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.