Ursula Harrison (bass) wins BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024

The other finalists were:

• Klara Devlin (London, 18, trumpet)
• George Johnson (London, 19, saxophone)
• Nils Kavanagh (Sligo, 22, piano)

Brief bio: Ursula Harrison (22) is from Pontygwaith, South Wales. A prolific composer, Ursula’s band Orbit Street was selected as a Forté Project artist for 2024, recording a new EP, Forest, and performing across Wales and the South West. Alongside playing her own material, Ursula has worked with a variety of large ensembles, such as the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain, the JM Jazz World Orchestra on their tour of Italy, Croatia and Montenegro and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam Jazz Collective with Michael Mayo in Bimhuis, Amsterdam. Frequently in demand as a session player, Ursula has performed with the likes of Huw Warren, Ant Law and Angharad Jenkins. She graduated from Cardiff University in 2024 with BA Hons Mathematics and Music, studying with bassists Yuri Goloubev and Jim Vivian, and has recently begun her Master’s studies in the European Jazz Masters programme at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. (BBC)

Huw Warren writes: “Massive congratulations Ursula! All of us who have had the pleasure of working with you over the last few years have been well aware of your deep musicality and technical command of the instrument and its wonderful to see it being shared on a much wider stage… Onwards and upwards! Great also (with Nils Kavanagh being in the final) to see the Welsh jazz scene being represented at the highest level.”

Yuri Goloubev writes: “So very happy for you, Ursula! Your genuine talent combined with your commitment and dedication truly deserve proper recognition like this! Since 2015, I’ve had the pleasure of being able to witness various stages of your progress up to that level of proficiency and competence where one can decide independently what and how to learn, thus developing that personal approach and individual voice so essential for any true artist. My greatest hope is that today’s triumph is going to open up all kinds of interesting doors for you!”

The competition judges were Jasper Høiby, Laura Jurd, Soweto Kinch, Zara McFarlane and Nikki Yeoh.

Zoe Rahman led the trio who worked with all the finalists, with Sophie Alloway and Alec Dankworth.

Here is the roll of honour since the competiton began:

2014: Alexander Bone
2016: Alexandra Ridout
2018: Xhosa Cole
2020: Deschanel Gordon
2022: Ewan Hastie
2024: Ursula Harrison

Here is the full text of the BBC’s Press Release:

(release begins) “Bassist Ursula Harrison (22) from Pontygwaith, South Wales, is the winner of BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024.

The announcement was made during the broadcast of the Competition’s Final on BBC Four this evening [Sunday 24 November at 9PM], presented by saxophonist and composer YolanDa Brown and DJ and broadcaster Huw Stephens.

A prolific composer, Ursula’s band Orbit Street was selected as a Forté Project artist for 2024, recording a new EP, Forest, and performing across Wales and the South West. Alongside playing her own material, Ursula has worked with a variety of large ensembles, such as the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Great Britain, the JM Jazz World Orchestra on their tour of Italy, Croatia and Montenegro and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam Jazz Collective with Michael Mayo in Bimhuis, Amsterdam. Frequently in demand as a session player, Ursula has performed with the likes of Huw Warren, Ant Law and Angharad Jenkins. She graduated from Cardiff University in 2024 with BA Hons Mathematics and Music, studying with bassists Yuri Goloubev and Jim Vivian, and has recently begun her Master’s studies in the European Jazz Masters programme at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

Ursula impressed the judging panel, which includes some of the most celebrated performers on the current international jazz scene (bass player Jasper Høiby, trumpeter Laura Jurd, saxophonist and broadcaster Soweto Kinch, singer and songwriter Zara McFarlane, and pianist Nikki Yeoh) with a performance of her compositions Distant Haze and Golden, alongside her own arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil.  

The four finalists had the chance to work with and were accompanied by a world class trio featuring Zoe Rahman on piano, Alec Dankworth on double bass, and Sophie Alloway on drums. For the first time in the history of BBC Young Jazz Musician, the final culminated in a group performance, with all the finalists gathering on stage to play Charlie Parker’s Bloomdido.

The BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024 final was held on Saturday 23 November at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, in collaboration with the EFG London Jazz Festival. Each finalist presented a set including their own versions of music from the standard jazz repertoire, and at least one piece of their own arrangement or composition.

Ursula Harrison said: “It’s very surprising and lovely to be chosen as the winner. The whole process has been amazing – it feels like we finalists have really bonded as a group and the band was amazing. It was just a pleasure to play my music on stage at the final tonight.”

Nikki Yeoh said: “Picking a winner was an incredibly difficult decision. They’re all such great musicians. We thought that Ursula was really unique in her approach, with very good technique. Also the emotional depth of her playing gave her a bit of edge. But they were all so brilliant! In the end there has to be only one winner, so our decision was down to some tiny details.”

The BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024 Finalists were: 18-year-old trumpeter Klara Devlin, from London, 19-year old saxophonist George Johnson from London, and 22-year-old pianist Nils Kavanagh from Sligo.

Suzy Klein, BBC Head of Arts and Classical Music TV, said: “Congratulations to Ursula and to all our BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024 finalists. As always, it is an absolute privilege to witness the talent and determination of these rising stars of the UK jazz scene. We are delighted to be able to share their performances with audiences live at Southbank Centre and at home on BBC Four, Radio 3, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds. We are grateful to the judges and to the band accompanying these young performers, and to YolanDa and Huw for hosting the event with such warmth and excitement. I personally can’t wait to see what’s next for this year’s winner and for all the wonderful finalists.”

Ursula Harrison follows in the footsteps of double bassist Ewan Hastie, who won the Competition in 2022, was then voted “Best Instrumentalist” at the 2023 Scottish Jazz Awards, and also received the Mark McKergow Prize for Jazz Improvisation both in 2023/2022. Ewan is currently playing live in many of the best venues in Scotland and across the UK.

Previous winners of BBC Young Jazz Musician include: pianist Deschanel Gordon, who was BBC Young Jazz Musician 2020 and has a thriving  career performing in the UK and beyond, working with the likes of Mark Kavuma, Cassie Kinoshi’s SEED Ensemble and US-born singer Judi Jackson on stages in the UK, Europe and US; saxophonist and composer Xhosa Cole, who won the Competition in 2018 and went on to win Breakthrough Act of the Year at the 2020 Jazz FM Awards and Jazz Newcomer of the Year in the 2019 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, with a performing schedule that has taken him to the most prestigious venues across the UK; trumpeter Alexandra Ridout, who was the 2016 BBC Young Jazz Musician, was nominated for the Parliamentary Jazz Awards in 2020 and was a British Jazz Awards “Rising Star” in 2018; and 2014 Winner saxophonist Alexander Bone, who went on to win the British Jazz Awards “Rising Star” in 2016, and is now based in Los Angeles, collaborating with artists of the calibre of Nile Rodgers, Tom Misch and Cory Wong. Previous BBC Young Jazz Musician finalists include performers making waves on the UK jazz scene, such as saxophonist Emma Rawicz and pianist Fergus McCreadie.

In addition to the television coverage on BBC Four, available on iPlayer for 12 months, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast highlights from the event on the weekday evening jazz-focused programme ‘Round Midnight on Friday 20 December (also on BBC Sounds).

BBC Young Musician 2024 and BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024 are managed and produced by BBC Studios Music in Cardiff. The Executive Producer is Paul Bullock  and the Commissioning Editor is Stephen James-Yeoman. (release ends)