JJA Photo of the Year by Kris King, held by the subject himself, Hank Jones at the annual JJA Awards. (Photo by Enid Farber/Enid FarberFoto)

Today the Jazz Journalists Association announced its 13th annual Jazz Awards, celebrating excellence in jazz music. Founded in 1986, the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) is an international group writers, editors, photographers, broadcasters, filmmakers, educators and media professionals who promote the appreciation, documentation and promulgation of jazz. The JJA has more than 450 members, mostly in the U.S. and Canada, but also throughout the world. The annual awards are based on online voting of the JJA members.

Composer, arranger, and band leader Maria Schneider was a triple winner, in the categories of Composer, Arranger and Large Ensemble of the Year. Legendary saxman Sonny Rollins also topped three categories, as Musician of the Year, Tenor Saxophonist of the Year, and for his Historical Recording/Reissue of the Year, Road Shows Volume 1. Another titan of the saxophone, altoist Lee Konitz was awarded the Lifetime Achievement in Jazz honor.

Maria Schneider © Jimmy Katz

• Lifetime Achievement in Jazz --Lee Konitz

• Musician of the Year --Sonny Rollins

• Composer of the Year --Maria Schneider

• Up & Coming Artist of the Year --Esperanza Spalding

• Events Producer of the Year --George Wein, New Festival Productions

• Record of the Year --Appearing Nightly, Carla Bley Big Band (Watt/ECM)

• Latin Jazz Album of the Year --Song for Chico, Arturo O'Farrill (Zoho)

• Historical Recording/Reissue of the Year -- Road Shows, Vol. 1, Sonny Rollins (Doxy)

• Historical Recording Boxed Set --The Lester Young/Count Basie Sessions, 1936-40 (Mosaic)

• Record Label of the Year --Mosaic

• Female Singer of the Year --Cassandra Wilson

• Male Singer of the Year --Kurt Elling

• Instruments Rare in Jazz --Richard Galliano, accordion

• Large Ensemble of the Year --Maria Schneider Orchestra

• Arranger of the Year --Maria Schneider

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  Lee Konitz © Andrea Canter
  Small Ensemble Group of the Year --SF Jazz Collective

• Trumpeter of the Year --Terence Blanchard

• Trombonist of the Year --Roswell Rudd

• Tenor Saxophonist of the Year --Sonny Rollins

• Alto Saxophonist of the Year --Rudresh Mahanthappa

• Flutist of the Year --Frank Wess

• Baritone Saxophonist of the Year --Gary Smulyan

• Soprano Saxophonist of the Year --Branford Marsalis

• Clarinetist of the Year --Anat Cohen

• Guitarist of the Year --Bill Frisell

• Pianist of the Year --Hank Jones

• Organist of the Year --Dr. Lonnie Smith

• Strings Player of the Year --Billy Bang

• Bassist of the Year --William Parker

• Electric Bassist of the Year --Steve Swallow

• Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year --Joe Locke

• Percussionist of the Year --Hamid Drake

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  Sonny Rollins
  Drummer of the Year --Brian Blade

• Periodical of the Year -- Jazz Times

• Website of the Year --AllAboutJazz.com

• Blog of the Year --Jazz Beyond Jazz By Howard Mandel (www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz)

• Best Book About Jazz --A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music By George Lewis (University of Chicago Press)

• Photo of the Year—“Hank Jones, Montreal Jazz Festival 2008” by Kris King

• The Lona Foote-Bob Parent Award for Photography --John Abbott

• The Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Broadcasting --Ben Young, Director, WKCR (Columbia University)

• The Helen Dance-Robert Palmer Award for Review and Feature Writing --Nate Chinen

• Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism --Mike Zwerin

• The Jazz Foundation of America and the Jazz Journalists Association
  Special Career Honors for Words with Music--Mark Murphy

• A-Team Awards: Herb Alpert (Musician, Producer, Jazz Supporter); Dr. Agnes Varis (Jazz Angel); Bruce Lundvall (Record Man); David N. Baker (Jazz Educator); Timuel Black (Cultural Historian); Steven Saltzman (Chicago Jazz Advocate); Ruth Price (The Jazz Bakery); Clarence Acox (Garfield High School Jazz Band Leader); Scott Brown (Roosevelt High School Jazz Band Leader); Peter Levinson (Author and Publicist); Richard Sudhalter (Author, Journalist, Musician, awarded posthumously)

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