Made in NY Jazz Competition **PART 2**

This is the fifth year for the Made in NY Jazz Competition. While this recent article is a Q&A with founder Misha Brovkin, what follows is some input from a Made in NY committee member and one of the judges!

[Scroll below for IMPORTANT DATES*]

A Committee Member Lays It Out: A Few Words from Grammy Award-winning Tenor Saxophonist Wayne Escoffery  Why do you feel this is an important competition? I think healthy competition is good for young musicians, it keeps them honest and on their toes. They also learn how to play under pressure and competition sets a standard that everyone has to try to meet or surpass. What year is it for you? This is my third year…I think! What do you see as the current direction of jazz and the music industry?  Jazz always mirrors society. It always has and it always will, so as society changes the music does as well. The music industry doesn’t have much to do with the music itself. The industry just chases what it believes to be the next money maker and it adapts to that.  The more we ignore the industry and just focus on making powerful music, the more the industry will chase us and ultimately end up serving our needs. What excites you most about this competition? The eclectic mix of musicians from different parts of the world.

And a Few Words from Contest Judge and Randy Brecker – Grammy Award-Winning Trumpeter and Flugelhornist

What qualities are you looking for as you judge the categories?

Originality, content, sound, musicianship, communicative ability, intonation, swing, and maybe even humor.

Why do you feel this is an important competition?

Because we get submissions from all over the globe, and music is the universal language. Especially with what’s going on in the world these days, this competition brings all cultures together under the banner of JAZZ!

What do you see as the current direction of jazz and the music industry?

Well, jazz has always been multi-directional, to coin a Jack DeJohnette phrase, so it’s not possible to go in one direction, and the so-called music ‘industry’ is being re-invented through streaming and as usual not giving fair share to the artists, so it remains to be seen how it all turns out.

So just keep practicing and have a fallback position…one thing is for sure as a ‘direction’: Jazz has been globalized!

What excites you most about Made in NY?

The music and the concerts of course, and the ability to meet many new musicians from all over our screwy planet.

*Important Dates

October 28, 2017 – Deadline to apply

November 20, 2017 – Last day to vote for artists

February, 2018 – Winners will be announced 

May 12, 2018 – Gala awards ceremony at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center

(Check out this article by Katia Mukminova about competition judge Bobby Sanabria!)

Photos courtesy of and with permission of Misha Brovkin.

(c) Debbie Burke 2017