Thanks to SmartMusic and Alfred Music, the National Jazz Festival is offering a new competitive category to the 2021 virtual festival! We are grateful to SmartMusic and Alfred Music for partnering with us to create the “SmartMusic Category” which features the award-winning composer Gordon Goodwin and his tribute to his mentor, the unforgettable Sammy Nestico! Added bonus: premium subscriptions to SmartMusic included!

The “SmartMusic Category” offers two divisions: Large Ensemble and Small Ensemble. In the “SmartMusic Large Ensemble Category”, we are excited to feature Gordon’s new tribute to his mentor Sammy Nestico called My Man Sam. This chart was written in the style of Sammy Nestico; the ranges are reasonable for high school ensembles. It’s a great opportunity to expose students to both Gordon’s writing and Sammy’s style. Ensembles participating in this category will record My Man Sam as their submission. Participants in the “SmartMusic Small Ensemble Category” will record Gordon’s Little Phat Shuffle.

The submissions will premiere on May 22 at the Virtual NJF YouTube Festival!

Gordon Goodwin is a pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is the leader of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. He has won four Grammy Awards and two Daytime Emmy Awards and has received over twenty Grammy nominations for his compositions and arrangements. As a prolific composer and performer, his inclusion in the festival is a benefit to all participants!

As an added bonus for participants, upon registration to the SmartMusic Category, ensembles will receive free SmartMusic premium subscriptions from now until June 30, 2021!

Register today! https://nationaljazzfestival.org/smartmusic-category/