May 8, 2025 – The University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music announced that its vocal ensemble, the Jazz Singers, received a DownBeat Award for Outstanding Performance by an Undergraduate Small Vocal Jazz Group.
Dr. Jack Cooper, professor of Jazz Studies and director of the Jazz Singers, said he submitted the group near the deadline in January of this year, hoping they had a shot at winning.
“I looked around on the internet at other programs — the ones I know that are heavy hitters who do this thing — and I thought, ‘Yeah. We’re there. We’re definitely there. Let’s send it in,’” Cooper said.
The Jazz Singers began in the late 1980s and have won DownBeat Awards in the past, though this is the first under Cooper’s direction since he took over in 2017. Cooper said the submission process is very specific, groups having to send in multiple recordings that meet the standards and categories of the DownBeat committee. While he typically isn’t focused on collecting accolades, he acknowledged the excitement of the recognition.
“I’m not designing curriculum around winning those things,” said Cooper. “However, if everything does line up again, I’m more than happy to do it.”
“He messaged me about it almost instantly. He was very excited,” said Sirlatimore Wilson, one of the Jazz Singers and a current Master of Music (MM) student.
The Jazz Singers include five to seven vocalists and a rhythm section. They perform multiple times each year at the Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center and throughout the Mid-South, including at the annual University of Memphis Jazz Week. But that level of activity wasn’t always the case. Wilson joined the Jazz Singers in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and was a senior in the 2024 group performance that was submitted for the DownBeat Award. He reflected on the group’s evolution.
“I’ve watched this group grow,” he said. “To go from doing two concerts per semester to performing collaborative concerts, going on tour and now winning this award — it’s a big deal.”
Established in 1976, the annual DownBeat Student Music Awards are considered the most prestigious in jazz education. Thousands of submissions are made from across the country for the various categories. Winners of the 48th annual awards will be published in the June 2025 issue of “DownBeat” magazine, which has been in circulation since 1935.
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