Several student musicians from Jazz House Kids and Newark Academy won awards at the 30th annual Essentially Ellington competition, held May7-10 at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The award winners were:
- Ella Fitzgerald Award: Vocalist Akshra Yagnik, Newark Academy (photo above)
- Outstanding Piano: Ben Collins-Siegel, Newark Academy
- Outstanding Bass: Sam Konin, Jazz House Kids (photo below), and Ted Crall, Newark Academy
- Outstanding Tenor Saxophone: Ben Sherman, Jazz House Kids
- Outstanding Rhythm Section: Newark Academy
- Honorable Mention, Piano, James Pakhomou, Jazz House Kids
- Honorable Mention, guitar, Giacomo Messina, Newark Academy
- Honorable Mention, tenor saxophone, Jay Thatte, Newark Academy
The winning bands this year were: Memphis (TN) Central High School, First Place; Sant Andreu Jazz Band (Barcelona, Spain), Second Place; Osceola County School for the Arts (Kissimmee, FL), Third Place.
Judges were: Randy Brecker, Carmen Bradford, Rich DeRosa, Joseph Jefferson, Ingrid Jensen, Sherrie Maricle, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Ulysses Owens, Jr., Catherine Russell, Reggie Thomas, Camille Thurman, Bijon Watson, Liesel Whitaker, and Todd Williams.
