These are the finalist nominees for Performance and Recordings for the 2026 JJA Jazz Awards.
Finalists are those who received the most nominations from professional journalist members of the Jazz Journalists Association in a process that highlights excellence of hundreds of musicians, worldwide.
The nominations are based on work done in calendar year 2025, with the exception of Lifetime Achievement Awards categories, in which nominations are in recognition of a lifetime of music. These Jazz Awards represent a numerical consensus of personal evaluations of voting members of the JJA.
Nominees
Lifetime Achievement in Jazz
KENNY BARRON, b. 1943, pianist, composer, bandleader, collaborator, educator (Rutgers, Juilliard), performing professionally since 1959 with long connections to Jimmy Heath, Yusef Lateef, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Stan Getz, Sphere and a vast discography under his own name.
ANDREW CYRILLE, b. 1939, drummer, composer, bandleader, professor (the New School), ecorded the first long-playing solo drum album (What About, 1969) and multi-drummer works with Milford Graves, Kenny Clarke and Famoudou Don Moyé; led own Maono band and Quartet (with Bill Frisell, Richard Teitelbaum, Ben Street), collaborations ranging from Mary Lou Williams and Coleman Hawkins to Cecil Taylor and collective Trio 3 with Oliver Lake and Reggie Workman, among many other affiliations
KENNY BURRELL, b. 1931, guitarist, composer, educator (UCLA), debuted in 1951 with Dizzy Gillespie; long prolific career touring and recording with Oscar Peterson, fellow Detroiters including Tommy Flanagan and Donald Byrd as well as John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Jimmy Smith, and many sessions under his own leadership.
ANTHONY BRAXTON, b. 1945, composer, theorist, improviser, ensemble leader, educator (Wesleyan University), multi-instrumentalist specializing in reeds; recorded For Alto (1969) the first solo alto saxophone album; prolific output includes well-documented longstanding quartet and works for 100 tubas, four orchestras, an opera; established Tri-Centric Foundation to institutionalize his work.
Jazz Musician of the Year
Sullivan Fortner
Mary Halvorson
James Brandon Lewis
Christian McBride
Up & Coming Musician of the Year
Nicole Glover
Tyreek McDole
Alexa Tarantino
April Varner
Composer of the Year
Patricia Brennan
Mary Halvorson
Linda May Han Oh
Maria Schneider
Arranger of the Year
Darcy James Argue
John Beasley
John Clayton
Miho Hazama
Maria Schneider
Record Producer of the Year
Kris Davis, Pyroclastic Records
Manfred Eicher, ECM Records
Zev Feldman, Resonance Records and others
Don Was, Blue Note Records
Record of the Year
honey from a winter stone (Nonesuch Records) — Ambrose Akinmusire
Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic Records) — Patricia Brennan
We Insist 2025! (Candid Records) — Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell
Belonging (Blue Note Records) — Branford Marsalis Quartet
Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley (ZOHO Music) — Arturo O’Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Strange Heavens (Biophilia Records)— Linda May Han Oh
Historical Record of the Year
Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live From The Blue Morocco (Resonance Records)
Charles Mingus – The Buenos Aires Concerts (Resonance Records)
Thelonious Monk – Bremen 1965 (Sunnyside Records)
Horace Silver – In Seattle: Live at The Penthouse (Blue Note Records)
McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’ (Blue Note Records)
Record Label of the Year
Blue Note Records
Mack Avenue Records
Pi Recordings
Pyroclastic Records
Sunnyside Records
