Finalist nominations for the 12th annual JJA Jazz Awards

The Jazz Journalists Association announces finalist nominations for
the 12th annual JJA Jazz Awards,
http://www.jazzhouse.org/2008finalists.html

The Awards will be celebrated Wednesday, June 18, at a cocktail
reception 3 to 6 pm at the Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St., NYC).
Finalists, honored for excellence in jazz and jazz journalism, will
be voted upon by professional members of the JJA toward selection of
a representative recipient (aka "winner").

Ticket information for the Jazz Awards reception, and sponsorship
information, will be forthcoming.
************

Finalist nominees for the 2008 Jazz Awards, the Jazz Journalists Association's 12 annual celebration of excellence in jazz and jazz journalism, are hereby announced. Voting on these nominees by professional JJA members to determine one representative winner in each category will commence soon at Jazzhouse.org — members should watch for emails with further details. The Jazz Awards will be celebrated at a cocktail reception from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18 at the Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street New York, New York. Let's meet there!

Information on tickets will also be forthcoming.

Lifetime Achievement in Jazz
(past winners are ineligible: Benny Carter, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, John Lewis, Clark Terry, Dave Brubeck, Hank Jones, Roy Haynes, Andrew Hill)

Herbie Hancock
Marian McPartland
Oscar Peterson
Wayne Shorter
Lee Konitz

Musician of the Year
Terence Blanchard
Sonny Rollins
Herbie Hancock
Maria Schneider
Ornette Coleman

Up & Coming Musician of the Year
Christian Scott
Lionel Loueke
Peter Evans
Roberta Gambarini
Mantana Roberts
Tyshawn Sorey
Jaleel Shaw
Nicole Mitchell
Record of the Year

A Tale of God's Will, Terence Blanchard (Blue Note/EMI)
Sky Blue, Maria Schneider (ArtistShare)
The Joni Letters, Herbie Hancock (Verve)
Pilgrimage, Michael Brecker (Heads Up)
Abbey Sings Abbey, Abbey Lincoln (Verve)

Reissue of the Year
Compulsion, Andrew Hill (Blue Note)
Cornell 1964, Charles Mingus Sextet (Blue Note)
Folk Songs For Far Out Folk, Fred Katz (Reboot Stereophonic)
Sunshine of My Soul: Live at the Keystone Korner, Jaki Byard (HighNote)

Reissue box set
Lady Day: The Master Takes and Singles, Billie Holiday (Columbia)
The Complete On the Corner Sessions, Miles Davis (Columbia Legacy)
A Life in Time: The Roy Haynes Story, Roy Haynes (Dreyfus Jazz)
The Quincy Jones ABC/Mercury Big Band Jazz Sessions (Mosaic Records)
The Complete Lionel Hampton Victor Sessions 1937-1941 (Mosaic Records)
Chu Berry: Classic Columbia and Victor Sessions (Mosaic Records)
Duke Ellington — The Complete 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion and Okey Small Groups Sessions (Mosaic Records>
How Low Can You Go: Anthology of the String Bass, 1925-1941 (Dust to Digital)

Record Label of the Year
Arbors
Blue Note
Clean Feed
Concord
ECM
Palmetto
Sunnyside

Composer of the Year
Maria Schneider
Terence Blanchard
Ornette Coleman
Carla Bley
Matt Shipp

Arranger of the Year
Bill Holman
Charles Tolliver
Gil Goldstein
Herbie Hancock
Dave Holland
Maria Schneider
Gerald Wilson
Uri Caine

Male Singer of the Year
Kurt Elling
Giacomo Gates
Andy Bey

Female Singer of the Year
Abbey Lincoln
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dianne Reeves
Roberta Gambarini
Nancy King

Latin Jazz Album of the Year
Big Band Urban Folktales, Bobby Sanabria, (Jazzheads)
In Case You Missed It, Marlon Simon and the Nagual Spirits (Jazzheads)
Why Deny, Marty Sheller (PVR Records)
My Island, Rafi Malkiel (self-published)
Funk Tango, Paquito D'Rivera Quintet (Sunnyside)

Small Ensemble Group of the Year (< 9 pieces)
Dave Holland Quintet
Mostly Other People Do the Killing
Harry Allen/Joe Cohn Quartet
The Bad Plus
Ornette Coleman Quartet/Quintet

Large Ensemble of the Year (9+ pieces)
Maria Schneider Orchestra
Charles Tolliver Big Band
Mingus Big Band
Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Gerald Wilson Orchestra

Trumpeter of the Year
Terence Blanchard
Dave Douglas
Peter Evans
Roy Hargrove
Cuong Vu

Trombonist of the Year
Conrad Herwig
Ray Anderson
Wycliffe Gordon
Robin Eubanks
Roswell Rudd
Steve Swell

Player of the Year of Instruments Rare in Jazz
Scott Robinson, reeds, brass, antiques
Bela Fleck banjo
Erik Friedlander, cello
Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello
Daniel Smith, bassoon

Alto player of the year
Ornette Coleman
Steve Lehmann
Steve Wilson
Phil Woods
Lee Konitz

