Oakland based non-profit jazz music organization, Living Jazz, is hosting the 4th annual Jazz Search West Competition, the Bay Area’s jazz talent search for solo instrumentalists and vocalists.

Beginning on March 5, contestants performed at the venue of their choice in front of a live audience and a panel of prestigious judges chosen from Bay Area jazz professionals, with an American Idol aspect.

“A friend told me about Living Jazz and I just fell in love with the fact that it is a local entity and they are promoting local performers in jazz,” said Leonard Murphy, who has attended every competition. “At Yoshi’s in San Francisco, I was really amazed; not surprised but satisfied with the high level of talent, 17 people at Yoshi’s and it was really beautiful.”

According to Murphy, a jazz connoisseur and former professor, San Francisco during the 1940s and 50s was the heart of jazz; Fillmore Street in San Francisco is famous for jazz. Even Oakland on 7th Street was a part of the history of jazz and blues, but it is slowly depreciating.

“It was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it, I have actually had the opportunity to judge a few different competitions, but this was the first one that was strictly jazz,” said Bryan Dryer, one of the three judges at an Oakland venue, Duende restaurant. “There was some fantastic talent for all ages and of all vocalists and instrumentalists, it was really a fun experience.”

A few of the judges are well-known artists, such as Faye Carol, one of the premiere vocalists of her time. Carol is a Mississippi-born jazz and blues singer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she has performed since the 1960s.

Listening to Carol takes one back to the 1960s, where jazz music was not just a sound, it was a movement. Her stylized jazz jargon and personality reflects the full house crowd that comes to these weekly events.

“It was exciting and inspirational, I love that people have the guts to come and just stand and be naked, and let us all just gawk and tell them things, that they might or might not want to hear,” said Carol. “You can attest by tonight’s attendance, people have jazz in their hearts, and its something that will always be, so I don’t worry about it, because it is something that will always be around.”

Carol’s career has included recording with the late drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Marcus Shelby as well as on-stage collaborations with artists such as Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, and many more.

Four lucky finalists are chosen from each week’s competition to move on to the semifinals at the beautiful new SF Jazz Center in San Francisco on April 2.

So far the semifinalists are: Ryoju Fukushiro, Mark Johnson, Felix Perez-Diaz, Adam Blankman, Wajeedah Hameed, Georgianna Kruger, Joe Escobar, Leah Woodward, Marcelo Perez, Angie Mackenzie and E’Vana Randall.

Eight finalists will ultimately perform at the public grand finale at Piedmont Piano Co. in Oakland, on April 13. The top three winners will be awarded valuable prizes designed to enhance their musical careers.

The prizes include a professionally produced, engineered and recorded demo CD, tuition to 2013’s Jazz Camp West and a four-hour recording session at Live Oak Studios in Berkeley.

The top winner also receives the opportunity to perform at Jazz Camp West’s 2013 Faculty Concert.

Contestant Timothy Lin, a 20-year-old jazz studies major preparing to attend USC in the fall, has been playing saxophone since his junior year in high school and performed on March 18 at Duende.

“My first saxophone teacher is the director of Jazz Studies at Cal State East Bay, Dann Zinn … I was inspired and started listening to John Coltrane, and that really opened a lot of doors for me,” said Lin. “And then I found this teacher by word of mouth, and he has been the biggest influence to me and inspired me to take this art as a career.”

Lin, who recently came back from Los Angeles after attending another competition, performed “All The Things You Are”, a song composed by Jeremy Kern for the 1939 musical “Very Warm for May.”

The sounds of his saxophone emanated throughout the audience as they snapped their fingers and tapped their toes in sync with the young musician.

“I enjoy playing for people, but mostly I think it is the best way for me to express myself, sometimes when I feel a certain way about something or when I am trying to get a point across, words aren’t enough for me, so I have to channel my emotions or thoughts into my music,” said Lin.

Jazz Search West’s mission is to help invigorate the Bay Area jazz community with enthusiasm and excitement for the jazz genre, like that of Lin.

Jazz Search West has provided exposure and visibility to emerging artists, along with performance opportunities for promising Jazz talent in the Bay Area.

“It gives [Bay Area artists] an outlet and a voice, there is not a lot of places to play jazz, it gives those musicians a voice, gives them a place to find people who appreciate what they do,” said Dryer. “This is a tight jazz community, the people that come here enjoy jazz, its great on all ends. Those who like jazz get to find it, which is sometimes difficult to do, and those who have something to express have an outlet.”