According to a news release, The Jazz Journalists Association has announced more than 200 finalist nominees in 39 categories of excellence in music creation and music journalism from which winners will be chosen for the JJA’s 15th annual JJA Jazz Awards. The complete list can be found at jjajazzawards.org.
The winners in each category will chosen by the votes of the professional journalist members of the JJA, the non-profit professional organization of jazz writers, broadcasters, photographers and new media producers. The winners will be announced at a benefit Gala at City Winery in New York City on June 11, 2011, from 1 to 5 p.m. EDT. The Gala, with awards presentations and featured musical performances, will be emceed by Josh Jackson, host of WBGO’s “The Checkout.” The entire event will be video streamed live online at jjajazzawards.org.
“The finalists for 2011 Jazz Awards prove that jazz is a lifetime music,” said Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association, about the ballot. “Get good when you’re young, stick with it and the music gets even better.”
The JJA’s Jazz Awards Gala is a fundraiser for the nonprofit JJA‘s ongoing operations, which include training of and advocacy for journalists working in all forms of media. At the Gala, a coterie of “activists, advocates, aiders and abettors of jazz” who comprise the JJA’s “A Team,” and roster of community “Jazz Heroes,” from around the country, will be introduced.
Tickets for the general public to attend the Jazz Awards Gala at City Winery on June 11, 2011, go on sale on May 2, 2011, at jjajazzawards.org.
View an except from last year’s awards ceremony: