Thundercat, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Shabaka Hutchings and Nubya Garcia among Jazz FM Awards nominees
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
The nominees for the fifth edition of the Jazz FM Awards were announced at a ceremony at Melomania in southeast London on 27 February and include a wide range of UK and international jazz talent.
Reflecting the success of many fledgling UK acts in the last year, London Afrobeat-fuelled group Ezra Collective are nominated in both UK Jazz Act of the Year (Public Vote) and Breakthrough Act of the Year, the latter category also including charismatic saxophonist Nubya Garcia (above left) and prodigious guitarist Rob Luft.
Other artists receiving double nominations include widely hailed singer Cécile McLorin Salvant (above right) and virtuoso bassist/vocalist Thundercat (above far left), both of whom are nominated in the International Artist of the Year and Album of the Year categories. Salvant will also perform during the Awards evening and will be backed by the Jazz FM house band that will be led by pianist Ashley Henry. Further performances will be announced soon. The recipients of the three special awards – PPL Lifetime Achievement Award, PRS for Music Gold Award and Impact Award – will also be announced ahead of the ceremony.
The full list of nominees is as follows: Breakthrough Act of the Year: Ezra Collective; Nubya Garcia; Rob Luft. International Soul Artist of the Year: Jordan Rakei; Leroy Hutson; Moonchild. UK Jazz Act of the Year (Public Vote): Dinosaur; Ezra Collective; Kansas Smitty's House Band. Digital Initiative of the Year: Esperanza Spalding: Exposure; Jacob Collier: I Harm U; Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club: Live Streaming. Instrumentalist of the Year: Evan Parker; Theon Cross; Yazz Ahmed. International Blues Artist of the Year: Lucky Peterson; Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo; Robert Cray. Jazz Innovation of the Year: Carleen Anderson: Cage Street Memorial; Joe Armon-Jones and Maxwell Owin: Idiom; Shabaka Hutchings: multiple projects. Vocalist of the Year: Alice Zawadzki; Liane Carroll; Zara McFarlane. International Jazz Artist of the Year: Cécile McLorin Salvant; Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah; Thundercat. Album of the Year (Public Vote) Blue Note All-Stars – Our Point of View; Cécile McLorin Salvant – Dreams and Daggers; Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – Diaspora; Denys Baptiste – The Late Trane; Phronesis – The Behemoth; Thundercat – Drunk. Live Experience of the Year (Public Vote): An evening with Dave Holland – Ambleside Days Festival at Zephirellis Cinema (featuring Norma Winstone, Gwilym Simcock, Mike Walker, Nikki Iles, Mark Lockheart, Stan Sulzmann, Tim Garland, John Helliwell, Nick Smart, James Maddren and Asif Sirkis); CHICAGOXLONDON – Makaya McCraven at Total Refreshment Centre – 18 October, featuring Theon Cross Trio and Jaimie Branch Fly Or Die Ensemble; Ronnie Scott's presents Ezra Collective – EFG London Jazz Festival at Islington Assembly Hall; Jazz Re:Fest at the Southbank Centre; Pharoah Sanders Quartet + Denys Baptiste + Alina Bzhezhinska: "A Concert for Alice and John" – EFG London Jazz Festival at The Barbican and Randolph Matthews – Jazz in the Round at Love Supreme Festival.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Shoreditch Town Hall on 30 April.
– Mike Flynn
For more info visit www.jazzfmawards.com