2012 JJA JAZZ AWARDS WINNERS

Three 2012 JJA Jazz Awards to Sonny Rollins. Photo by  Tom Wetmore.

Sonny Rollins, saxophone colossus, was the big winner of the 2012 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards, announced this afternoon at a gala party at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. The tenor saxophonist was named Musician of the Year, his album Road Shows, Vol. 2 chosen as Best Record of the Year and he was judged Best Tenor Saxophonist, too. 

Horace Silver, who at age 84 is residing in an assisted care facility in upstate New York, was hailed for his Lifetime Achievement in Jazz.

Amiri Baraka, author of the books Blues People and Black Music as well as plays, poetry and social criticism, was the recipient of an Award for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism; author Albert Murray, age 94, was honored with a "Words and Music" Award, co-presented by the JJA and the Jazz Foundation of America. Robin Bell-Stevens, executive director of JazzMobile, and Adrian Ellis, recently resigned executive director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, were celebrated as New York City "Jazz Heroes."

Other Awards in the 40 categories of excellence in music and music journalism voted on by professional members of the JJA went to a broad spectrum of jazz stylists; all the winners are listed below.

2012 Jazz Journalists Association Awards winners announced today at Awards Gala in New York City

Today's the day! The winners of the Jazz Journalists Association's 2012 Jazz Awards will be announced at the Awards gala at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. We'll be live tweeting from the gala, and you'll be able to view the winners' names and more right here. Congratulations to ALL the 2012 Nominees; the work of every one of you is a demonstration that jazz lives and thrives.

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Between now and June 28, Awards satellite parties will be held in many places. You are cordially invited to the one near you. (Parties are scheduled for today in Auckland, New Zealand, Boston, San Francisco and Tallahassee, Florida.)

To support the Awards and the year-round work of the JJA in using media to tell the story of jazz, consider becoming a JJA Member or making a tax-deductible donation to the JJA.  We thank all of the Awards sponsors and we thank all of the JJA supporters and volunteers who contributed time and effort to producing the gala and satellite parties; without them all the Awards program would not be possible.

JJA Jazz Awards NYC Gala June 20; performers announced

On Wednesday June 20, the best jazz place to be in New York City will be the 16th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards gala, scheduled for 4 to 6 pm at the Blue Note Jazz Club.  A whos-who of the jazz world will be on hand and a wide range of jazz will be performed live  as winners of the 40 categories of the 2012 JJA Jazz Awards are announced and honorees-in-attendance introduced. Tickets for the public event are now available. 

 Musical entertainment at the gala will include Organ Monk, Greg Lewis’s Hammond-B4 quartet (with guitarist Ron Jackson, drummer Jeremy Clemons and tenor saxophonist Reggie Woods). Vocalist Paulette McWilliams and pianist Nat Adderley, Jr. will perform a song from McWilliams' debut album Telling Stories, and double-necked guitar discovery Gabriel Marin will share his own brand of 21st century sci fi/ Middle Eastern funk-fusion in duet with bassist John Ferrara (both of the power-jazz trio Consider the Source)

Josh Jackson of WBGO’s “The Checkout”  and Angelika Beener of Alternate Takes will preside over brief Awards ceremonies and Jazz Awards winners and nominees, jazz industry activists and influencers, JJA members, unaffiliated colleagues and the jazz-devoted public will have plenty of time to socialize, enjoying wine, beer, waters and hors d’oeuvres.

Writer Albert Murray to be Honored; More 2012 JJA Jazz Heroes Named

Albert Murray, one of America's most significant writers on the blues, jazz and their influence on American culture, is the recipient of a special "Words and Music" award co-presented by the Jazz Journalists Association and Jazz Foundation of America as part of the 2012 JJA Jazz Awards celebration. The JJA has also announced a second group of 2012 Jazz Heroes; these are "activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz" being honored by their local jazz communities for their unstinting work over many years.

2012 JJA Photo of the Year Finalist Nominees Announced

The five finalist nominees for Photo of the Year-- one of forty awards to be conferred as part of the Jazz Journalist Association's 2012 Jazz Awards in jazz musicianship and journalism-- have been announced.

First 2012 JJA Jazz Heroes Announced; more to come.

It takes the heroic efforts of many people to keep jazz alive and thriving. Today, in honor of International Jazz Day, we're announcing the first group of 2012 Jazz Heroes-- named by members of their local communities as important activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz.

Jazz Journalists Association Announces Nominees for 16th Annual JJA Jazz Awards

Finalist nominees for the 16th annual Jazz Awards presented by the Jazz Journalists Association have been announced at JJAJazzAwards.org – the nominations demonstrate the rich diversity of music which may have been overlooked by mainstream media and other music industry-generated Awards programs.

Iconic veteran instrumentalists including Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett, Phil Woods Lee Konitz, Gary Burton, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny and John Scofield are among the nominees who will vie for votes with newly emerged talents such as trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, pianist Craig Taborn, tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen, guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Esperanza Spalding, vibist Warren Wolf and drummer Eric Harland in some of the 40 categories celebrating excellence in jazz and jazz journalism. Winners of the Jazz Awards will be selected from the nearly 200 nominees through voting by the JJA's international membership of writers, photographers, broadcasters and new media producers professionally involved with jazz. Awards are for accomplishments and productions from calendar year 2011, except in two categories for Lifetime Achievement.

2012 JJA Jazz Awards Nominations Coming April 13

Nominees for the  2012 JJA Jazz Awards in 40 categories of excellence in jazz musicianship and jazz journalism will be announced by the Jazz Journalists Association on Friday, April 13. All nominees will be listed here on the JJA Jazz Awards website. Honors in jazz's only independent, international, culture-and-community-wide awards program will be given for work done in calendar year 2011 and include Best of the Year Awards for musicians, presenters, recordings, photos, journalists, publications, blogs and websites. Lifetime Achievement Awards in Music and in Journalism will also be bestowed.