April May Webb wowed the NJPAC audience on November 24, 2024 as she won the 13th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition.
The event that concluded NJPAC's TD James Moody Jazz Festival was hosted by WBGO's "Queen of Hang" Sheila Anderson.
April May Webb spoke to Sheila shortly after the competition and talked about the comradery among the singers on stage.
"When you break it all down, we're all just trying to get better at our craft and share this music. When we all came together we realized that we need to be supportive of one another. That was the thing that was literally going on as the competition was happening."
“The SASSY Awards” presented the Top Five Finalists in front of a live audience and a distinguished panel of judges: NEA Jazz Master and four-time GRAMMY-winning drummer, producer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington, GRAMMY-winning pianist and Director of Jazz Studies at William Patterson University Bill Charlap, powerhouse GRAMMY-winning vocalist Lisa Fischer, NJPAC’s Jazz Advisor and multi-GRAMMY-winning bassist Christian McBride, and acclaimed singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux.
Pulled from 220+ entrants from 21 different countries, these gifted young singers represent the next generation of great jazz vocalists. Ultimately, it was April May Webb who received the top honor and a $5,000 cash award. She is originally from Kansas and currently calls Connecticut home.
Web made history as the first black woman to graduate from the William Paterson University Jazz Education program. But it all started back in Kansas as part of a very musical family.
"First my introduction to music was in church. I grew up at this church called Second Missionary Baptist Church. I had to be a part of the children's and women's choirs. Your parents make you do those kind of things. Then you realize you actually enjoy them. I have two older brothers who are heavy hitters in the game right now as well. My eldest brother Dr. Nathan Webb toured as a drummer with Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Garrett. I've been able to watch those things happen as I was younger. My older brother Jacob runs his own record label of contemporary jazz called Next Paradigm. He has eight or nine #1 Billboard hits as a producer. I first started really getting into jazz because of them."
A musician, composer, educator, and co-founder of the jazz ensemble Sounds of A&R, April May Webb is a 2023 Chamber Music America Grant recipient and 2023 Jazz Road Artist, and has toured with jazz legends such as Thelonious Sphere Monk III and was selected by NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater as a Woodshed Network recipient. She also took center stage in internationally acclaimed artist Tschabalala Self’s New York play Sounding Board. Audiences can catch her performing at Dizzy’s Coca-Cola Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan this Spring 2025.
You can SEE Sheila Anderson's entire interview with April May Webb here.
