebolloso, who charmed judges
with her rendition of Charlie
Parker’s “Donna Lee,” took
first place in the 11th annual
competition, which drew over
200 submissions from more than
25 countries around the globe.
Second place went to 23-year-old
Cameroonian American vocalistsongwriter
Ekep Nkwelle, who
hails from Washington, D.C., and
third place to Harlem-based Allan
Harris. Kristin Lash of Bratislava,
Slovakia and American Armenian
vocalist Lucy Yeghiazaryan
(graduate of NJPAC’s Arts
Education programs) were
also among the finalists. •
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