Jazz Award Final BBC Young Musician

Two years ago, jazz became a welcome addition

to the BBC Young Musician family.

It was an amazing night in Cardiff,

some really exciting new talent on show.

And at the end of a thrilling final,

17-year-old saxophonist Alexander Bone

was named as the first ever winner of the Jazz Award.

APPLAUSE

Tonight, we're expecting another dazzling display

of jazz musicianship as five more of the UK's finest

step into the spotlight.

Welcome to the final of the BBC Young Musician Jazz Award.

Every year, the musicians are getting so great so young,

it's wonderful and scary. HE LAUGHS

Such enthusiasm, passion and high technical skill.

It's just very, very exciting.

Young Musician's always been a really big inspiration

and to have a jazz one is so important.

I'm just looking forward to seeing them taking some risks, having fun.

I just want to see a good performance.

The young musicians who are taking part in this competition

have come to show their musical standard, which is extremely high.

It's lovely to have the opportunity for people to see

what brilliant music these young musicians can make.

BAND PLAYS

The experience of playing in the final

was one of the best experiences of my life, to be honest.

The atmosphere of the night,

and then playing with a band as amazing as Gwilym's trio

was just really magical.

APPLAUSE Yes, it was quite a night.

And we'll be hearing Alexander later,

he'll be back to play for us

while the judges are making their decision.

Now, before we begin this year's jazz final,

I want to welcome a man of many talents -

jazz singer, songwriter and pianist Joe Stilgoe,

who'll be keeping me company this evening. Welcome, Joe.

Thank you, Josie. It's fantastic to be here in Cardiff.

In fact, I remember the final two years ago

and being completely bowled over by the quality of musicianship.

So, I'm really excited to be here this time

and I'm looking forward to hearing some great jazz performances

and probably feeling completely inadequate at the same time.

Yes, they are very special and very young.

Now, all of tonight's finalists have already come through

two tough audition rounds to reach this stage in the competition.

The Jazz Award

is for instrumentalists and singers aged 21 and under.

Last November, some of the most promising jazz performers

submitted DVDs to the competition.

# Where someone's waiting to be kissed... #

And from these, just 20 were selected

for the second-round live auditions.

The judges were treated to two days of jazz performance,

featuring a wide range of styles and instruments.

At the end of these live auditions,

five performers were selected for this final.

They are -

saxophonist and recorder player Tom Ridout.

'I'm really excited.'

I like to surprise people, give them things they're not expecting.

Elliott Samson - the first of two pianists.

'I'm really pleased. I'm just amazed that I've got this far.'

Incredible. Yeah, really cool.

Adding some family rivalry to this final,

trumpet player Alexandra Ridout, Tom's younger sister.

It's just incredible. And playing with amazing musicians

and everything's going on, it's so exciting.

Our second pianist - Noah Stoneman.

'I think it's going to be really inspiring,

'especially playing jazz live.'

I don't think there's another feeling that can compare to it.

And completing the line-up -

saxophonist Tom Smith, who made it to the final two years ago.

'Really exciting to do all the rehearsals,

'exciting to hear what everybody else is playing.'

It feels like it's going to be amazing.

BAND PLAYS

It's an exciting line-up,

and a big night ahead for all five of them.

All of our finalists tonight will have to play

at least one of their own compositions and arrangements,

and they also need to demonstrate their improvisational skills.

Yep. On stage with them, we are delighted to welcome back

one of the finest jazz outfits in the UK - the Gwilym Simcock Trio.

And I know the guys, they're astonishing musicians

and also lovely gentleman. So it doesn't get much better than that.

It really doesn't. Well, the five finalists arrived in Cardiff

just a couple of days ago

and they couldn't wait to meet up with Gwilym and the band.

First, 17-year-old trumpet player Alexandra Ridout.

Hi. How are you doing? Are you all right? Hi.

I knew they were amazing musicians, cos I've heard them play,

but being there and being involved was just incredible.

I upped my game a lot. And every time I play with them,

it just brings a whole new side to my playing.

That would be good. Shall we just try those four bars? OK.

We'll just try it out. Yeah.

It's amazing bouncing off them and just being inside it is just great.

So even on the night, you might exceed your own expectations?

Yeah, definitely.

And being in the moment and just sitting on top of the band,

cos you don't have to think about it, they're just there and give you so much support.