Tenor player of the year
Joshua Redman
Sonny Rollins
Tony Malaby
Joe Lovano

Soprano Saxophonist of the Year
Branford Marsalis
Dave Liebman
Jane Ira Bloom
Wayne Shorter

Baritone saxophonist of the year
Scott Robinson
Mats Gustafsson
Gary Smulyan
James Carter
Joe Temperley

Clarinetist of the Year
Anat Cohen
Don Byron
Ken Peplowski
Marty Ehrlich
Paquito D'Rivera
Perry Robinson

Flutist of the Year
Frank Wess
Jane Bunnett
Lew Tabackin
Nicole Mitchell
Sam Rivers

Pianist of the Year
Cecil Taylor
Hank Jones
Herbie Hancock
McCoy Tyner
Myra Melford
Stefano Bollani

Organ-keyboards of the Year
Joey DeFrancesco
Dr. Lonnie Smith
Gary Versace
Larry Goldings

Guitarist of the Year
Bill Frisell
Lionel Loueke
Pat Metheny
Russell Malone

Bassist of the Year
Charlie Haden
Christian McBride
Mark Dresser
Ron Carter
William Parker

Electric Bassist of the Year
Steve Swallow
Stanley Clarke
Stomu Takeishi
Marcus Miller

Strings Player of the Year
Billy Bang, violin
Erik Friedlander, cello
Jenny Scheinman, violin
Mark Feldman, violin
Regina Carter, violin

Mallets Player of the Year
Stefon Harris
Steve Nelson
Joe Locke
Gary Burton
Bobby Hutcherson

Percussionist of the Year
Candido Camero
Cyro Baptista
Hamid Drake
Kahil El 'Zabar
Marilyn Mazur

Drummer of the Year
Hamid Drake
Matt Wilson
Paul Motian
Roy Haynes
Jeff "Tain" Watts
Tyshawn Sorey
Paal Nilssen-Love

Jazz Journalism Categories

Jazz Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award
(previous winners ineligible: Whitney Balliett, Stanley Dance, Nat Hentoff, Dan Morgenstern, Ira Gitler, Gary Giddins, Gene Lees, Bob Blumenthal, Howard Mandel, Francis Davis)

Don Heckman, jazz critic Los Angeles Times, beginning in 1960s at New York Times
Alyn Shipton, The Times in London, BBC Radio, author, editor, educator, lecturer
Doug Ramsey, author, biographer, blogger, editor, print journalist since 1975 in Jazz Times, Down Beat, Dallas Morning News, Texas Monthly
Stanley Crouch, author, artistic consultant, broadcast commentator, columnist in New York Daily News, New Republic, Jazz Times, Village Voice, others
Larry Kart, author, Down Beat, Chicago Tribune

Excellence in Jazz Broadcasting: The Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award
(previous winners ineligible: (previous winners ineligible: Phil Schaap, Neil Tesser, Marian McPartland, Dr. Billy Taylor, Kenny Washington, Michael Bourne, Alyn Shipton, Steve Schwartz, Rhonda Hamilton, Eric Jackson, Bob Porter)
Leigh Kamman, career 1940-2007, includes WMIN, KSTP and "The Jazz Image," for Minnesota Public Radio
Linda Yohn, Music Director, WEMU, Ypsilanti, Ohio
Nancy Wilson, host of "Jazz Set," NPR
Ted Panken, program host and interviewer, WKCR, NYC

Excellence in Newspaper, Magazine or Online Feature or Review Writing of the Year: The Helen Dance-Robert Palmer Award
Larry Blumenfeld, Jazziz, Wall Street Journal, Village Voice
Ben Ratliff, New York Times
Nate Chinen, New York Times
Will Friedwald, The New York Sun

Best Periodical Covering Jazz
Downbeat
JazzTimes
Cadence
Signal2Noise

Best Website Concentrating on Jazz
All About Jazz
Jazz Corner
Jazz.com

Best Book About Jazz
Lee Konitz: Conversations on the Improviser's Art by Andy Hamilton (University of Michigan Press)
Miles Ornette Cecil — Jazz Beyond Jazz by Howard Mandel (Routledge)
Playing the Changes: Milt Hinton's Life in Stories and Photographs, by Milt Hinton, David Berger and Holly Maxon (Vanderbilt University Press)
Coltrane: The Story of a Sound by Ben Ratliff (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Excellence in Photography: The Lona Foote/ Bob Parent Award
(previous winners ineligible: William Claxton, William Gottlieb, Herman Leonard, Jimmy Katz, Chuck Stewart, Enid Farber, Ken Franckling, Lee Tanner, Jack Vartoogian, Gene Martin)
Milt Hinton (posthumous)
Mitchell Seidel
Jos L.Knaepen
Lourdes Delgado

Jazz Events Producer of the Year
Ajay Heble, Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium
Bill Royston, Portland (OR) Jazz Festival
Jack Kleinsinger, Highlights in Jazz (NYC)
Patricia Nicholson-Parker, Vision Festival (New York)
Jazz at Lincoln Center (NYC)