Overview
with special guest performer April May Webb
Meet the new generation of jaw-dropping jazz talent! The Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition is the search for the world’s next great jazz singer, and the only contest of its kind. At this public performance, vocalists compete for a $5,000 prize and a one-of-a-kind platform for embarking on a career in the music business.
Alyssa Allgood
Vahn Black
Nathan Farrell
Jackie Ribas
Angélique Nicolas
Many esteemed jazz artists have started their career at The SASSY Awards: Cyrille Aimée, G. Thomas Allen, Gabrielle Cavassa, Deelee Dubé, Lucía Gutiérrez Rebolloso, Jazzmeia Horn, Samara Joy, Kate Kortum, Quiana Lynell, Tyreek McDole, Arianna Neikrug, Ashleigh Smith, Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim and Laurin Talese and April May Webb.
The 2026 event is hosted by Gary Walker of WBGO’s DayBreak. The all-star judging panel includes José James, T.S. Monk, Jason Olaine, Gretchen Parlato and Lillias White. There will be a special performance by 2024 competition winner April May Webb.
Alyssa Allgood
Alyssa Allgood
Alyssa Allgood is a jazz vocalist, songwriter, bandleader and three-time DownBeat magazine Critics Poll Rising Star based in Chicago, praised for her “force, clarity and jazz integrity” (The New York City Jazz Record). Allgood performs heartfelt originals and contemporary arrangements of standards with a voice that moves from tender to bold, and “improvisational prowess” (DownBeat) that puts her at the center of the band’s conversation. The inaugural winner of the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition, Allgood has commanded iconic stages including Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, Dizzy’s, Birdland, Mezzrow, the Green Mill, the Jazz Showcase and Blues Alley. She has recorded with internationally renowned musicians Geoffrey Keezer, John Patitucci, Kendrick Scott and Greg Ward, and had compositions selected as finalists in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and International Songwriting Competition. Critics have consistently praised Allgood’s lyrical expression and instrumental-like improvisation.
Vahn Black
Vahn Black
Vahn Black is a Detroit-born vocalist, songwriter, producer and composer. A graduate of Spelman College and Detroit School of Arts, her work moves between song, film, theater and performance art, with an attention to voice as both instrument and witness. In 2014, she placed runner-up in the Detroit Jazz Festival’s Youth Vocal competition. She has worked with artists including Anthony Hamilton, MAJOR., Frankie Beverly featuring Maze, Elle Varner and Chrisette Michele, and has been recognized by NPR’s Tiny Desk and Tiny Desk Top Shelf. Her recordings, including The Gladys Bentley Project series and I Am a Woman Again: Naked, continue an ongoing conversation with Black musical lineage, memory and self-authorship.
Nathan Farrell
Nathan Farrell
Nathan Farrell is a New York-based artist, vocalist, saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, writer and producer. In 2026, he was featured with GRAMMY® and Tony Award-winning Bryan Carter’s Jazz at Pride at Dizzy’s Club and at Live from Emmet’s Place. A product of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS in Montclair, New Jersey, Farrell gained renown at a young age with outstanding award recognitions from the Essentially Ellington Festival at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Manhattan School of Music and Charles Mingus Festival, DownBeat magazine, The Pittsfield Jazz Festival’s Jazz Prodigy Series and a roster placement in the 2016 and 2017 GRAMMY® Camp Jazz Session Big Bands. He is an in-demand vocal collaborator, including background vocals and arrangements for the Jonas Brothers at Prudential Center, an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and vocals on Lawrence’s GRAMMY® -nominated arrangement of “Something in the Water (Acoustic-ish).”
Jackie Ribas
Jackie Ribas
Jackie Ribas is a Brazilian-American vocalist whose artistry is rooted in gospel, Brazilian
music, soul and jazz. She sang in church and at 12 began studying at a music conservatory. For seven years she was a vocalist on Altas Horas, a popular Brazilian television show. Since moving to New York in 2011, Ribas has built an international career performing jazz and Brazilian music at prestigious venues and events including the NFL Draft, New York Fashion Week, Formula 1 in Brazil and the inaugurations of two New Jersey governors. Her international performances include venues in France, Portugal, Germany, Amsterdam and Ghana, where she was invited to perform for International Jazz Day for two consecutive years. Ribas’s voice carries the influences of where she comes from and where her musical heart lives: the spirit of gospel, the richness of Brazilian music, the freedom of jazz and the soul of a lifelong performer.
Angélique Nicolas
Angélique Nicolas
Angélique Nicolas is a French jazz vocalist, composer and vocal educator whose artistry bridges jazz, soul and gospel. A finalist in the 2024 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, she returns with a deeply personal approach to interpretation and improvisation. A graduate of the Toulon Conservatory in vocal jazz and contemporary music, she first gained national recognition through The Voice France in 2016. Her recent work includes original releases Still, Blurred Skies, 8 Unfolded and While We Walk (2026), an intimate improvised piano-and-voice project with pianist Enzo Carniel. She is developing ARETHA – A Bridge of Souls, a contemporary jazz tribute to Aretha Franklin that honors the African American roots, heritage and legacy of this music while creating a bridge between cultures and generations. Nicolas sees music as a living heritage to honor, embody and pass forward — a space for freedom, connection and transformation, carrying enduring messages of dignity and empowerment.