Jazz award: Smith did it his way

Saxophonist Ethan Smith's triumph as the winner of the jazz category in the Pick 'n Pay Fine Music Radio 101.3 Music Awards on 28 July could have not come at a better time. A second-year student in jazz performance at UCT's South African College of Music, Smith is heading to the Norwegian Academy of Music in a few weeks for a year-long exchange programme. The R20 000 prize for the competition came as a fillip. "This is one of the proudest moments in my life," he said. He added that the competition was tough, and the fact that he had played his own composition and had taken time to explore the music - unlike other finalists - may have counted in his favour.

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