New York -- The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) Jazz Awards 2004, the eighth annual presentation of honors to jazz musicians and their supporters by the organization representing more than 400 writers, broadcasters, photographers and new media professionals worldwide, announces its complete list of nominees in 40 categories of achievement.
This year's JJA Jazz Awards celebration, a cocktail-and-supper party with musical entertainment, will be held on Tuesday, June 15, at B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill, 237 W. 42nd St. in New York City from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Additionally, the JJA will honor jazz activists internationally for their humanitarian contributions to the art form. These Discretionary Awards honorees, decided by the JJA board, will be presented at BB King's as well as at a West Coast JJA Jazz Awards Party, also a cocktail and supper event with music by Jeff Gauthier, Nils Cline and friends, on Monday, June 21 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles. More information about these honorees will be posted shortly on www.JazzJournalistsAwards.com.
The 2004 Discretionary Awards For Services To and Beyond Jazz will be presented to Arthur Barnes, senior vice-president for external affairs, HIP Health Plan of New York, for his work with the Jazz Foundation of America, the New School Jazz Program, and the Arts Education Program of the Clara Barton High School for Health Professionals; Bethany Bultman, outreach chair of the New Orleans Musicians Clinic; R. Jarett Lilien, CEO of E-TRADE.com for his work with the Jazz Foundation of America to establish a residence for jazz musicians in need; Sandy Jackson (widow of Milt Jackson), for her work with Veritas Therapeutic Community Foundation Inc.'s Friends of Charlie Parker benefit for drug rehabilitation programs; Les Paul, guitarist, inventor, and recording innovator; and recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, celebrating his 50 years of work with Blue Note Records.
Discretionary Award winners at the West Coast Party are Horace Silver (receiving his award from Gerald Wilson) for his career-long musicality and establishment of scholarships for gifted piano students; Chuck Niles (posthumously; his award will be received by his daughter, Stacy), in recognition of his career as jazz radio voice of the Los Angeles Area; LaRue Brown Watson (widow of Clifford Brown), for her 30 years of volunteer work in jazz education, and Dr. Paul Martin and Dr. Margaret Ray, who treated the late Billy Higgins for liver cancer.
The Jazz Awards 2004 represent excellence and accomplishment in performance, recording, presentation and documentation of jazz during the year April 15, 2003 to March 20, 2004.
Previously the Jazz Awards have been presented at Jazz Standard, Birdland, South Street Seaport, the Knitting Factory and Alice Tully Hall. A full roster of Jazz Awards 2004 nominees is on-view at www.Jazzhouse.org, as is the history of the Awards and its past winners.
The JJA will host Jazz Awards nominated finalists at B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill.
Among the supporters of the Jazz Journalists Awards this year are: BET Jazz, E.TRADE.com, HIP Health Plan of New York, and Pfizer Inc.
Tickets to this year's JJA Jazz Awards at B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill are $40 to JJA members and nominees (after their two complimentary tickets) and $150 to the public. Tickets for the JJA Jazz Awards West Coast are $25 to JJA members, $75 to the public. Tickets may be bought by check made out to the Jazz Journalists Association, sent c/o Arnold J. Smith, 436 State St., Brooklyn, NY 11217, or by charge card at www.JazzJournalistsAwards.com, where there are photos and sound samples of many nominees, plus news of celebrity guest hosts and musical performances at the Awards. No tickets will be issued; reservations will be honored at the door, and seating is on a first come, first seated basis.
For more information, please contact Don Lucoff ([email protected]) or Howard Mandel ([email protected]).
For sponsorship opportunities concerning these 8th Annual JJA Jazz Awards, contact Jackie Buster Lawrence, [email protected].
For advertisements in the JJA Awards program book, contact Jim Eigo, [email protected].
Here are the nominees for the JJA Jazz Awards 2004, list alphabetically by first name:
1) Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Dave Brubeck Hank Jones Marian McPartland Roy Haynes Wayne Shorter
2) Musician of the Year Dave Douglas Jason Moran Wayne Shorter Wynton Marsalis
3) Up & Coming Artist of the Year Jamie Cullum Jeremy Pelt Lizz Wright Miguel Zenon Vijay Iyer
4) Jazz Album of the Year Andrew Hill, Passing Ships (Blue Note) Branford Marsalis, Romare Bearden Revealed (Marsalis Music) Dave Holland, Extended Play (ECM) Jason Moran, The Bandwagon (Blue Note) Wayne Shorter, Alegria (Verve)
5) Jazz Reissue of the Year, single CD Duke Ellington, Ellington Uptown (Columbia Legacy) Duke Ellington, Festival Session (Columbia Legacy) Rod Levitt, The Dynamic Sound Patterns Of The Rod Levitt Orchestra (Orig. Jazz Classics) Sam Rivers, Fuschia Swing Song (Blue Note)
