Jazz FM Awards 2022 Winners Announced

The winners of the Jazz FM Awards 2022, with PPL and PRS for Music, were announced at an awards ceremony at Shoreditch Town Hall on Thursday 20 October. The big winner of the night was fast rising Scottish jazz singer Georgia Cécile who took home two awards for Vocalist of the Year and UK Jazz Artist of the Year (voted for by the public), which follows widespread acclaim for her 2021 album, Only The Lover Sings, and increasingly high-profile live performances supporting Gregory Porter for four nights at the Royal Albert Hall and at Love Supreme Jazz Festival among others.

Further winners included saxophonist Chelsea Carmichael – Breakthrough Act Of The Year; vocalist Lady Blackbird – International Jazz Act Of The Year; singer Mica Millar – Soul Act Of The Year; American blues guitarist and singer Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram – Blues Act Of The Year; pianist Fergus McCreadie – Instrumentalist Of The Year; the Questlove directed music documentary Summer of Soul – The Digital Award; jazz electronica duo Blue Lab Beats –  Innovation Award; and trumpeter/producer Emma-Jean Thackray’s album Yellow was voted Album Of The Year in the second public vote category.

The three special awards were presented with US bassist Marcus Miller – known for his tenure as Miles Davis’ producer for the last decade of the iconic trumpeter’s career, and as a hugely successful solo artist and in-demand producer – took home the Gold Award; Jools Holland, the renowned blues-boogie woogie pianist and presenter of his long-running BBC show Later…, received the Impact Award, and internationally acclaimed singer Norma Winstone was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her immense contribution to jazz for the last six decades.

Presented by actor Clarke Peters (best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series The Wire and Albert Lambreaux in the television series Treme) the individual awards were presented by Peter Leathem from PPL and Andrea Gray from PRS For Music, Binker Golding, Theo Coker, Mark King, Tom Watson, Judith Owen, Alina Bzhezhinska, Marcus Brigstocke, Guy Barker, Leee John, P.P. Arnold, MF Robots and Hugh Laurie.

For more info visit www.jazzfmawards.com - listen to highlights of the ceremony here

The full list is as follows:

GOLD AWARD: Marcus Miller

IMPACT AWARD: Jools Holland

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Norma Winstone

BREAKTHROUGH ACT OF THE YEAR: Chelsea Carmichael

INTERNATIONAL JAZZ ACT OF THE YEAR: Lady Blackbird

SOUL ACT OF THE YEAR sponsored by Boisdale: Mica Millar

BLUES ACT OF THE YEAR sponsored by Imagine Cruising: Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram

VOCALIST OF THE YEAR sponsored by Hampstead Jazz Club and Lateralize Records: Georgia Cécile

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR sponsored by Yamaha: Fergus McCreadie

THE DIGITAL AWARD sponsored by Rathbones: Summer of Soul

INNOVATION AWARD sponsored by Mishcon de Reya: Blue Lab Beats

UK JAZZ ACT OF THE YEAR: Georgia Cécile 

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Emma-Jean Thackray – Yellow