NJCU Jazz faculty Member Wins Award

Talented Brooklynite Pete McGuinness was named “Best of the Best” jazz vocalistat the Jazzmobile Vocal Competition on Monday. Beating out a field of more than 80 registered contestants, McGuinness won the competition with a scat-filled rendition of “Smile” by Charlie Chaplain at Harlem hot spot the Uptown Grand. Jazzmobile Inc., which presents Summerfest , New York ’s oldest continuous summer jazz festival reaching approximately 100,000 annually, is the nation’s oldest nonprofit created just for jazz. Summerfest is made possible by major support from the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and lead corporate sponsor JPMorgan Chase. McGuiness bested eight other finalists to win a grand prize of $2,000, the coveted Jazzy Vocal Award and an opportunity to perform at an upcoming Jazzmobile event.

The artists were assessed on specific criteria—vocal sound and pitch, lyric phrasing, stage presence and overall musicality in the style of a jazz singer—by a panel of judges that include Jazzmobile founder Dr. Billy Taylor, jazz pianist and educator Barry Harris and jazz singer Queen Esther.

Since 1987, McGuinness has been performing in New York . Starting out as a jazz trombonist and composer-arranger, he added singing to his repertoire in the early 1990s. He joined jazz legend Jimmy Heath’s big band as both trombonist and a featured vocalist in 1996. He went on to serve as lead vocalist in The Manhattan Vocal Project vocal group and performed in such groups as the Woody Herman Big Band and the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra. A long-time member of the jazz studies faculty at New Jersey City University and the Poysdorf Jazz Workshop in Poysdorf , Austria , he performs with his own big band, The Peter McGuinness Jazz Orchestra.

In addition to performing all major and minor scales, the prospective student will be asked to perform selections from the following repertoire lists by memory, along with sight-reading. A faculty rhythm section will accompany all performances. A piano, guitar amp, bass amp and drum set will be provided. Admittance to any music major program is based solely upon the results of this audition after the University has accepted the student’s application. Placement in required music major core classes will be based on the results of placement exams to be given after the student has been admitted to the department.

GRADUATE INSTRUMENTALISTS

NJCU Jazz Ensemble at the Blue Note

Ballads
Body and Soul (Db+)
Round Midnight (Eb-)

All jazz vocalists who audition must come with three lead sheet arrangements for each of their tunes, written in their appropriate keys. Each singer will perform with a rhythm section (piano, bass, and drums) and should be prepared to conduct the beginnings and endings of all tunes. Undergraduates are expected to sing two contrasting selections from the list shown below; graduates three contrasting selections from the list. Prospective undergraduate students should be able to offer melodic variations on the lyrics. Prospective graduate students will be expected to improvise scat solos and should also have written out introductions and endings for their selections.

NJCU Jazz Vocal Ensemble at the Blue Note

Undergraduates

Ensemble Opportunities:

NJCU Faculty Member, Bob Malach, with NJCU Jazz Ensemble

Master Classes, Guest Artists, and Clinicians:

Students studying in this area benefit from master classes and concerts presented by guest artists who appear on campus every semester and perform with the student ensembles. In addition, the University is host to an annual High School Jazz Festival. A listing of artists who have appeared in recent years at NJCU is shown below.

  Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs have announced that a few select ensembles will tour the world as part of the Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program in 2010.

The selected groups include NJCU jazz faculty members Mark Sherman & Tim Horner. Their quartet was one of ten combos selected to represent the U.S. They are the second NJCU faculty-led group chosen in the past few years. In 2008/2009, NJCU jazz instructors Roseanna Vitro (voice)and Allen Farnham (piano) toured under the auspices of the State Department.