And I'm really looking forward to the final

just because of playing with them, really.

Next, another member of the Ridout family,

saxophonist and recorder player Tom Ridout, who's 21.

'They're fantastic! It's like you walk in and you play tunes

'that you've played before and it feels like they're brand-new

'and you're better than you've ever been before.'

Cos they're really happy

to go anywhere or do whatever you ask them to do.

'There was a lot of asking, "Do you want this or do you want that?"'

How big do you want us to play these hits? See, I don't know.

'The beautiful thing about jazz is we all have different opinions.'

So if we suggest, "Maybe you should do that."

And they think, "Well, actually, no,"

we don't want to do that,

because it means they've had to make an active choice.

Following Tom, it's pianist Elliott Samson, who's also 21.

He replaces Gwilym in the trio,

joining drummer James Maddren and bass player Yuri Goloubev.

All yours, maestro.

They're such great players and they've given me loads of advice,

and they've, you know, spoken to me like a real musician.

'One of the things for me

'is trying to play as a band and play with the other guys.'

So I've just been trying to be conscious

about hooking up with the drummer and making sure I'm listening

to the whole band as opposed to myself, you know.

'It's much more about playing as a unit.'

What's it like for you taking Gwilym's seat in the trio?

It's incredible. I mean, to be sitting in with his band...

It was like 90% sort of in the groove,

but it was a tiny bit... Yeah, loose.

It's fantastic to hear someone play the same instrument as you do.

The way that I've been trying to mentor them

is the same as I've tried to mentor the people

that I've actually been playing with.

'Being the piano player in the trio,

'he understands my point of view and perspective. So, yeah, incredible.'

Next, it's Tom Smith, the second of two saxophonists in this final.

Now 20, he's back to make a second bid for the title,

having reached the final in 2014.

What have you most been looking forward to about coming back?

The main thing has been playing my compositions.

In my set, I'm playing two original pieces.

'I've had so much fun rehearsing them with the band.

'They've just had totally different ideas that I hadn't thought about.'

That's been a really, really nice experience.

'Most of the time, I'm trying not to think about specific ideas,

'I'm trying to think about what it is they're playing

'and how I can best respond to them.'

Then G minor.

Last to meet the band, and the youngest performer in this final,

15-year-old Noah Stoneman.

LAUGHTER

As well as playing piano, he's chosen to end his set on the organ.

Play from C for me once.

Cos, obviously, as a piano player,

he's given me loads of instrumental advice,

my own stage presence and how to make the performance more exciting.

I think your idea is great,

but we might just have to scribble it out so...so we know how it goes. Yeah.

One, two, three, four.

Oh, it was far from intimidating,

they were really welcoming and took on all my ideas.

'They understood everything I wanted to do.'

So you're getting a lot of stuff you can use moving forward

as a jazz musician way beyond the competition?

Yeah, of course. I mean, all this advice that I'm getting

is not just for this week, it's for life.

So, it must be really amazing as an experience for these young finalists

to work with musicians of the calibre of Gwilym and his band.

Yeah. Well, in a way, that's a prize in itself,

not only the competition, but just to work with them,

almost to do a little gig with this incredible world-class trio.

And, of course, rehearsals are one thing,

but putting on a great performance in front of a packed house

and with all the pressure of a big competition

like BBC Young Musician Jazz Award is something else.

And sitting right in front of them - some of the biggest names in jazz.

On the panel tonight -

saxophonist, composer and band leader Tim Garland.

It's going to be a given

that they're going to be very good at their instrument technically,

so what I'll be looking for is something beyond the notes,

a deeper kind of narrative,

almost like a storytelling quality, I guess.

Pianist, composer and winner of the piano category

at the 2015 British Jazz Awards - Zoe Rahman.

Self-expression, I think, is quite important,

that's a big aspect of what jazz is,

and how they rise to the occasion.

One of the most innovative trumpeters on the jazz scene -

Byron Wallen.

The music is also about cherishing the tradition,

so I'll be looking for that,

who's really digging into, you know, the heritage of the music.

Composer, producer and jazz singer Gwyneth Herbert.

I'm going to be looking for how far they are willing to take risks,

and a flair that's not just about showmanship

but that's also about an ability to communicate.

And chair of the jury -

legendary composer, band leader and pianist Julian Joseph.

I want to see, are they imaginative,

are their improvisations interesting,

are they communicating?

