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
- Mantana 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
- Maria Schneider
- Terence Blanchard
- Ornette Coleman
- Carla Bley
- Matt Shipp
Male Singer of the Year
- Bill Holman
- Charles Tolliver
- Gil Goldstein
- Herbie Hancock
- Dave Holland
- Maria Schneider
- Gerald Wilson
- Uri Caine
Female Singer of the Year
- Kurt Elling
- Giacomo Gates
- Andy Bey
Latin Jazz Album of the Year
- Abbey Lincoln
- Dee Dee Bridgewater
- Dianne Reeves
- Roberta Gambarini
- Nancy King
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)
- Why Deny, Marty Sheller (PVR Records)
- My Island, Rafi Malkiel (self-published)
- Funk Tango, Paquito D'Rivera Quintet (Sunnyside)
Large Ensemble 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
Trumpeter of the Year
- Maria Schneider Orchestra
- Charles Tolliver Big Band
- Mingus Big Band
- Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
- Gerald Wilson Orchestra
Trombonist of the Year
- Terence Blanchard
- Dave Douglas
- Peter Evans
- Roy Hargrove
- Cuong Vu
Player of the Year of Instruments Rare in Jazz
- Conrad Herwig
- Ray Anderson
- Wycliffe Gordon
- Robin Eubanks
- Roswell Rudd
- Steve Swell
Alto player of the year
- Scott Robinson, reeds, brass, antiques
- Bela Fleck banjo
- Erik Friedlander, cello
- Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello
- Daniel Smith, bassoon
Tenor player of the year
- Ornette Coleman
- Steve Lehman
- Steve Wilson
- Phil Woods
- Lee Konitz
Soprano Saxophonist of the Year
- Joshua Redman
- Sonny Rollins
- Tony Malaby
- Joe Lovano
Baritone saxophonist of the year
- Branford Marsalis
- Dave Liebman
- Jane Ira Bloom
- Wayne Shorter
Clarinetist of the Year
- Scott Robinson
- Mats Gustafsson
- Gary Smulyan
- James Carter
- Joe Temperley
Flutist of the Year
- Anat Cohen
- Don Byron
- Ken Peplowski
- Marty Ehrlich
- Paquito D'Rivera
- Perry Robinson
Pianist of the Year
- Frank Wess
- Jane Bunnett
- Lew Tabackin
- Nicole Mitchell
- Sam Rivers
Organ-keyboards of the Year
- Cecil Taylor
- Hank Jones
- Herbie Hancock
- McCoy Tyner
- Myra Melford
- Stefano Bollani
Guitarist of the Year
- Joey DeFrancesco
- Dr. Lonnie Smith
- Gary Versace
- Larry Goldings
Bassist of the Year
- Bill Frisell
- Lionel Loueke
- Pat Metheny
- Russell Malone
Electric Bassist of the Year
- Charlie Haden
- Christian McBride
- Mark Dresser
- Ron Carter
- William Parker
Strings Player of the Year
- Steve Swallow
- Stanley Clarke
- Stomu Takeishi
- Marcus Miller
Mallets Player of the Year
- Billy Bang, violin
- Erik Friedlander, cello
- Jenny Scheinman, violin
- Mark Feldman, violin
- Regina Carter, violin
Percussionist of the Year
- Stefon Harris
- Steve Nelson
- Joe Locke
- Gary Burton
- Bobby Hutcherson
Drummer of the Year
- Candido Camero
- Cyro Baptista
- Hamid Drake
- Kahil El 'Zabar
- Marilyn Mazur
- 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)Excellence in Jazz Broadcasting: The Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award
- 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
(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
- Linda Yohn, Music Director, WEMU, Ypsilanti, Ohio
- Nancy Wilson, host of "Jazz Set," NPR
- Ted Panken, program host and interviewer, WKCR, NYC
Best Periodical Covering Jazz
- 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 Website Concentrating on Jazz Best Book About Jazz
- Downbeat
- JazzTimes
- Cadence
- Signal2Noise
Excellence in Photography: The Lona Foote/ Bob Parent Award
- 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)
(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
- Milt Hinton (posthumous)
- Mitchell Seidel
- Jos L.Knaepen
- Lourdes Delgado
- 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)