Jazz Mobile Press Release

JAZZMOBILE SELECTS THE ‘BEST OF THE BEST’ JAZZ VOCALIST

Shirley Crabbe Orangeburg Native Vies for Top Honors at 

Jazzmobile Vocal Competition 

 

NEW YORK (July 28, 2010)— Award winning Orangeburg native Shirley Crabbe vied for “Best of the Best” honors Monday at the Jazzmobile Vocal Competition. The event took place at the Uptown Grand, a Harlem hot spot. The singer was one of nine finalists who were selected out of 80 registered applicants who had auditioned last month. 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. 

 

“The Jazzmobile Vocal Competition has helped launch the careers of some popular jazz singers, like Lynette Washington, Queen Esther and Alexis Cole,” said Jazzmobile President and CEO Robin Bell-Stevens. “To get to the finals Shirley Crabbe had to beat some fierce competitors. We expect to hear great things about her in the future.”

 

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. Past judges have included T.S. Monk, Grady Tate and Gloria Lynne. The event was emceed by jazz vocalist Cynthia Holiday, who is cofounder and director of the competition. The 2009 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition winner Brianna Thomas performed.

 

Shirley regularly performs at festivals, jazz clubs and concert series throughout New York City   and it’s surrounding areas. Her most recent appearance was at the Metropolitan Room. She has also performed at the world-famous jazz club Birdland.  She is the  the 2009 County Executive Performing Artist awardee and the Stanton Bronze Medalist of the 2008 American Traditions Vocal Competition at the Savannah International Music Festival in Georgia.

 

The singer will soon be seen at Reality Bites Cafe in Nyack, NY on August 27, 2010 at 8 PM

 

For more on Summerfest, visit www.jazzmobile.org.

 

Jazzmobile thanks New York State Governor David A. Paterson and the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC & Company Foundation, the Honorable Christine Quinn and the New York City Council, and its lead corporate sponsor JPMorgan Chase. Media partners include The Network Journal, Jazz Improv Magazine, Hot House Jazz Magazine, New York Amsterdam News, WBGO-FM – Jazz 88.3 (Newark), WKCR 89.9 FM, AM 1600 WWRL and WHCR 90.3 FM.

 

About Jazzmobile, Inc:

Jazzmobile, Inc., the oldest not for profit arts organization created just for jazz in the country, was founded in 1964 by jazz master Dr. Billy Taylor and Daphne Arnstein. Its mission is to present, preserve, promote, and propagate Jazz – “America’s classical music.” This mission is implemented through quality jazz education and performance programs:  workshops, master classes, lecture demonstrations, arts enrichment programs, as well as out-of-doors mobile Jazz performances and those in clubs and major concert halls here and abroad. Jazzmobile, www.jazzmobile.org, serves approximately 100,000 people in New York City and its outlying areas each year.