So these are all the elements,

but I think for somebody to really stand out,

all the elements are going to be transcended into music.

That really is quite a line-up. APPLAUSE

Joe, we're about to hear the first of our finalists,

and they're going to treat us to some great music tonight.

Yeah, it's going to be amazing. I can't wait to hear their take

on music by the likes of Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter,

Herbie Hancock. Some of my heroes. SHE LAUGHS

And also, we're going to hear some of their own compositions,

which should be really intriguing.

Everyone's raring to go.

And to kick off the final, it's our eldest competitor tonight,

21-year-old saxophonist Tom Ridout.

Saxophonist Tom Ridout comes from a jazz-loving family.

'My dad's a guitarist and my mum used to play sax.'

I just grew up in a household where every waking hour,

music's been somewhere within something that I've done.

'It wasn't really a matter of coming to music,

'it was more a matter of that's what I wanted to dedicate my life to.'

Tom is now in his fourth and final year at the Royal Academy of Music.

'He's quite eclectic, his influence.

'A quite independent thinker.'

He seems not to worry too much what other people think.

Maybe he does, deep down, but...

So his playing reflects that.

OK, let's just stop...

MARTIN: And the other thing about

him is his interest in playing the recorder.

That was the first instrument he played,

so he's one of the few people who's

incorporating recorder into jazz.

'I started playing the recorder at home,

'my parents taught it to me'

before I even went to school.

So it wasn't the "go to school, learn recorder" thing,

it was "learn recorder, go to school,

"wonder why no-one else could play the recorder."

At the Academy, Tom has been developing new techniques

with recorder virtuoso Pamela Thorby.

Right up the top.

With the recorder now, the technology's moved on so much

further than it used to.

So you can really enhance any

tone that you want to make on it.

HE PLAYS EFFECTED RECORDER

You can play with pedals, you can put other effects on it,

and in a way the recorder is the perfect canvas for that.

Musically, I play different saxophones for different sounds.

It's another palette of sounds to use.

It's not something people expect,

but then jazz isn't supposed to be something that people expect.

HOST: Very warm welcome to the stage,

our first musician, Tom Ridout.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'My first tune is a tune I wrote called No Excuses,

'which I'm going to play on soprano sax.

'I really like writing,'

so I feel that if I'm playing my own pieces,

I'm putting myself forwards as who I am as a player

more than necessarily if I'm just playing pieces by other people.

APPLAUSE

SCATTERED APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

I'm going to move on now and play a tune

by Wayne Shorter called Infant Eyes.

APPLAUSE

Tom continues on tenor sax with his own take on the jazz standard

Stella By Starlight, written by Victor Young.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Thank you very much.

My last tune tonight is another tune that I wrote.

Erm...

it's called Chain,

and I'm going to play recorder on it.

That's all. LAUGHTER

'It's not something that hardly any people play in jazz.'

You have to improvise differently on the recorder

because of all the technical challenges of playing chromatically.

But it gives me a really nice, different way to have my own sound.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Ladies and gentlemen...

Tom Ridout.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

HE EXHALES

I was very impressed by Tom.

I felt he was very much in the moment.

I enjoyed his sound, and his sense of humour.

I thought Tom's performance was a strong performance.

Got good, solid tone.

Plays rhythmically correct.

And there's a sort of instrumental confidence

that...that I appreciated there.

'I think it went all right. Well, as good as I could have hoped.

'There were bits that we did go wrong,'

but it felt great.

And if it feels great, that's... That's the bottom line.

Fantastic start to the competition from Tom Ridout there.

We both were eager to hear him on the recorder.

Did you know recorder could do that? No.

Amazing sound, wasn't it? Yeah.

Using that pedal, with all his bag of tricks. Yeah.

It was... It was an amazing performance.

My favourite was him playing the tenor saxophone.

I feel that's when his true musicianship came through.

Absolutely. People were dancing in the seats.

Great start. Yeah.

Next, we've got Elliott Sansom,

who takes Gwilym's seat at the piano.

He's the first of two pianists in this final.

A fourth-year student at the Birmingham Conservatoire,

music has always played a major part

in Elliott Sansom's life.

'From a young age, there was always a piano in the house.'

We used to always get at the piano from about four years old,

and try to improvise and play by ear.

'I think I knew that I always loved jazz.

