JJA's Albums of the Year

Yesterday afternoon, the Jazz Journalists Association held its 12th annual jazz awards at New York's Jazz Standard club. Hosted by the JJA's Howard Mandel, the three-hour event was attended by a virtual who's who in jazz journalism. There also were plenty of jazz legends in attendance. I was able to catch up with Roy Haynes, Hank Jones, Candido Camero, George Avakian, George Wein [pictured] and Dan Morgenstern.

Earlier in the year, JJA members nominated musicians and peers worthy of recognition, and last month members voted for the winners. Awards were given to  jazz writers, musicians, record labels, photographers, events producers and  jazz supporters in a range of fields.

Of course, the honors that concern this site most are those for best recordings. Here are the winners:

Album of the Year: Sky Blue, Maria Schneider (ArtistShare)

Reissue of the Year (Single CD): Cornell 1964: Charles Mingus Sextet (Blue Note)

Reissue of the Year: A Life in Time: The Roy Haynes Story (Dreyfus Jazz)

A special congratulations to Doug Ramsey of Rifftides, who was awarded the Jazz Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award. Doug [pictured] has long been a supporter of JazzWax and a steady advocate of my efforts to preserve the stories of jazz legends. It felt great to hear his name read after the words, "And the winner is..." Other nominees were Stanley Crouch, Don Heckman, Larry Kart and Alyn Shipton. Congratulations, Doug. You were roundly applauded, and Dan Morgenstern graciously accepted on your behalf.

And hats off to AllAboutJazz.com and its army of contributors for winning Best Website Concentrating on Jazz. The online magazine was founded 14 years ago and continues to grow and inform. High five to the other finalists: Jazz.com and Jazzcorner.com.

Comments

[Lyle Robinson]

Some great contributions and deserved awards to all concerned. Thanks for mentioning them...and thanks for the blog, I'm really enjoying it. Take care and all the best.