6) Jazz Reissue of the Year, boxed set Complete Roy Eldridge Studio Recordings on Verve (Mosaic) Count Basie, America's #1 Band (Columbia Legacy) Dexter Gordon, The Complete Trio & Quartet Studio Recordings (Steeplechase) Miles Davis, In Person Friday & Saturday Nights At The Blackhawk [original recording remastered] (Columbia Legacy) Miles Davis, The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (Columbia Legacy)
7) Jazz Record Label of the Year Blue Note Concord ECM Maxjazz Mosaic Palmetto
8) Jazz Events Producer of the Year Andre Menard George Wein Randall Kline Tim Jackson Todd Barkan
9) Jazz Composer of the Year Andrew Hill Carla Bley Dave Douglas Maria Schneider Myra Melford
10) Jazz Arranger of the Year Bill Holman Gerald Wilson Gil Goldstein Maria Schneider Slide Hampton
11) Male Jazz Singer of the Year Andy Bey Curtis Stigers Kevin Mahagony Kurt Elling Mark Murphy
12) Female Jazz Singer of the Year Abbey Lincoln Cassandra Wilson Dee Dee Bridgewater Dianne Reeves Lizz Wright Sheila Jordan
13) Latin Jazz Album of the Year Bebo Valdes & Diego El Cigala, Lagrimas Negras (Calle 54/Ariola) Chris Washburne & The Syotos Band, Paradise in Trouble (Jazzheads) Chucho Valdes, New Conceptions (Blue Note) Eddie Palmieri, Ritmo Caliente (Concord Picante) Poncho Sanchez, Out of Sight! (Concord Picante)
14) Small Ensemble of the Year (octet or smaller) Bad Plus Branford Marsalis Quartet Dave Douglas Quintet Dave Holland Quintet Wayne Shorter Quartet
15) Large Ensemble of the Year (nonet or larger, including big bands, jazz orchestras, contemporary symphonies, et. al.) Carla Bley Big Band Dave Holland Big Band Gerald Wilson Orchestra Joe Lovano Nonet Maria Schneider Orchestra Mingus Big Band
16) Trumpeter of the Year Dave Douglas Nicholas Payton Roy Hargrove Tom Harrell Wynton Marsalis
17) Trombonist of the Year Robin Eubanks Roswell Rudd Slide Hampton Steve Turre Wycliffe Gordon
18) Miscellaneous Instrumentalist of the Year Bela Fleck, banjo James Carter, bass saxophone Steve Turre, shells Toots Thielemans, harmonica
19) Alto Saxophonist of the Year Bobby Watson Greg Osby Lee Konitz Ornette Coleman Steve Coleman
20) Tenor Saxophonist of the Year Chris Potter Joe Lovano Michael Brecker Sonny Rollins Wayne Shorter
21) Soprano Saxophonist of the Year Dave Liebman Evan Parker Jane Ira Bloom Steve Lacy Wayne Shorter
22) Baritone Saxophonist of the Year Gary Smulyan (Hamiet) Bluiett James Carter John Surman Ronnie Cuber
23) Clarinetist of the Year Buddy DeFranco Don Byron Michael Moore Paquito D'Rivera Perry Robinson
24) Flutist of the Year Dave Valentin Frank Wess James Newton Jane Bunnett Lew Tabackin
25) Pianist of the Year Cecil Taylor Hank Jones Jason Moran Keith Jarrett Kenny Barron
26) Organ-Keyboards of the Year Dr. Lonnie Smith Joey DeFrancesco John Medeski Larry Goldings Sam Yahel
27) Guitarist of the Year Bill Frisell Jim Hall John Scofield Pat Martino Russell Malone
28) Acoustic Bassist of the Year Charlie Haden Christian McBride Dave Holland John Patitucci Ron Carter William Parker
29) Electric Bassist of the Year Christian McBride Marcus Miller Richard Bona Steve Swallow Victor Wooten
30) Strings Player of the Year (violin, cello, kora, harp, etc.) Billy Bang Mark Feldman Peggy Lee Regina Carter
31) Mallets Player of the Year (vibes, marimba, etc.) Bobby Hutcherson Gary Burton Joe Locke Stefon Harris Steve Nelson
32) Percussionist of the Year Cyro Baptista Giovanni Hidalgo Kahil El'Zabar Ray Baretto Trilok Gurtu
33) Drummer of the Year Elvin Jones Hamid Drake Jeff “Tain" Watts Matt Wilson Roy Haynes
JAZZ JOURNALISM CATEGORIES
1) Jazz Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award Bob Rusch Francis Davis Gene Lees Howard Mandel Stanley Crouch
2) Excellence in Jazz Broadcasting/ the Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award Bob Parlocha (WFMT/Jazz Satellite Network) Leigh Kamman (Minnesota Public Radio) Linda Yohn (WEMU-FM) Rhonda Hamilton (WBGO-FM) Steve Schwartz (WGBH-FM)
3) Excellence in Photography/the Lona Foote-Bob Parent Award Jack Vartoogian Jimmy Katz Lauren Deutsch Lee Tanner Lourdes Delgado Mitchell Seidel
4) Excellence in Newspaper, Magazine, Online Feature or Review Writing/Helen Dance-Robert Palmer Award Ben Ratliff (New York Times) Bill Milkowski (JazzTimes, etc.) Francis Davis (The Atlantic, etc.) Kevin Whitehead (Chicago Sun Times, Down Beat) Mark Miller (Globe & Mail, Toronto)
5) Best Periodical Covering Jazz Cadence Coda Down Beat JazzTimes Jazziz Signal to Noise
6) Best Website concentrating on Jazz AllAboutJazz.com JazzCorner.com JazzInstituteofChicago.com JazzTimes.com
7) Best Book About Jazz Blue Note Records: The Biography, Richard Cook (Pimlico) Cubano Be, Cubano Bop - One Hundred Years Of Jazz In Cuba, Leonard Acosta (Smithsonian Institute Press) I Put A Spell On You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone, Nina Simone with Steven Cleary (Da Capo) Jazz and Its Discontents, Francis Davis (Da Capo) Myself Among Others, George Wein with Nate Chinen (Da Capo)
For more information contact All About Jazz.
