Search For a New Jazz Star.

In a brand new initiative for 2013 – Decca Records’ Verve label has joined forces with Cheltenham Jazz Festival to launch a new talent search – Search For A New Jazz Star. This exciting competition seeks to find and celebrate the brightest up-and-coming jazz talent from across the UK and showcase their skills at the Festival in May.
This competition is open to unsigned singers, instrumentalists and bands from across the UK. To enter, artists just need to submit a video or audio track showcasing their musical talent. Links to a one track youtube video or Soundcloud audio recording should be e-mailed to vervesubmissions@cheltenhamfestivals.com by 15^th April. 

A panel of leading industry experts will then choose a favourite from all videos submitted before inviting the winner to perform at the Jazz Festival on 4^th May. They will also have the chance to meet with Verve’s A&R team at Cheltenham.

Mike Bartlett, Director of Decca Affiliated Labels, comments:

"The UK is a hotbed of talent across all genres of music, and the UK jazz scene long been a bright light of creativity and originality. We are very happy to partner with Cheltenham Jazz Festival in this search to find and celebrate the best young jazz musicians in the UK, and we hope to find a new star who we can bring to the attention of the wider world”

With an unrivalled breadth of artists, including Esperanza Spalding, Madeleine Peyroux, Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, Robert Glasper, Jose James, Christian Scott, Gregory Porter and a host of up and coming stars, the Decca group of labels brings together some of the world’s most prestigious jazz imprints, including Verve, Blue Note Records, Concord and Emarcy. Decca is a division of Universal Music Group. http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/news/2013/04/search-for-a-new-jazz-star/