Ashleigh Smith Wins 3rd Annual Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition

Ashleigh Smith from Lewisville, Texas won the 3rd Annual Sarah Vaughan Competition held on Sunday, November 16 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. NJPAC, Larry Rosen Productions (LRP), and Concord Music Group have created a landmark agreement to provide an exclusive recording contract offer to record and release an album on Concord Records to the winner of the 2014 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, now known as the SASSY awards. In addition to a recording contract offer, Smith also received a $5,000 cash award. The 2nd Place Winner of the Competition was Shacara Rogers, from Washington, DC, who was awarded a $1,500 cash prize and the 3rd Place Winner was Sarah McKenzie, from Boston, MA, who received a $500.00 cash award.

"I am thrilled to be the winner of this year's competition," remarked Smith. "I cannot explain how honored I am to be the recipient of the 2014 Sassy Award! Sarah Vaughan is the epitome of what it means to be a jazz vocalist and to even be thought of as good enough to grace the stage in her honor was more than enough for me."

The Concord arrangement is a three-year commitment by the record label to present an exclusive recording contract offer to the winner of the annual competition. The deal was struck between Concord GM Mark Wexler and the Sarah Vaughan Competition producer, Larry Rosen. This recording prize is in addition to the package of awards already presented to the Competition winner, which includes a $5,000 cash award and the opportunity to perform as part of the JAZZ ROOTS Concert Series.

"All of us at Concord are thrilled that Ashleigh Smith won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition," said Mark Wexler, General Manager/Senior Vice President, Concord-Telarc Group. "It's great to be involved in the process of finding and nurturing new artists, and working together in the development of their careers."

Smith was the first runner-up in the first Sarah Vaughan Competition that was held at NJPAC back in 2012. Smith said winning this year's award will allow her to share her love for jazz and music in general with a larger audience. She is looking forward to working on her album to tell her own story through music, to meeting new friends and to creating new experiences along the way.

"I hope with the opportunity that winning this award provides, that I am able to let the world know jazz is still thriving," said Smith. "It still needs to be heard and it will continue to be heard. I thank NJPAC, Larry Rosen and the entire judging panel for giving me this gift! I plan to hit the ground running and make even more music for all to enjoy."

The Sarah Vaughan Competition is the only international jazz vocal competition of its kind and provides a platform for one outstanding jazz singer to launch a career within the music business. Each year, NJPAC partners with Indaba Music's platform to launch the online portion of the competition, calling to action Indaba's global music community. The first two years of the competition saw nearly 1,500 total song submissions, which music fans from around the globe shared, listened, voted, commented on, and liked nearly one million times online. Furthermore, the competition received over 2 million hits during last year's competition, making this the world's most visible jazz vocal competition. Judges for the competition included Grammy Award-winning bassist Christian McBride, WBGO morning jazz host Gary Walker, multiplatinum-selling artist and composer Ann Hampton Callaway, multiple Grammy nominee Nnenna Freelon, and Peter Primont former CEO of Cherry Lane Music Publishing.

"This year's first place winner, Miss Ashleigh Smith, is a huge talent with a dynamite voice," said Larry Rosen, creator and producer of the Sarah Vaughan Vocal competition. "We are proud to be an integral part of launching her career. The Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition, now in its 3rd year, has proven itself to be the foremost female jazz vocal competition in the world".

The competition itself recalls the humble beginnings of jazz icon Sarah Vaughan who, back in 1942, was a Newark teenager and winner of an amateur singing contest at the legendary Apollo Theater. That memorable night helped launch the lifework of one of the most successful, influential jazz vocalists in the history of American music.

"It has been decades since Sarah Vaughan first graced the stage at the Apollo Theater but her memory lives on. That evening, which singlehandedly changed Vaughan's life, is what we replicate through this jazz vocal competition," says John Schreiber President and CEO of NJPAC. "We are thrilled to offer the next generation of talent an historic opportunity to carry on Sarah Vaughan's legacy."

Sultry, soulful, and sincere are what audiences have said of up and coming vocalist Ashleigh Smith. From the small town of LaGrange, this Georgia Peach is new to Texas soil; however, she is no stranger to the stage. On scholarship as a vocal jazz major at the University of North Texas, under the instruction of Rosana Eckert & Dr. Timothy Brent, music has always been Ashleigh's passion and first love. She has performed for thousands of people across the state of Georgia and has begun to do the same in Texas, singing at private parties and other venues around North Texas, including the large Denton Jazz and Arts Festival for the past three years.

Smith is making her mark on the DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) area performing with many of Dallas's top bands, such as the TOP Band (lead female vocalist), Professor D, Domino Effect, Downtown Fever, & The Knice 2 Know Band (K2K), & The Krewe of Swing. She has been awarded the prestigious Downbeat Student Award for Best Undergraduate Jazz Vocal Performance in 2011 and the Outstanding Undergraduate Vocal Jazz Soloist in 2012. She is a member of the world renown Jazz Singers 1 with whom she has also won a 2012 Downbeat Award.

Her vocal talent has also provided her the opportunity to travel and perform as a soloist and chorister in Washington D.C, Northern Ireland, Orlando, Florida, and New York City, and most recently she has shared the stage with the world renown vocal jazz group, The Manhattan Transfer, and the phenomenal Jon Hendricks during the Kennedy Center's "Swing, Swing, Swing" concert series. Most recently, she was awarded the opportunity to do background studio work for Grammy award-winning artist Chrisette Michele.

Smith's style is able to fit almost any genre with ease and finesse and while she takes perfecting her craft seriously, she fills every performance with the same fun she fills her life with. With the ability, style and grace to move from jazz, R&B, neo-soul, and funk, Smith's charisma, sincerity, and energy make her a starlet worth watching.