The 40 sponsors of the Jazz Journalists Association’s 2018 Jazz Awards and Jazz Heroes initiatives signed up from across the breadth of the jazz ecosystem, resulting in a ringing endorsement to the JJA’s mission to promote the interests of jazz journalists and jazz in the media — hence, jazz itself.
Supporters of the 23rd annual Jazz Awards, as posted on all pages of the JJAJazzAwards.org website, include jazz-related foundations, educational institutions, festivals, grass roots non-profit support organizations, music licensing entities, record companies, publicists, a jazz-devoted beverage company and the multi-city venue City Winery, which is directed by Michael Dorf, who was instrumental in launching the Jazz Awards in 1997, hosting presentation parties at Alice Tully Hall, South Street Seaport and the Knitting Factory in Manhattan, his original venue. City Winery is the 2018 Jazz Awards party wine sponsor, donating bottles of their red and white house blends. North Coast Brewing Co. returned as beer sponsor of the Jazz Awards event.
The New School Jazz program provided the venue, cool, commodious and adaptable Arnhold Hall in theTheresa Lang Community and Student Center, while Berklee College of Music contributed generously, as did the Jazz Education Network. The Jazz Foundation of America reinforced its longstanding connection with the JJA, festivals, foundations and grass roots jazz organizations including Jazz Bridge (Philadelphia), the Jazz Institute of Chicago, MCGJazz (Pittsburgh), Jazz St. Louis and Collective Eye Productions (Minneapolis).
Resonance Records continued its underwriting of the JJA’s year-long programs and brought singer Polly 
Gibbons and her trio ( ) to the Awards party (she had the usually chatty crowd hushed, intoning “Don’t Explain”). Verve Label Group this year is also a major recording industry sponsor. The labels Blue Note, Concord Jazz, ECM, High Note/Savant, JazzHeads, Motéma, Sunnyside Records and Thirsty Ear joined us; the Newport Jazz Festival, Tucson Jazz Festival, Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, Monterey Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz, SFJazz, radio stations WBGO (Newark) and WDCB (Chicago) did, too.
Publicists Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite and Katz), Jim Eigo of Jazz Promo Services and Scott Thompson (Scott Thompson Public Relations) were with us — literally so for Braithwaite (her first-time in attendance at the Awards party) and Eigo there, too. Robbin Ahrold (a JJA Jazz Hero) of Century Media Partners returned as the party’s toastmaster.
The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation lent its name. The JJA considered that an endorsement, signaling appreciation of the JJA’s ongoing efforts to promote the interests of jazz journalists and encourage high standards of media coverage of jazz in all its forms.
