Alexander Bone receiving the award

The winner of the first BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year Competition tonight in Cardiff was saxophonist/ producer Alexander Bone (17). Born in Darlington, he is currently in his first year of A levels at Chetham’s School. He has been part of both the National Youth Jazz Collective and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.

The other finalists were: Jake Labazzi – Trumpet (16), Sean Payne – Saxophone (13), both fron the Purcell School, Freddie Jensen – Double bass (14) from Chetham’s. and Tom Smith – Saxophone (18).

The judges – who deliberated for most of an hour before announcing their decision – were Django Bates, Trish Clowes, Jason Yarde and Julian Joseph. Tonight’s competition will be broadcast on BBC4 TV on 23rd May. We previously covered the competition HERE