Tigran Hamasyan - Wins Monk Competititon

Congratulations to all! Link.

With Hancock, Andrew Hill, Danilo Perez, Renee Rosnes, Billy Taylor and Randy Weston judging the piano competition, the three young finalists added their voices to a century-old jazz tradition.

The clear audience favorite was a Dutch-born Californian, Gerald Clayton, who deftly combined the second movement of Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata with John Lewis's "Django."

But the judges were more impressed with Armenian-born Tigran Hamasyan, who offered rhythmically dynamic readings of Ray Noble's "Cherokee" and Miles Davis's "Solar" to take the top prize of $20,000. Clayton won second place, and American Aaron Parks came in third.