Jazz Journalists Association Announces Nominees for 16th Annual JJA Jazz Awards

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2012 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards, African American, Ambrose Akinmusire, Craig Taborn, Eric Harland, Esperanza Spalding, Gary Burton, J.D. Allen, Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Keith Jarrett, Lee Konitz, Mary Halvorson, Pat Metheny, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, Sonny Rollins, Warren Wolf

Finalist nominees for the 16th annual Jazz Awards presented by the Jazz Journalists Association have been announced at www.JJAJazzAwards.org. The nominations demonstrate the rich diversity of music that may have been overlooked by mainstream media and other music industry-generated Awards programs.

Iconic veteran instrumentalists including Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett, Phil Woods Lee Konitz, Gary Burton, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, Jack DeJohnette, Pat Metheny and John Scofield are among the nominees who will vie for votes with newly emerged talents such as trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, pianist Craig Taborn, tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen, guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Esperanza Spalding, vibist Warren Wolf and drummer Eric Harland in some of the 40 categories celebrating excellence in jazz and jazz journalism. Winners of the Jazz Awards will be selected from the nearly 200 nominees through voting by the JJA’s international membership of writers, photographers, broadcasters and new media producers professionally involved with jazz. Awards are for accomplishments and productions from calendar year 2011, except in two categories for Lifetime Achievement.

Craig Taborn [|] AVENGING ANGEL [ECM]

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Craig Taborn, Jazz, Piano

Craig Taborn - AVENGING ANGEL

Craig Taborn [|] AVENGING ANGEL – [ECM, 2011]

Avenging Angel, a powerful, creative and rigorously uncompromising album, is the first unaccompanied solo disc in Craig Taborn’s discography as well as the first ECM recording issued under his name. The album was recorded in the exceptional acoustic of the recital room at Lugano’s Studio RSI, with Manfred Eicher producing.

The disc follows several distinguished `sideman’ appearances for ECM, including three Roscoe Mitchell albums – Nine To Get Ready, Composition / Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 and the recent Far Side – as well as Michael Formanek’s The Rub and Spare Change, Evan Parker’s Boustrophedon and David Torn’s Prezens. Taborn (born 1970) has been widely-valued for his resourcefulness as an improviser, in and out of the jazz tradition, since the early 1990s, when his work with saxophonist James Carter’s groups drew the attention of musicians, press and listeners alike. His own groups have since explored a range of options, and he’s also been at the forefront of experiments cross referencing jazz and electronics. In this regard his 2004 album Junk Magic (on the Thirsty Ear label), has been cited as a pioneering work, and Craig has repeatedly been voted #1 Rising Star Keyboardist in the DownBeat Critics Poll.

..:: SOURCE: Amazon.com ::..

Trumpeter/Composer Shane Endsley Celebrates The Release of His New Recording @ The Cornelia Street Cafe on May 4!

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Craig Taborn, Jazz, Kneebody, Matt Brewer, Nate Wood, Shane Endsley, Trumpet

“an excellent new quartet that will have its first album out next month. The band played through irregular grooves beautifully. . . . strong and controlled . . .” – The New York Times
(on The Music Band’s performance at The 2011 Winter Jazzfest)

Shane Endsley and The Music Band - Then The Other

” . . . a joyous tribute to music – jazz and otherwise” – All About Jazz
(on The Music Band’s performance at The 2011 Winter Jazzfest)

“Jazz keeps slowly widening, and the young trumpeter Shane Endsley is working calmly and effectively at the perimeter.” – The New York Times

On May 4 at The Cornelia Street Cafe, Shane Endsley celebrates the release of his new recording on Kneebody’s new label, Low Electrical Records, Shane Endsley and The Music Band – Then The Other. Endsley will be appearing with Craig Taborn (piano), Matt Brewer (bass), and Nate Wood (drums).

In addition to his work with the Grammy-nominated band Kneebody, and leading The Music Band, Endsley has been working with some of today’s most exemplary and hippest musicians, including Chris Speed, Charlie Hunter and Ben Allison. With the release of Then The Other, featuring Craig Taborn (piano), Matt Brewer (bass) and Ted Poor (drums), Endsley once again hits the ground running as a bandleader with an album of acoustic quartet music that switch-hits with tunes that are lively and euphonious, to music that posseses a hushed qui vive.