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ADJUDICATION
Academic Partners – Blues Alley is revolutionizing our approach to the jazz vocal pedagogy by rotating judges affiliated with major academic institutions, music schools, and conservatories. Each year the competition will include noted vocal academicians to critique and judge those vocal submissions that may not otherwise have exposure to veteran industry professionals. Past judges have represented Howard, Syracuse, George Washington, SUNY-Purchase, George Mason and Towson State Universities. The 2025 judges are Vanessa Rubin and Nicole Zuraitis..
Action Dates – The commencement for all registrants will occur on November 1, 2024 and conclude on January 31, 2025 at 12 noon East Coast Time. Judges will review and arbitrate all vocal submissions with their subsequent deadline to decide and to reduce our audio submissions to five finalists in the beginning of March.
Deadline – All registrant submissions shall be aggregated by our third party Program Director; processed and distributed to our four independent judges who shall then adjudicate each submission according to a codified list of vocal protocols. The results will be announced mid March, 2025 and the finalists will be contacted about submitted videos.
Vanessa Rubin
Nicole Zuraitis
Vanessa Rubin
Revered as both a torchbearer and a storyteller, jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin possesses a voice hailed for crystalline clarity, hearth-like warmth, and playful lioness sass. The Cleveland native brings a wealth of diverse influences to her vocal performance from both the Trinidadian/Caribbean roots of her mother and traditional jazz by way of her Louisiana-born father. Additional homespun influences include the melodic bell tone clarity of a young Capital Records recording artist, Nancy Wilson, the fire of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the sweet sounds of trumpeter Blue Mitchell as well as her love of the Motown Sound…especially girl groups like The Supremes.
Vanessa’s journey to becoming a jazz singer could be said to have begun at an early age. She was characterized by her mother as always being “a very vocal child,” and knew Vanessa would “do something with that big ol’ mouth of hers.” Coming from parents who valued academia, discipline and hard work, that “something” was meant to be law school. Attaining a BA from the The Ohio State School of Journalism in 1979 was not a disappointment. However, her decision to pursue a career jazz singing did come as a surprise. Vanessa’s fascination with language coupled with her passion for music, especially jazz, pointed her on a collision course toward jazz performance.
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Nicole Zuraitis
Nicole Zuraitis is a GRAMMY® winning and 4X GRAMMY-nominated jazz singer-songwriter, pianist and arranger, New York-based bandleader and winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal. With a “heart as big as her remarkable voice,” (Jazz Police), Nicole is a trailblazing artist who is redefining vocal jazz, earning her a place as one of the top artists and "prolific songwriters" (Broadway World) to watch in jazz and beyond.
As a recording artist, Nicole has released five albums as leader, and her sixth album, How Love Begins, co-produced with eight-time GRAMMY-winner Christian McBride features all original music and was awarded the GRAMMY® for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In addition to leading her quartet, Nicole performed and recorded with the Birdland Big Band as premier vocalist before taking off as a large ensemble leader of her own, co-producing the Dan Pugach Big Band and guesting for major European big bands. She has headlined at Newport Jazz Festival, along with iconic NYC jazz clubs like Dizzy’s Club at Lincoln Center, Birdland, the Blue Note, the Carlyle, 54 Below and the late, great 55 Bar. She has appeared as a featured soloist with the Savannah Philharmonic, Asheville Symphony, and Macon Pops, and has supported iconic singers like Melanie, Morgan James, Darren Criss, and Livingston Taylor on piano and vocals.
Nicole is a featured artist and producer on her husband's, renowned drummer, bandleader, and composer Dan Pugach, 2025 GRAMMY-nominated album, Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence (Best Large Ensemble) for which they composed the GRAMMY-nominated song, “Little Fears” (Best Jazz Performance). Nicole's arrangement of Dolly Parton's Jolene, co- written with renowned drummer and bandleader Dan Pugach, was nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY, springboarding her career and making her a household name in the modern-day jazz landscape.
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