For the first time in the 36-year history of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, that prestigious event's all-classical remit has been opened up to jazz, and the first BBC Young Jazz Musician prize went to 17-year-old Alexander Bone, a student from Manchester's Chetham's School, and an alto saxophonist who has already distinguished himself with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and as a member of the National Youth Jazz Collective.
Bone was one of five accomplished finalists sharing a glitzy ceremony and the accompaniment of star pianist Gwilym Simcock's trio at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff on Sunday. The host and judges also represented UK jazz's most open-minded Great and Good, with saxist/rapper Soweto Kinch taking the MC's role, and pianists Julian Joseph and Django Bates and saxophonists Jason Yarde and Trish Clowes making the choices. They commended Bone for his sound and passion – and in an assured performance of Ralph Towner's The Glide, the newcomer's arrestingly bittersweet tone, cool dynamics and restrained soul-sax emphasis on Simcock's groove certainly suggest a gifted jazz newcomer going places fast.
The BBC's Kerry Clark, who runs the Young Musician events, has pointed to the rapid expansion of jazz studies in British schools and conservatoires as the trigger for this change, and it's plain in the planning of this breakout event that the BBC is taking its new baby seriously. Though some might wryly recall the jazz pianist Kenny Werner's observation that the idiosyncratic genius Thelonious Monk would never have won the big-time US competition that bears his name, the BBC has shown that it understands at least some of what makes the performers' art of jazz different. The judges and mentors at every stage were picked from the best UK practitioners who insisted upon improvisation to prevent the meticulously schooled from just trotting out party pieces, and the contestants were given no repertoire guidelines, beyond including at least some material they had composed or arranged themselves.
In future years, the BBC intends to address the problem of the shortage of applications from girls, and maybe it might also give a thought to the fact that that four of the finalists came through independent specialist-music schools, which invites the risk of the next generation's jazz performers coming from much the same elite backgrounds as many of its classical artists. But at a time when it's under pressure, the BBC has taken a flyer on what will be a seismic shift for jazz education in the UK, and it will be fascinating to follow the careers of Alexander Bone and his fellow first-generation contestants. The others were saxophonists Sean Payne (13 years old) and Tom Smith (18), trumpeter Jake Labazzi (16) and double bassist Freddie Jensen (14).
Bone, from Darlington, comes from a family of musicians, and began his musical life on the harmonica and keyboard before starting jazz saxophone at the age of six, taught by his dad. He took grade eight at the age of 10, and at 13 started his studies at Chetham's, where he's currently doing his A-levels.
"I want to thank everyone so much for all the messages and support I've received," he said. "The four other finalists are an insanely talented set of young musicians and friends that I have bags of respect for. The Gwilym Simcock Trio were mind-blowing, and I enjoyed playing jazz in the final more than I ever had in my life thanks to them! It was a huge honour."
• The final will be broadcast in its entirety on BBC Four on 23 May