'And then I started the main course here,

'and got to study with John Taylor and John Turville.'

You know, the one-to-one lessons are amazing.

John Turville, one of the UK's leading jazz pianists,

has been teaching Elliott for the past four years.

You're gradually bringing the left into...

Sort of bringing the two into play.

He's like a sponge, really. His ears are incredible.

He sort of absorbs

everything he hears.

His technique is great.

There's a kind of fluidity

and openness in his playing.

He's developing his own voice now.

One point, he can be quite exploratory, quite deep,

and the next thing could be very playful.

He has this huge range of emotions that he can convey

in a very short space of time.

But in a very relaxed way,

in a very effortless way.

Elliott's already planning for his post-Conservatoire future.

For the past couple of years, he's been building a new

recording studio in Birmingham with his brother Ollie.

'We've got a live room that we're in now, and we've got a control room,'

and waiting room area, and things like that.

So we can run this as a professional recording studio -

that's the plan.

ELLIOTT: 'As musicians, it's really important,

'and a great thing to have a space to work in, you know,

'and record our own music, and compose.'

Yeah, we've always wanted to build a proper recording space

that we could use. And here it is, sort of.

It's getting there.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'The first piece I'm going to be playing is a piece

written by myself called Prelude,

which was inspired by Paris, when I studied over there.

And I hear your grandmother brought your socks -

your lucky socks. Yeah, she did, she did.

So I'm going to be wearing them.

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

I'm now going to move on to play a piece by

one of my favourite guitarists, Ralph Towner.

This is Tramonto. Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much.

We're going to finish with Solar, written by Miles Davis. Thanks.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND WHISTLING

Ladies and gentlemen, Elliott Sansom!

Cheers!

That was amazing!

Elliott has a very classical sound, and he was very generous with

the rest of the band, giving them plenty of space.

I'd love to have heard him do more solo piano.

I thought he had a fantastic dialogue with the rest

of the band and he really felt like a natural band leader to me.

Oh, amazing. James and Yuri have just helped me so much.

It's been so nice to play with them and get the chance to do that.

Elliott is really putting himself out there.

He's getting a lot of live experience. That paid off tonight.

Yeah, you can tell, it was very accomplished playing.

Very accomplished hat wearing as well!

Yes! His playing was phenomenal,

the way he played with the musicians on stage as well.

You were looking forward to the Miles Davis. Did he pull it off? Absolutely.

It's a tricky tune, but, yeah, he was great. Fantastic stuff.

So two of our jazz finalists

have already staked their claim to the title.

Still to come, the youngest performer playing tonight,

15-year-old Noah Stoneman,

and 20-year-old saxophonist Tom Smith.

But first we're going to hear 17-year-old trumpet player

Alexandra Ridout.

She's the only girl to reach this final

and is the younger sister of Tom, who opened the show.

Trumpeter Alexandra Ridout is in her first year

at the Purcell School of Music.

Purcell, the musical life is very busy. There's loads going on.

It's amazing.

And because everyone wants to do music,

you can always be around musicians and there's always

tons of ensembles and music going on at such a high standard.

With jazz, I really love the connection you have

with other players, which you really can't get

as much in classical music.

Because it's improvised, it's in the nature of the music.

Being able to do that is really cool.

Ready to record?

Alexandra enjoys a broad musical education at Purcell,

including lessons from one of the UK's leading jazz trumpeters,

Steve Waterman.

The first time I heard her play,

I was knocked out with what she could do.

She already had quite a lot of maturity not only in her playing,

but also in her improvisation.

SHE IMPROVISES

Even weekends at home are no escape from music.

In my family we have a lot of, like, jams, just at home.

I'm just really lucky to have musician parents that know

what they're doing.

Well, Alex playing the trumpet, she in fact asked one day,

"Mum, can girls play the trumpet?"

HE CHUCKLES

"Er, yes, of course."

She wasn't so keen on jazz because that was our music, and it wasn't

until she did a National Youth Jazz Collective course one summer,

she came back and said, "Actually, I really like jazz."

It's a passion she shares with her older brother Tom,

who opened this final.

Having my brother in the final is kind of weird,

but it's also really cool.

I mean, it would have been weird if one of us didn't get through.

I mean, it wouldn't have been weird,

but it would have been... a bit awkward.

It's hard to be up against my sister,

but I suppose there's nothing I can do about that now.

