Congratulations to all the 2024 winners of the 29th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards for Jazz Journalism. Professional journalist members of the JJA made open nominations in a first-selection round; those who received the most nominations advanced to the finalists’ ballot, and JJA’s professional members voted on them to arrive at these honorees.
Our congratulations, of course, to all the 2024 Nominees for Jazz Journalism in all categories. And please click the photos to expand them — the wonderful images here reward much larger presentation.
Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism
WILL FRIEDWALD
Author, critic, researcher, broadcast producer, researcher, consultant. Nominees: Nate Chinen, Robin D.G. Kelly, John Litweiler
WILL FRIEDWALD b. 1961, is the author and has written music criticism for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Village Voice, Newsday, New York Observer, New York Sun, and magazines ranging from Entertainment Weekly to the Oxford America. He’s the author of Straighten Up and Fly RIght: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole; Sinatra: The Song is You – A Singer’s Art; Jazz Singing: America’s Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond; Stardust Melodies – The Biography of Twelve of America’s Most Popular Songs; Tony Bennett: The Good Life; Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies; A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers; and The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums; his writing appears in collaborative volumes and anthologies, too. He is an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award recipient, among other honors. Will curates a video and sometimes live production entitled “Clip Joint,” and is an active researcher. He has written over 600 liner notes for compact discs, received 11 Grammy nominations, and appears frequently on television and film documentaries. He is also a consultant and curator for Apple Music.
Robert Palmer-Helen Oakley Dance Award for Excellence in Writing in 2023
LARRY BLUMENFELD
The Wall Street Journal, Tidal Magazine The Daily Beast, Jazziz Magazine
Nominees: Michelle Mercer, Marcus J. Moore
Marian McPartland-Willis Conover Award for Career Achievement in Broadcasting
SID GRIBETZ
Broadcaster
40-year association with WKCR (New York City), deep-dive “Jazz Profiles” programs, “Daybreak Express” show, marathon specials
Nominee: Matt Fleeger (KHMD), Dick Golden (SiriusXM)
Lona Foote-Bob Parent Award for Career Achievement in Photography
ANDRIANA MATEO
Nominees: Chuck Koton, Marc PoKempner, Luciano Rossetti
Publication/Website of the Year
DOWNBEAT Magazine
Nominees: AllAboutJazz.com, The New York City Jazz Record
Blog of the Year
THE HONEST BROKER
By Ted Gioia
Nominees: Chronicles, by Vinnie Sperrazza; Jazz Wax by Marc Myers; Transitional Technology/Do The Math by Ethan Iverson
Biography/Autobiography of the Year
EASILY SLIP INTO ANOTHER WORLD: A LIFE IN MUSIC
Henry Threadgill with Brent Hayes Edwards (Penguin Random House)
Nominees: Being Gerry Mulligan: My Life in Jazz, Gerry Mulligan with Ken Poston (Rowan & Littlefield); Cedar: The Life and Music of Cedar Walton, by Ben Markley (University of North Texas Press); Gentleman of Jazz: A Life in Music, by Ramsey Lewis with Aaron Cohen (Blackstone Publishing); Goin’ Back To T-Town: The Ernie Fields Territory Big Band, by Carmen Fields (University of Oklahoma Press); Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America, by Stephanie Stein Crease (Oxford University Press)
Book of the Year About Jazz: History, Criticism and Culture
IN SEARCH OF A BEAUTIFUL FREEDOM: NEW AND SELECTED ESSAYS
Farah Jasmine Griffin (W. W. Norton & Company)
Nominees: The Dark Tree: Jazz and the Community Arts in Los Angeles, by Steven L. Isoardi (Duke University Press); Jazz and Death: Reception, Rituals and Representations, by Walter van de Leur (Routledge); Kansas City Jazz: A Little Evil Will Do You Good, by Con Chapman, (Equinox); Tokyo Jazz Joints, Philip Arneill (Kehrer Verlag); The Williamsburg Avant-Garde: Experimental Music and the Sound of the Brooklyn Waterfront, by Cisco Bradley (Duke University Press).
Podcast of the Year
THE BUZZ: THE JJA PODCAST
Nominees: Burning Ambulance, by Phil Freeman; Improv Exchange, by Leander Young; The Third Story with Leo Sidran
Photo of the Year
Susana Santos Silva by LUCIANO ROSSETTI
Nominees: Harrison Bankhead Memorial by Michael Jackson; Alexander von Schlippenbach by Frank Schindelbeck; Cécile McLorin Salvant by Urszula Las; Andrzej Swies by D. Kwapisiewicz; Pola Atmanska by Lech Basel
Album Art of the Year
Roscoe Mitchell Orchestra and Space Trio at the Fault Zone Festival
painting by Roscoe Mitchell (Wide Hive Records)
Nominees: Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden, collage by Matana Roberts (Constellation); Johan Lindstrom and Nortbotten Big Band, art by Bogdan Lupescu (Moserobie Music Production); Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramid, AfroFuturistic Dreams illustration by David Alabo (Strut Records); Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die (World War), cover art by jaimie branch & John Herndon (International Anthem)
2024 AWARDSFOR PERFORMANCE & RECORDING
2024 Winners for Jazz Performance and Recordings
Congratulations to all 2024 Winners for Jazz Performance and Recordings of the 29th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards.
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