First Place: David Esleck Trio

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Second Place: No BS Brass Band

Third Place: Butcher Brown

Perennial favorites the David Esleck Trio is led by University of Richmond professor Esleck, who has an extensive list of accomplishments as both performer and composer. He’s a thoroughly engaging pianist with a sonic reach that extends from ragtime-tinged stride to modernist dissonance. His adept compatriots, bassist Jason Jenkins and drummer Keith Willingham, provide a well-matched complement to his clarity of purpose. They meet the vital challenge of maintaining interest in a well-worn, stripped-down format that can easily fade into polite background music. The jazzy metal powerhouse No BS Brass is Richmond most iconic current local band. And newcomer Butcher Brown, made of a new generation of first-rate players, is building the city’s musical reputation far beyond the local scene.