Male Vocalist of the Year
Theo Bleckmann
Kurt Elling
Tyreek McDole
Michael Mayo
Gregory Porter
Female Vocalist of the Year
Jazzmeia Horn
Samara Joy
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Nicole Zuraitis
Vocal Group
New York Voices
säje
Take 6
Large Ensemble of the Year
Arturo O’Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra
WDR Big Band
Midsize Ensemble of the Year (Trio to Octet)
ARTEMIS
Kris Davis Trio
Mary Halvorson Amaryllis Sextet
James Brandon Lewis Quartet
Duo of the Year
Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson
Cécile McLorin Salvant and Sullivan Fortner
John Scofield and Dave Holland
Chicago Underground Duo (Rob Mazurek-Chad Taylor)
Trumpeter of the Year
Ambrose Akinmusire
Ingrid Jensen
Adam O’Farrill
Wadada Leo Smith
Trombonist of the Year
Michael Dease
Jacob Garchik
Ryan Keberle
Steve Turre
Brass Specialist of the Year
Jose Davila (tuba and trombone)
Marcus Rojas (tuba)
Bob Stewart (tuba)
Theon Cross (tuba)
Alto Saxophonist of the Year
Lakecia Benjamin
Steve Lehman
Charles McPherson
Immanuel WIlkins
Miguel Zenón
Tenor Saxophonist of the Year
Isaiah Collier
James Brandon Lewis
Joe Lovano
Chris Potter
Mark Turner
Baritone Saxophonist of the Year
James Carter
Alex Harding
Brian Landrus
Scott Robinson
Gary Smulyan
Soprano Saxophonist of the Year
Jane Ira Bloom
Ravi Coltrane
Branford Marsalis
Sam Newsome
Steve Wilson
Clarinetist of the Year
Anat Cohen
Paquito D’Rivera
Ben Goldberg
Ken Peplowski (d. 2/26/2026)
Flutist of the Year
Jamie Baum
Charles Lloyd
Nicole Mitchell
Elena Pinderhughes
Multi-reeds Player of the Year
James Carter
Jon Irabagon
Roscoe Mitchell
Chris Potter
Scott Robinson
Guitarist of the Year
Nels Cline
Bill Frisell
Mary Halvorson
Julian Lage
Pat Metheny
John Scofield
Bassist of the Year
Ron Carter
Dave Holland
Christian McBride
Linda May Han Oh
John Patitucci
Electric Bassist of the Year
Stanley Clarke
Christian McBride
Marcus Miller
John Patitucci
Jamaaladeeen Tacuma
Victor Wooten
Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello or Harp Player of the Year
Regina Carter
Mark Feldman
Tomeka Reid
Jenny Scheinman
Brandee Younger
Pianist of the Year
Kenny Barron
Emmet Cohen
Kris Davis
Sullivan Fortner
Jason Moran
Keyboardist of the Year
Brian Charette
Robert Glasper
Herbie Hancock
John Medeski
Craig Taborn
Percussionist of the Year
Cyro Baptista
Hamid Drake
Kahil El’Zabar
Giovanni Hidalgo
Pedrito Martinez
Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year
Sasha Berliner
Patricia Brennan
Joel Ross
Warren Wolf
Drummer of the Year
Brian Blade
Johnathan Blake
Terri Lyne Carrington
Billy Hart
Allison Miller
Player of the Year of Instruments Rare in Jazz
Béla Fleck, banjo
Greg Leisz, steel guitar
Grégoire Maret, harmonica
Scott Robinson, theremin, etc.
Gary Versace, accordion
Electronics Specialist
Herbie Hancock
Val Jeanty
Rob Mazurek
Craig Taborn
If you are a 2026 Nominee, or a 2026 Voter, and would like a “badge” to display on your website, email Admin@jazzjournalists.org.
Note: We ask that you DO NOT cut-and-paste or copy the nominee list into your own blog or site, please link to this page instead. We welcome coverage and commentary on the list, of course, that includes some nominee names. If you blog about or report on the nominees we will be happy to link back to you; please send the URL of your blog post or report to admin@jazzjournalists.org
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2026 NOMINEES FOR JOURNALISM & MEDIA
2026 Nominees for Journalism & Media
These are the finalist nominees for Performance and Recordings for the 2026 JJA Jazz Awards. Nominees in most categories were chosen...
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