I Should KOKO…! Jazz FM Awards head to new venue

It’s great to see the Jazz FM Awards coming back this year – how will it be different to previous years?

Nick Pitts: Yes – it’s really exciting that it’s back after a bit of a hiatus. The big difference is that the Jazz FM Awards ceremony has a new home in KOKO [in Camden, North London] – a place where we can take what we have achieved so far and supercharge the show to the next level, and that the Awards returns to the front end of the year rather than October where it has been since 2020. Moving it earlier in the year brings two positive outcomes… firstly, it allows the nominees and winners to benefit from their involvement in the summer touring season and shout about it, and secondly, eligibility runs across a much simpler calendar year of January to December.

What does bringing the Awards to KOKO mean.

NP: We’ve been so lucky over the years with the phenomenal venues that have been home to the Jazz FM Awards. But having not done an in-person awards since 2022 we felt that it was the right time to try something new. The awards are so much more than just the 90 minute ceremony – our specially invited audience expect a magical, musical night from the minute they enter the venue to the moment they get home, and we believe that KOKO allows us to continue to provide a very special experience.

While some can be dismissive of awards ceremonies, they do offer a chance for the creative community to get together and celebrate their achievements – is that the other side to these kinds of events? (i.e. they mean a lot to the musicians as well as the fans).

NP: Oh yes – ever since the Jazz FM Awards started (and I’ve been involved in every single one of them!), the artists and community are at the centre of it. We run a proper and transparent awards process that features a long list garnered by experts (such as producers, journalists, promoters, managers etc, a process that is underway as you read this) from right across the UK, with a shortlisting procedure that features a handful of the best experts in the business to decide the outcome. We are also bringing back our public vote categories that allow the Jazz FM listeners to decide. I always look at some of the interview videos we’ve created in previous years with the winners and no matter at what level they are at in their musical career, they really appreciate getting a nod from us, be it a win or even a nomination.

There are some changes happening to the Jazz FM weekend line up too – with a new show for Chris Philips and the arrival of Nikki Yeoh – can you tell us about these shows?

NP: Well, we have to take a moment to say a massive thank you to the wonderful Sarah Ward here. Following a career that spanned seven decades she wanted to take a bit of a break from regular presenting – understandable. But it gave us an opportunity to look at our Saturday evenings and try to build on what was there before. I wanted to continue in the 6-9pm slot with someone loved by the audience and who is respected for their musical knowledge and curation. Chris Philips was the only option in my mind. And it meant we could bring in someone new with a new take on music-curiosity and pick up from where Chris' Blueprint left off, and Nikki Yeoh is already proving she is perfect for us, barely a few weeks in.

Jazz FM has been running a lot of great jazz-related documentary series recently – what’s coming up in that slot on Saturdays and Sundays in the next few weeks and months?

NP: We have an approach to our Saturday and Sunday 9-10pm slots that we try to stick to. Saturday is all about curation, where the music is the star and our guest curator adds something very special to that selection. While on Sunday it’s more storytelling – what we call 'lean in' in the trade!... voices and words about the music or the community around it and the music itself helps tell the story. We always like to return to some of those we feel have worked previously with a follow-up series in the schedule, but also try new things and challenge our view on the music we consider to be core to jazz, soul and blues.

We’re planning a season in the run up to Easter on Gospel music through our jazz lens, and a series where Neil Cowley (back in the bosom of the jazz world) looks at the importance of the piano in jazz (with his new show The Keys to Success…!) through different keyboards like the Fender Rhodes and Hammond Organ.

I love that we get all nerdy in these programmes and can really explore the boundary of what our music is.