The Jazz Journalists Association has launched its annual Jazz Awards season with the announcement ofeight nominees and 15 Honorable Mentions in two
categories of Book of the Year (2024) Awards. In addition, Special Citations have been awarded by the JJA Book Committee for two efforts at anthologizing previous writings.
Winners of the Best Biography/Autobiography Award and Best Book of History, Criticism, Culture Award will be determined by voting of the JJA’s approximately 250 international active members. Nominees in most Jazz Awards categories are determined through an open-to-members nomination process, winners coming from second-stage voting. Book Award nominees are screened by a Book Committee and announced in advance to afford JJA voters time to read the designated volumes.
“The variety of jazz and jazz-related books remained strong again this year,” says Bob Blumenthal, JJA Board member and Chair of the six-member committee that met monthly to discuss and review current titles ultimately selected as nominees in the organization’s celebrations of excellence in jazz and jazz journalism, now in its 30th year. “Through our Special Citation process,” he added, “we also wanted to call attention to anthologies of leading journalists of yesterday and today.”
Nominees In the category Biography/Autobiography
Paul Alexander, Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year (Penguin Random House)
Sheila Curran Bernard, Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Leadbelly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies (Cambridge University Press)
Philip Freeman, In the Brewing Luminous: The Life and Music of Cecil Taylor (Wolke Verlag)
Jonathan Grasse, Jazz Revolutionary: The Life and Music of Eric Dolphy (Jawbone Press)
Nominees in the category History/Criticism/Culture
Darius and Catherine Brubeck, Playing the Changes: Jazz at an African University and On the Road (University of Illinois Press)
Guy Fonck, Focus on Women in Jazz (Editions Schortgen)
Mike Smith, In with the In Crowd: Popular Jazz in 1960s Black America (University Press of Mississippi)
Elijah Wald, Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories (Hatchette Books)
Honorable Mentions
William G. Carter, Thriving on a Riff: Jazz and the Spiritual Life (Broadleaf Books Regardless of one’s view of religion, it is hard to dispute that spirituality has played a role in the history and development of the art form of jazz. Carter explores the connections between the music’s spiritual and secular aspects. – Brad Stone
Will Friedwald, Nights at the Red Steinway (Backbeat Books) A love letter to jazz piano, culled from two decades of reporting. Friedwald’s vision is comprehensive, from fountainheads and popularizers to modernists and more recent explorers. – Leslie Lytton Fuller
Kenny G with Philip Lerman, Life in the Key of G (Blackstone) “Jazz” quibbles aside, Kenny G instilled a love of instrumental music into a huge new audience. His memoir is enlightening, consistently hilarious, and filled with his deep respect for both his bandmates and his idols. – Todd Jenkins
Bob Gluck, Pat Metheny: Stories Beyond Words (University of Illinois Press) An overdue review of Metheny’s singular career, from his hiring as a Berklee College instructor at age 19 through his creation of some of the timeless albums of the past five decades. Gluck’s analysis of several compositions and recordings are of particular interest. – Todd Jenkins
Aaron Johnson, Jazz Radio America (University 0f Illinois Press) A long overdue examination of the rise and fall of American jazz radio, from its origins on Black stations in the ‘40s and its collapse in the ’80s to its powerful presence on satellite services and the Internet. – Eugene Holley, Jr.
James Kaplan, 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the Lost Empire of Cool (Penguin Press) A well-researched and thorough account of the careers of these three masters, and the group interactions that led to their masterpieces.
Walter Kolosky, Mahavishnu Memories (self-published) The third volume from John McLaughlin’s most dedicated scribe is a scrapbook of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s working prime, from opening act to major attraction. Kolosky brings the band, its headline and opening acts and its fans together in celebration. – Bob Blumenthal
Andre Marmot, Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion (Faber) A range of interviews with innovative architects of the scene consider slavery, imperialism and globalization. Marmot highlights the power of music to connect people across social and cultural boundaries with refreshing energy. – Fiona Ross
Alexis McGhee, From Blues to Beyonce: A Century of Black Women’s Generational Sonic Rhetorics (SUNY Press) A necessary analysis of the music industry’s exploitation of black women’s work, from Nina Simone and Billie Holiday to Beyoncé and Cardi B. McGee brings conversation to the forefront. – Fiona Ross
Joe McPhee with Mike Faloon, Straight Up Without Wings: The Musical Flight of Joe McPhee (Corbett versus Dempsey) The Pride of Poughkeepsie, as documented by one of his biggest fans. Family and musical influences, McPhee’s Po Music creative philosophy, and his busy life as an American musician on the European free music scene are focal points. – Todd Jenkins
Darren Mueller, At the Vanguard of Vinyl: A Cultural History of the Long-Playing Record in Jazz (Duke University Press) Both a chronicle of the scientific, social and musical development of the long playing record and a consideration of how African-American musicians used the idiom for their advancement. – Eugene Holley, Jr.
Samuel Reese, ed., The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins (New York Review Books) Pithy, precise and poetic writings about jazz, the arts and culture selected from Sonny Rollins’ notebooks. An excellent addition to Aidan Levy’s biography of the Saxophone Colossus. – Eugene Holley, Jr.
Tad Richards, Jazz with a Beat: Small Group Swing, 1940-1960 (Excelsior Editions) A different look at decades associated with bebop, hard bop and cool in most historical surveys. Richards takes a different tack, with Illinois Jacquet, Louis Jordan, Johnny Otis, Ray Chares and Jimmy Smith among the fountainheads who linked jazz and popular music in the “modern” era.. – Bob Blumenthal
Fumi Tomita: Early Jazz: A Concise Introduction from Its Beginnings through 1928 (SUNY Press) A thoroughly engaging overview highlighting many unexplored, lesser known musicians. Tomita’s detailed analysis of 20 songs encourages the reader to truly listen. – Fiona Ross
Larry Tye, The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Count Basie Transformed America (Mariner Books) Tye traces the ascendance of jazz in its first decades to the dominance of three individuals with distinct personalities yet similar cultural clout. Particularly valuable for elevating Basie’s contributions. – Bob Blumenthal
Special Citations
Our nomination process is focused on the current efforts of individual authors/journalists. In 2024, however, projects collecting historic and more recent writings by a variety of authors made important contributions to the jazz library, and were found to be worthy of special acknowledgement.
STEVEN A. CERRA For years, Cerra has focused on historic articles and interviews on his JazzProfiles blog. Beginning last year, he added self-published paperback and e-book compendiums of historic writings, including individual volumes on Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Stan Kenton and Gerry Mulligan, and three volumes on West Coast Jazz. Each is an invaluable research tool, providing a sense of how important artists and trends were viewed at the time by the music’s leading commentators.
THE JAZZ OMNIBUS: 21st CENTURY PHOTOS AND WRITINGS BY MEMBERS OF THE JAZZ JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION (Cymbal Press) A contemporary view of jazz in print is offered by this anthology of writings and photographs, selected by 87 members of the JJA as representative of their work between 2004 and 2024. Covering individual performances, artist profiles and overviews of recent trends, the book captures how truly omni-dimensional jazz has become in the new century, and how its chroniclers bring a refreshing expansion of perspectives to their enterprise.