No, there's not been any rivalry yet.

He's really supportive of me getting through as well,

so it's really nice.

Please welcome to the stage Alexandra Ridout!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'm not fussed about winning at all.

I mean, it would be cool,

but I'm not, like, thinking about that at all.

The best opportunity of my life, really. I'm so excited.

SHE STARTS TO PLAY

APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you.

That was a piece called Yesterdays by Jerome Kern

and I'm going to continue

with an original composition of mine called Buttons.

At the time I wrote it, my friend's cat died, my best friend,

and it was called Buttons and it had three legs

and my tune's in three, so I thought it would fit.

It's kind of a tribute to her cat.

APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

My third piece is by Herbie.

It's called Sonrisa and it's off his solo album The Piano

and I'm doing that duet with Gwilym, so that'll be really nice.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

My final tune is Golden Lady by Stevie Wonder. I hope you enjoy.

CHEERING

APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Ladies and gentlemen, Alexandra Ridout!

CHEERING

The first phrase she played, a really sweet, soulful sound.

I think that was the first thing that struck all of us.

It was really great, the way that she reacted with the band.

I felt that she was really enjoying it

and it felt like a breath of fresh air, really.

It was amazing when I got the response after my first tune, even.

I was like... It kept me going, so it was really good, yeah.

Alexandra's set went down a treat in this hall.

I was really feeling synergy between her and the band.

Yeah, me too. I love the way she ended with Stevie Wonder -

really raised the spirit.

A mastery of the instrument, and her stage presence was great.

She was terrific.

And her Herbie Hancock totally changed the atmosphere

in here, didn't it? Yeah, absolutely.

She really chose her pieces well and played brilliantly.

So, three down, two to go.

And, remember, you can watch all of tonight's complete performances

on our website, as well as an extended interview

with the chair of the jury, Julian Joseph.

Next up, the second of our pianists in this final,

and the youngest competitor this evening -

15-year-old Noah Stoneman.

JAUNTY PIANO MUSIC

Both of my parents are musicians.

About around age six, we got a grand piano.

I think I eventually got some piano lessons in school.

Then, from there, I realised how much

I would rather do jazz than classical.

Rich and I are not great jazzers, are we?

No, we've never played jazz

and we have no idea where it comes from or how he does it.

It is all a mystery.

I think the piano is a very unique instrument to play solo.

You are kind of the band and the soloist at the same time,

so it can be quite overwhelming at times, with so much to do.

But it's a great freedom, playing solo piano.

For the past five years,

Noah has been a member of numerous musical ensembles

organised by the Haringey Music Service.

Well, he's very, very laidback.

He doesn't seem to be flustered by anything.

He is actually totally focused on getting the most

out of the musical experiences we can give him,

which is fantastic for us, of course,

because we just keep throwing stuff at him.

And at the weekend, Noah attends the Royal Academy Junior Jazz.

Intro.

That is, like, my favourite part of the week.

It's just playing music that I love, loads of great people

and great musicians.

He's one of those guys that has got all the skills in place,

plus that natural, unknown factor

where he loves to stretch out

and go to these uncharted territories in his solos.

I love that. He is always exploring new things.

Just playing music with your friends,

I can't think of anything better in my life currently.

Our fourth musician - Noah Stoneman!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'The first piece I'm playing is Elsa by Earl Zindars.'

Even though he wrote it, it was made famous by Bill Evans,

who is one of my all-time musical heroes.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Noah's set also included

Irving Berlin's How Deep Is The Ocean?

Next we are going to hear his own piece, Behind The Sky.

Presumably you have composed quite a bit.

Why was that the one that was best going to showcase you?

Yeah, I had a few tunes.

This was a slightly more modern-sounding piece, I guess.

James and Yuri are fantastic contemporary players.

They gave me loads of great ideas on how to give it a bit more shape,

and hopefully that is all going to come through.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I am now going to bring on the guy

that has been the most fantastic mentor to me

and all us finalists all week.

We are going to play one of my favourite standards,

called The End Of A Love Affair,

with me on organ, and Mr Gwilym Simcock on piano.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

CHEERING

APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

He was great. I mean, you could tell from the outset

he had lovely sound on the piano. Very Bill Evans, basically,

you could tell the influence from the start.

Yeah, as he moved over to the organ, you know, great.

