New York, NY--The Jazz Journalists Association is gearing up for its 10th annual Jazz Awards, which will take place on Monday, June 19, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at B. B. King's Blues Club and Grill, 237 W. 42nd St., in New York City. With votes culled from the international organization's approximately 400 professional members, the award winners will be announced during a gala supper party.
The Jazz Awards are presented in 41 categories, including Lifetime Achievement in Jazz and in Jazz Journalism, and also honor Jazz advocates, activists, altruists, aiders and abettors in an “A Team" selected by an executive committee of the JJA's freelance writers, photographers, broadcasters, educators and website creators. All nominees are invited guests to the party at B.B. King's, a fundraiser supporting the non-profit JJA's education, audience-outreach and professional mentoring initiatives. The event is open to the public.
Music will be provided by the Dewey Redman Ensemble; Sy Johnson Quartet with Craig Handy; TC III (winner, Anheuser-Busch/Jazzmobile Vocal Jazz Competition); Ezra Weiss Sextet (with Michael Mossman, trumpet; Antonio Hart, alto sax; Kelly Roberge, tenor sax; Corcoran Holt, bass; Billy Hart, drums) performing “Winter Machine," winner of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Competition.
Some of the confirmed guests include: Chris Barretto, Kenny Barron, Jamie Baum, Claire Daly, Marty Ehrlich, Giacomo Gates, Edsel Gomez, Henry Grimes, Stefon Harris, Fred Hersch, Andrew Hill, Lee Konitz, Sue Mingus, Jason Moran, Marian McPartland, Dafnis Prieto, Sam Rivers, Roswell Rudd, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Maria Schneider, Lew Tabackin, Gerald Wilson, Miguel Zenon, as well as many members of the jazz recording industry, publications staffs, broadcasting outlets and educational institutions.
“A Team" honorees that will be receiving their awards at B. B. King's are Michael Cogswell (director of the Louis Armstrong House); Phoebe Jacobs (executive vice president the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation); Sandra and Ben Jaffe (founder and current co-director, respectively, of New Orleans' Preservation Hall Band); Bill McFarlin (executive director of the International Association for Jazz Education); Dolly McLean (co-director with her late husband Jackie McLean of Artists' Collective, Hartford CT); Sheldon Meyer (editor emeritus of Oxford University Press); Jonathan F.P. Rose (founder of Gramavision Records, and as board member of Jazz at Lincoln Center, chair of its building program); Gretchen Valade (founder of Mack Avenue Records and philanthropist underwriting the Detroit Int'l Jazz Festival); and Ann Ward (Dean of the AACM School of Music, Chicago IL).
Sponsorship for the 10th annual JJA Jazz Awards is being generously provided by the following: Anheuser-Busch, ASCAP, BET J, Concord Music Group, Mack Avenue Records, Steinway Pianos, Mr. George Wein, and WBGO-FM, among others.
Tickets for the JJA Jazz Awards ($75 JJA members, $200 non-members, general public) can be purchased online (via credit card secure server) or by phone with credit card 212-243-0456 or by fax 212-243-0444.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
