Ambrose Akinmusire wins the Monk Competition

The trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire from Oakland, California, won the latest 20th Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Competition, as Andrew Gilbert reports (San Francisco Chronicle). The 25 year old musician was surprised by the reactions - from friends and strangers, record contract people and managers. He already performed on Alan Pasqua's recent CD "The Antisocial Club" and will soon release his debut CD "Prelude to Cora". Akinmusire is very detailed in his compositions, "down to what the accompanists do". He sees himself as a "type of person who's overly prepared", yet loves "just coming up with stuff on the spot" with the musicians of his quintet "featuring the musicians who hired him for his first gigs: saxophonist Howard Wiley and bassist Marcus Shelby".