I thought Noah played really, really well. He is sensitive.

There is a great sense of melody going on.

I would say that he is growing into his true musical self.

You completely forget it's a competition, you know,

there is no pressure or anything.

It is a bit nerve-racking with the whole audience and stuff,

but really fun. Really kind of exhilarating.

Yeah, he's really talented, isn't he?

I can't believe he's 15. I'm going to check his passport.

Yeah, I think we should.

I'm scared. I'm scared about him. He's too good.

Yeah, it reminded me of Bill Evans, one of his great influences.

Also Keith Jarrett. So many...

And Michel Petrucciani, the great French pianist.

So many brilliant jazz musicians.

That last piece was completely different to the rest of the set.

It really, I think, got the crowd bopping away. Absolutely.

They loved him.

So, we come to our last performer in this BBC Young Musician Jazz Final.

If you were watching the show two years ago,

you may well recognise him.

It is 20-year-old Tom Smith.

Saxophonist Tom Smith

is in his second year at the Royal Academy of Music.

I have decided to try for it again.

It was such a fun experience.

You get a chance to play with Gwilym,

you get a chance to hang out with all these other competitors,

get to hear all this amazing music.

It was an amazing night.

Everyone in the audience was so hyped up, energetic,

in such a good mood.

It was one of the best crowds to ever get to play to, really.

Two years on and Tom has thrown himself into college life.

He's got a fantastic sound

and that's something that's developed

over the last year and a half particularly, you know.

It's just this personal sound.

We'd been working on his composition and arranging with him.

He's got a hell of a lot together already.

He's running his own septet now.

That's the bit that's rare, I think,

to actually have something to say as well as something to say it with.

Tom formed the septet in order to play his own arrangements

and original compositions.

It's lovely to hear other people playing your music.

Firstly, because everything always sounds totally different

to how you expect it to, but almost always it sounds

about five times better than how you think it will.

By being around different musicians,

you get different ideas of different music.

There's nothing more important in jazz

than to be playing all the time.

So, please, a wonderful round of applause for Mr Tom Smith!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The fact that you get to play with the Gwilym Simcock Trio,

you get to have a 15-minute set recorded and broadcast on TV,

the competition part of it, it's cool that it's there,

but, really, it's not the most important thing.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

In the middle of my set I'm doing two compositions back-to-back.

The first is called Blackout. It's quite a brooding, intensive piece.

I'm intrigued to see what people make of it.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The third piece I'm playing is another composition, called Atlas.

It's a ballad and it's meant to be quite an open sound.

It's meant to be quite expansive and atmospheric.

APPLAUSE

Thank you so much. Just amazing to play here, actually.

It's so, like... It's so enthusiastic.

It's such a nice vibe in the room. It's lovely.

And we're going to finish with a piece called Fantasy In D

and it's by Cedar Walton.

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Tom Smith!

Even though he's using a fairly, sort of,

standard vocabulary in the way that he plays,

within that, I felt that he wanted to kind of push the boundaries

and take a few risks.

I was incredibly impressed by his compositions

and also, just generally, a fantastic energy to his playing.

It was just a fantastic crowd, I think,

and the trio were just on fire. Amazing.

Tom, he's quite a showman, isn't he? He's quite the showman.

Yeah, diminutive in stature, but the sound he makes is huge,

very expressive player.

I loved the way he switched between the tenor and the alto

and his style on both instruments was very different,

so he showed his range and his incredible skill on all four pieces.

He's huge fun to watch too.

Yeah, he's great fun to watch,

and the way he interacts with the band...

Yeah, I was really impressed with him.

OK, so now we've heard all our finalists, what are your thoughts?

They were all really accomplished and to play with a new band,

to do all of these things as if they've been doing it

all their lives, but they're still only young musicians.

I'm so pleased for all of them because it means

so much to them to get to perform in the hall here and for you at home.

The jury have left the hall to make their decision

and while we're waiting for that, we have a special treat.

Alexander Bone was the first-ever winner

of this BBC Young Musician Jazz Award and I was lucky enough

to be here two years ago for that winning performance.

He's been a busy chap since then and he's back to play for us tonight.

Before we hear him, let's find out what he's been up to

since winning the title.

I can't believe that I won it still.

Like, it just feels weird to say that.

It has just opened me up to so many new things within music that

I wouldn't have been able to do.

