Introducing Saxophonist Jay Thatte

Jay Thatte has been playing music since he was seven years old, starting out on classical piano. In the sixth grade at Newark Academy, a coeducational private day school in Livingston, NJ, where he lives, he was exposed to jazz by Julius Tolentino, the Director of Bands. "He introduced me to clarinet and saxophone," Thatte recalled. "I've been taking lessons from him since then. I didn't go to Newark Academy for music, but it was like a stroke of luck. I loved it."

Thatte and Tristan Connolly of Fairfield, CT, both entering their junior years in high school in the fall, are the Grand Prize Winners in the 2026 Gerry Mulligan Jazz Challenge, sponsored by The Gerry and Franca Mulligan Foundation. "For the first time in the history of the nine-year contest," said Mia Toschi, GFMF Executive Director, "two students scored the top prize, and each will be awarded a new Conn Selmer saxophone."

To enter this year's contest, student musicians were asked to upload a solo performance video of Mulligan's "Outback of the Barn," a composition that was first played by his New Sextet in 1976.

Newark Academy won Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington competition in 2024 and was a finalist in 2025, Thatte's freshman year in high school. Thatte was part of the competing band and won Honorable Mention as a soloist. He participates in JALC's year-round Youth Orchestra, directed by Tolentino; will be attending its Jazz Academy this summer; and has been invited to be a member of the Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Band, which selects 21 student musicians from across the country.

"The reason I like Gerry Mulligan," he said, "is his warm and huge sound. Also, the fact that he was a very melodic player." Thatte's main instrument is tenor saxophone, and his two favorite players are Dexter Gordon and John Coltrane. Among current saxophonists, he would choose Joshua Redman.

What the 16-year-old Thatte loves most about jazz is "that it's a community art form. Improvising is like a conversation with other people. It's a type of music that really brings people together in a special way. I've also learned about its heritage, where it comes from, the influences on it from many parts of the world."

As a jazz musician and educator, Tolentino gets to work with "so many talented young musicians. It was probably around two or three years ago when I realized that Jay was going to be a monster player on the saxophone. He is very dedicated and loves jazz music.

The other finalists in this year's Gerry Mulligan Challenge are Robert Jefferson of Burlington, NC, who will receive a $500 cash award, and Jenna Marx of Westlake Village, CA, and Kalman Leviton of Chevy Chase, MD, who will each receive $250.