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. 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)Musician of the Year
- Herbie Hancock
- Marian McPartland
- Oscar Peterson
- Wayne Shorter
- Lee Konitz
Up & Coming Musician of the Year
- Terence Blanchard
- Sonny Rollins
- Herbie Hancock
- Maria Schneider
- Ornette Coleman
Record of the Year
- Christian Scott
- Lionel Loueke
- Peter Evans
- Roberta Gambarini
- Matana Roberts
- Tyshawn Sorey
- Jaleel Shaw
- Nicole Mitchell
Reissue 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 box set
- 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)
Record Label of the Year
- 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)
Composer of the Year
- Arbors
- Blue Note
- Clean Feed
- Concord
- ECM
- Palmetto
- Sunnyside
Arranger of the Year
- Terence Blanchard
- Carla Bley
- Ornette Coleman
- Maria Schneider
- Matt Shipp
Male Singer of the Year
- Uri Caine
- Gil Goldstein
- Herbie Hancock
- Dave Holland
- Bill Holman
- Maria Schneider
- Charles Tolliver
- Gerald Wilson
Female Singer of the Year
- Andy Bey
- Kurt Elling
- Giacomo Gates
Latin Jazz Album of the Year
- Dee Dee Bridgewater
- Roberta Gambarini
- Nancy King
- Abbey Lincoln
- Dianne Reeves
Small Ensemble Group of the Year (< 9 pieces)
- Big Band Urban Folktales, Bobby Sanabria, (Jazzheads)
- In Case You Missed It, Marlon Simon and the Nagual Spirits (Jazzheads)
- Funk Tango, Paquito D'Rivera Quintet (Sunnyside)
- My Island, Rafi Malkiel (self-published)
- Why Deny, Marty Sheller (PVR Records)
Large Ensemble of the Year (9+ pieces)
- The Bad Plus
- Dave Holland Quintet
- Harry Allen/Joe Cohn Quartet
- Mostly Other People Do the Killing
- Ornette Coleman Quartet/Quintet
Trumpeter of the Year
- Charles Tolliver Big Band
- Gerald Wilson Orchestra
- Maria Schneider Orchestra
- Mingus Big Band
- Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Trombonist of the Year
- Terence Blanchard
- Dave Douglas
- Peter Evans
- Roy Hargrove
- Cuong Vu
Player of the Year of Instruments Rare in Jazz
- Ray Anderson
- Robin Eubanks
- Wycliffe Gordon
- Conrad Herwig
- Roswell Rudd
- Steve Swell
Alto Player of the Year
- Bela Fleck banjo
- Erik Friedlander, cello
- Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello
- Scott Robinson, reeds, brass, antiques
- Daniel Smith, bassoon
Tenor Player of the Year
- Ornette Coleman
- Lee Konitz
- Steve Lehman
- Steve Wilson
- Phil Woods
Soprano Saxophonist of the Year
- Joe Lovano
- Tony Malaby
- Joshua Redman
- Sonny Rollins
Baritone Saxophonist of the year
- Jane Ira Bloom
- Dave Liebman
- Branford Marsalis
- Wayne Shorter
Clarinetist of the Year
- James Carter
- Mats Gustafsson
- Scott Robinson
- Gary Smulyan
- Joe Temperley
Flutist of the Year
- Don Byron
- Anat Cohen
- Paquito D'Rivera
- Marty Ehrlich
- Ken Peplowski
- Perry Robinson
Pianist of the Year
- Jane Bunnett
- Nicole Mitchell
- Sam Rivers
- Lew Tabackin
- Frank Wess
Organ-keyboards of the Year
- Stefano Bollani
- Hank Jones
- Herbie Hancock
- Myra Melford
- Cecil Taylor
- McCoy Tyner
Guitarist of the Year
- Joey DeFrancesco
- Larry Goldings
- Dr. Lonnie Smith
- Gary Versace
Bassist of the Year
- Bill Frisell
- Lionel Loueke
- Russell Malone
- Pat Metheny
Electric Bassist of the Year
- Ron Carter
- Mark Dresser
- Charlie Haden
- Christian McBride
- William Parker
Strings Player of the Year
- Stanley Clarke
- Marcus Miller
- Steve Swallow
- Stomu Takeishi
Mallets Player of the Year
- Billy Bang, violin
- Regina Carter, violin
- Mark Feldman, violin
- Erik Friedlander, cello
- Jenny Scheinman, violin
Percussionist of the Year
- Gary Burton
- Stefon Harris
- Bobby Hutcherson
- Joe Locke
- Steve Nelson
Drummer of the Year
- Cyro Baptista
- Candido Camero
- Hamid Drake
- Kahil El 'Zabar
- Marilyn Mazur
- Hamid Drake
- Roy Haynes
- Paul Motian
- Paal Nilssen-Love
- Tyshawn Sorey
- Jeff "Tain" Watts
- Matt Wilson
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)Excellence in Jazz Broadcasting: The Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award
- Stanley Crouch, author, artistic consultant, broadcast commentator, columnist in New York Daily News, New Republic, Jazz Times, Village Voice, others
- Don Heckman, jazz critic Los Angeles Times, beginning in 1960s at New York Times
- Larry Kart, author, Down Beat, Chicago Tribune
- Doug Ramsey, author, biographer, blogger, editor, print journalist since 1975 in Jazz Times, Down Beat, Dallas Morning News, Texas Monthly
- Alyn Shipton, The Times in London, BBC Radio, author, editor, educator, lecturer
(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)Excellence in Newspaper, Magazine or Online Feature or Review Writing of the Year: The Helen Dance–Robert Palmer Award
- Leigh Kamman, career 1940-2007, includes WMIN, KSTP and "The Jazz Image," for Minnesota Public Radio
- Ted Panken, program host and interviewer, WKCR, NYC
- Nancy Wilson, host of "Jazz Profiles," NPR
- Linda Yohn, Music Director, WEMU, Ypsilanti, Ohio
Best Periodical Covering Jazz
- Larry Blumenfeld, Jazziz, Wall Street Journal, Village Voice
- Nate Chinen, New York Times
- Will Friedwald, The New York Sun
- Ben Ratliff, New York Times
Best Website Concentrating on Jazz Best Book About Jazz
- Cadence
- Downbeat
- JazzTimes
- Signal2Noise
Excellence in Photography: The Lona Foote–Bob Parent Award
- Coltrane: The Story of a Sound by Ben Ratliff (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
- 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)
(previous winners ineligible: William Claxton, William Gottlieb, Herman Leonard, Jimmy Katz, Chuck Stewart, Enid Farber, Ken Franckling, Lee Tanner, Jack Vartoogian, Gene Martin)Jazz Events Producer of the Year
- Lourdes Delgado
- Milt Hinton (posthumous)
- Jos L. Knaepen
- Mitchell Seidel
- Ajay Heble, Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium
- Jazz at Lincoln Center (NYC)
- Jack Kleinsinger, Highlights in Jazz (NYC)
- Patricia Nicholson-Parker, Vision Festival (New York)
- Bill Royston, Portland (OR) Jazz Festival