More than 400 nominees for more than 40 categories of honors for excellence in jazz recordings and performance and jazz journalism and media
have been announced by the Jazz Journalists Association, in its 30th annual JJA Jazz Awards.
Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and saxophonists George Coleman and Joe Lovano are cited for their lifetime achievement in jazz; author-editorial director-blogger Nate Chinen, anthologist and poet Sascha Feinstein, author-columnists Dan Ouellette and Paul de Barros for their lifetime achievements in jazz journalism. See all the nominees by clicking those links above.
Winners of the 2025 JJA Jazz Awards, except for Lifetime Achievement award covering work done in calendar year 2024, will be announced May 1 at JJAJazzAwards.org. Awards presentations will be made at events throughout the summer.
The JJA Jazz Awards, in its 30th year the longest running independent jazz poll, reflects two-stage voting by professional members of the JJA — an international non-profit organization promoting the interests of writers, photographers, broadcasters, videographers and new media creators covering jazz and related topics. The JJA currently has 250 members; among its most recent projects are celebrations of a slate of 29 North American Jazz Heroes — activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz” and publication of The Jazz Omnibus: 21st Century Photos and Writings by Members of the Jazz Journalists Association (Cymbal Press).
