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Introducing Vocalist Tyreek McDole

Courtesy Shakiru Bola Okoya

By Sanford Josephson
December 2, 2023
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He had a beautiful feel and is already a true entertainer at a young age. The music world better get ready.
—Jane Monheit

This article first appeared in Jersey Jazz Magazine.

In 2018,

Tyreek McDole

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Tyreek McDole, a student at the Osceola County School for the Arts in Kissimmee, FL, was playing classical percussion for a performance of the 1987 Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical, Into the Woods. "During rehearsal," he recalled, "one of the actors got sick. I had studied all the music, so I sang the part for the wolf. As I started singing, heads started turning in the room. I guess I found out I had a voice then. Little did I know that the Jazz Director (Edwin Imer Santiago) was listening. So, he asked me to join the jazz band and to sing at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington competition." At the EE event, McDole was named Outstanding Vocalist. (This past spring, Osceola County School for the Arts took first place at Essentially Ellington for the second year in a row).

On Sunday, November 19, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, as part of the TD

James Moody

woodwinds
1925 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">James Moody Jazz Festival, the 23-year-old McDole won this year's

Sarah Vaughan

vocals
1924 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, the second male winner in the "Sassy" award's 12-year history. Said vocalist

Jane Monheit

vocals
b.1977

" data-original-title="" title="">Jane Monheit, one of the judges: "I was simply astonished by the gorgeous quality of Tyreek's instrument. He had a beautiful feel and is already a true entertainer at his young age. The music world better get ready."

Santiago remembered that moment during the performance of Into the Woods. "I just heard something in his voice," he said. "He sang in pitch, he had confidence, and he showed potential. When we got to Essentially Ellington in New York, he was our secret weapon. In the warmup room, he said, 'I'd like to try something, call and response.' I felt there was trust between Tyreek, myself, and the band, so I said yes. It worked, and it fired up the band. He continues to develop. When I hear him sing today, I hear a maturing of his voice."

At the Sarah Vaughan Competition finals, McDole sang Harry Warren and Al Dubin's "September in the Rain,"

Billy Strayhorn

piano
1915 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," and Milton and Pinetop Sparks' "Every Day I Have the Blues," a song closely identified with

Joe Williams

vocals
1918 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Williams. "I just felt like going with some of my strengths," he said. "I've been singing those songs since I started singing. I think it's really important to pick material that's really close to you —not just in the musical sense but in an emotional sense. Each of those songs have stories that I was telling during that competition.

"I also just want to shout out to all the great vocalists in the Sarah Vaughan Competition," he added. "They're all incredible, and I've been inspired by them." The other four finalists were:

Darynn Dean

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Darynn Dean, second place;

Ekep Nkwelle

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Ekep Nkwelle, third place;

Bianca Love

trumpet and vocals
b.1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Bianca Love; and

Emma Smith

vocals
b.1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Emma Smith. (McDole received a $5,000 cash award; Dean was awarded $1,500; and Nkwelle received $500).

McDole has been compared to such jazz vocal legends as Williams,

Andy Bey

piano
1939 - 2025

" data-original-title="" title="">Andy Bey, and

Johnny Hartman

vocals
1923 - 1983

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnny Hartman. And, while he is in awe of those giants, he said

Louis Armstrong

trumpet and vocals
1901 - 1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Armstrong has been a major influence on him. "I've been in a band since I was in middle school (in St. Cloud, FL), playing trumpet and classical percussion. I am relearning the trumpet. Being able to sing and play trumpet on that level has always inspired me."

Dizzy Gillespie

trumpet
1917 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Dizzy Gillespie and

Kenny Dorham

trumpet
1924 - 1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Dorham are two other trumpeter/vocalists who have motivated him, as well as female vocalists

Betty Carter

vocals
1929 - 1998

" data-original-title="" title="">Betty Carter and Sarah Vaughan.

After graduating from Osceola, McDole received a scholarship to the Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio. "I'm very grateful for my time there," he said. "There are so many great musicians on the faculty and alumni who went through that program." Among the current faculty members are 2024 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master saxophonist

Gary Bartz

saxophone, alto
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Bartz, drummer

Billy Hart

drums
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Hart, and trumpeter

Eddie Henderson

trumpet
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Eddie Henderson. McDole pointed out that pianist

Stanley Cowell

piano
1941 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Stanley Cowell graduated from Oberlin, and trumpeter

Donald Byrd

trumpet
1932 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Donald Byrd taught there in the 1990s. And, there is an Oberlin Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble, established with the legendary saxophonist's support. Two other important mentors have been bassist

Rodney Whitaker

bass
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Rodney Whitaker and his daughter, vocalist

Rockelle Fortin

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Rockelle Fortin, whom he met at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Jazz Camp in Orlando a few years ago. "If it wasn't for those two," he said, "I wouldn't be where I am today."

Now living in New York, McDole has performed with several veteran jazz musicians including saxophonist

Ted Nash

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Ted Nash and trumpeter

Nicholas Payton

trumpet
b.1973

" data-original-title="" title="">Nicholas Payton. In June 2022, he joined Nash's quartet at Manhattan's Chelsea Table to recreate

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane and

Johnny Hartman

vocals
1923 - 1983

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnny Hartman, the iconic 1963 Impulse! album. "We did all the material from that record," he recalled. "That was a really fun concert, really challenging, trying to recreate the magic."

A few months ago, McDole performed with Payton at New York's Smoke Jazz & Supper Club. "He let me sit in with his great band that included Vincente Archer on bass,

Bill Stewart

drums
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Stewart on drums, and

Mino Cinelu

percussion
b.1957

" data-original-title="" title="">Mino Cinelu on percussion. It was a beautiful moment for me because I've been admiring Nicholas Payton's music for so long. He's one of our trumpet titans."

On Thursday, November 30, McDole played at a "Swinging in the Holidays" concert with the Jazz House Kids All-Stars at JHK's Jazz@the Annex in Montclair. The band was led by tenor saxophonist

Birsa Chatterjee

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Birsa Chatterjee and included bassist

Liany Mateo

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Liany Mateo, alto saxophonist

Ebban Dorsey

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Ebban Dorsey, trumpeter

Andrew Wagner

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Wagner, drummer

Benjamin Schwartz

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Benjamin Schwartz, and pianist

Esteban Castro

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Esteban Castro. The concert, McDole said, is "preparation for our maiden voyage on next year's Jazz Cruise." (Mateo and Schwartz have previously been featured as Jersey Jazz Rising Stars, Mateo in October 2023 and Schwartz in July/August 2022). This month McDole will be part of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Future of Jazz Orchestra that will be collaborating with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company at City Center from December 15-17.

As his career continues to move forward, McDole thinks back to the transformative events that occurred just five years ago. "I'm very grateful to Osceola County and Essentially Ellington for creating a platform to celebrate the music we love. Being part of Essentially Ellington radically changed my life. It created a great opportunity to perform in New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center—with

Wynton Marsalis

trumpet
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Wynton Marsalis and some of my other heroes. I'm very thankful to the folks at Jazz at Lincoln Center—not only for the preservation of the music, but for the innovative ways of growing and spreading the gospel."

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