The JJA has launched its 16th annual Jazz Awards initiative and set Wednesday, June 20 as the date for a New York City Awards party at the Blue Note Jazz Club. “Satellite” parties celebrating the Awards will be held around the same time in a number of other cities. Meanwhile, awards nominations are being tabulated and 2012 nominees will be announced on April 13 as part of the JJA’s celebration of Jazz Day.
JJA professional journalist members have now made their nominations in 40 
categories of jazz and jazz journalism excellence. There’s still time to submit nominations for Short Form Jazz News Videos and Photo of the Year and anyone may nominate in these categories. To nominate a short online jazz video made in 2011, send the url to president@jazzjournalists.org. To nominate a jazz photo shot in 20122, send a JPEG of the photo to: photos@jazzjournalists.org. You must include your name as well as the name of the photographer and the subject of the photo and when and where it was shot. One submission per person, please.
The JJA’s June 20 New York event is being planned as a cocktail party, 4-6 p.m. at the Blue Note, at which winners of Lifetime Achievement in Jazz, Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism and several other top honors will be announced. In a change from past years, winners of other Awards will be announced in days leading up to the NYC event. Jazz Heroes awards will also be announced in advance.
[pullquote] The spotlight is on jazz in local communities.[/pullquote]Satellite parties are also being organized across the U.S. and beyond, in which local jazz scenes will celebrate themselves, their own “jazz heroes” and continuing development of a living art form. To date, satellite parties are a’brewing in Boston, Gainesville, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Seattle, Toronto, Tucson, Washington D.C. and Aukland, New Zealand. Other communities are cordially invited to throw their own; satellite parties needn’t be fancy affairs — for further information contact Susan@JazzJournalists.org.
This year’s changes in the JJA Jazz Awards format are intended to better spotlight jazz beyond the Big Apple by encouraging and providing organizational support to people, presenters and institutions that will hold their own events, open to the public, that raise the profile of talents and audiences everywhere there’s jazz action.
Most breaking news regarding the 2012 Jazz Awards will be posted first at the new JJA Awards 2012 Facebook page, as will information about how you can participate by submitting photos, videos and blog posts about your local jazz scene. Finalists resulting from the nominations ballot will be announced there and also at JJANews on April 13, designated “Jazz Day” by the U.S. Council of Mayors, and so adopted by the Jazz Forward Coalition.