Alex is now in his second year at the Royal Academy of Music but

he's already worked with some of the biggest names in the music world.

I got to do some work with Nile Rodgers.

Nile Rodgers is, well, he's a legend.

You know, people like Dave Holland and Liane Carroll as well -

really credible jazz artists that I look up to and love.

Being able to work in the same room with them

and do gigs or whatever, it's just really incredible.

One of Alex's most memorable gigs was playing to a bumper crowd

at the Proms In The Park concert in Swansea.

For me to play with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales,

that was just the most amazing experience.

Like, the amount of power and almost natural energy you get

from that many musicians backing you is really something else.

When it comes to the future, I'm still very open-minded.

There's so many different fields within music that I love

and I'm just keeping all my doors open and seeing what happens.

And here is Alexander with his own composition, aptly titled Cardiff.

APPLAUSE

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So good to have Alexander back with us tonight.

He's quite a talent, isn't he? He really is,

and we've also heard five more incredible young performers tonight.

They're all gathered backstage waiting for the result,

but before one is named winner

of the 2016 BBC Young Musician Jazz Award,

let's find out what the jury thought of their performances.

Tom had a particular poise about him.

I particularly liked the soprano saxophone -

very individual sound - and, of course, the recorder.

I was really impressed with Tom's performance.

I loved the touch of the loop pedal in the recorder passages

and a wonderful dialogue with the rest of the musicians.

Elliott has a great point of view on the music.

There are a few things that he's working on that are

in the process of development and you can see and hear that,

and that's what's really exciting about him as a pianist.

His compositions were one of my favourites of the night.

I just felt that, improvising-wise, he needed to allow things

to develop a bit more...

..but I was really knocked out with him.

Alexandra, she was just a joy to listen to.

I thought she had complete command of her instrument.

She had a real innate musicality and musicianship.

Alexandra was fantastic, just a real breath of fresh air.

A real connection with the audience,

but really with her material as well.

It's really quite remarkable.

I really loved Noah's phrasing and his sound.

You could really hear that he's got the real Bill Evans influence.

If he carries on doing what he does, he'll be a very strong musician.

It's great to hear someone so young with a sensibility about him

on the piano.

To me, if he can get more authority

and give the impression that he's leading the band a little bit more,

I really look forward to hearing him in future years.

Tom Smith, his original compositions were some of the best

we heard tonight.

He executed them with a sense of discipline

and control that I was really impressed with.

I really liked his composition Blackout and overall, yeah,

he had a really nice kind of variety of sound.

He played both tenor and alto and he changed the sound

depending on the piece, which I thought was quite interesting.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Now, we have five very nervous people waiting backstage

so I'm not going to delay things any longer.

Please welcome to the stage our jury tonight -

Tim Garland, Zoe Rahman,

Byron Wallen, Gwyneth Herbert and,

to announce the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician Jazz Award,

Julian Joseph.

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives us great pleasure to be here.

It's phenomenal to be part of a competition celebrating

this great music.

It shows us that the level and the interest

and the enthusiasm for superb music-making,

whatever style, but particularly in jazz, is well and truly alive.

We didn't by any means find this an easy decision.

It was just about - what is it that makes a jazz musician?

And we found that our winner today just made us feel

so wonderful about the music and it was just really enchanting.

So I'm going to look at my paper so I don't make any mistakes.

The winner of the BBC Young Musician 2016 Jazz Award is...

Alexandra Ridout.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I don't think anyone's going to stop clapping tonight!

You were fantastic. How are you feeling?

Oh, that was...cool. Erm...

Cool is an understatement. Yeah, thank you so much, everyone.

Gwilym's trio, it was amazing to play with them.

That was, like, the highlight, really. I had so much fun.

Well deserved. Another round of applause.

And, ladies and gentlemen,

we mustn't forget our other wonderful finalists.

Please welcome Tom Ridout...

..Elliott Sansom...

Noah Stoneman and Tom Smith.

APPLAUSE

What a fantastic night of jazz.

Congratulations once again to Alexandra,

the winner of the BBC Young Musician Jazz Award 2016.

From all of us here in Cardiff, goodnight.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We just enjoyed listening to her as a musician

and that really came across.

She brought a real sense of swing that really perked me up.

Just from the first note that she played,

she had such a connection to her voice.

And, really, I think that that's what jazz should be able to do.