THE BRITISH JAZZ AWARDS 2011 - organised by Big Bear Music Group
Once again it's time to announce the winners in the 'Jazz Oscars', the British Jazz Awards online. With the help of UK Jazz Radio in gathering the votes, there was a bumper turn-out this year.
Most of the winners are familiar from previous years, but, if carping critics may level charges of predictability, above all it confirms the lasting excellence of such musicians as Mark Nightingale, Alan Barnes and Dave Newton. We're happy to reward this rather than the trendy sensation of one season. Having said which, some new names bursting through would, of course, be welcome. It's interesting to note how little use is made of the blank (e) box on the voting forms. The nomination panel's choice is often made by a single vote, but that fifth placed musician who just missed out seldom figures much in the main poll.
Simon Spillett was the only first-time winner of an individual award, but even he has been in contention many times before. In an exceptional field it was good to see Karen Sharp running Simon close ahead of the usual suspects, even if those who admire her baritone sax playing even more wish the nomination panel had placed her in the Miscellaneous Instrument category - in place of whom, though? That's the problem with the depth of jazz talent in the UK today.
The tightest competition was Bruce Adams' one-vote photo-finish win in the Trumpet category, with Guy Barker and Steve Waterman chasing Enrico Tomasso home for the minor placings. If Alan Barnes got the highest number of votes in any category (alto sax), his clarinet victory over Julian Marc Stringle was pretty close and his Miscellaneous Instrument triumph desperately so, Jim Hart just 2 votes behind. Other close-runs things were in the piano and double bass categories (all four outstanding bassists scoring well). Another outstanding field was in Vocals where Val Wiseman built a surprising lead despite the level of competition, with the likes of Norma Winstone, Lee Gibson, Tina May and Liz Fletcher not even making the top five. Also interesting is the fact that there was hardly a vote cast for a male singer, not even Jamie Cullum - too famous to be a jazzer?
New names in the lists were, in truth, not too numerous, but it was notable that King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys, nominated for the first time after more than two decades on the road, polled heavily, though not enough to disturb the equanimity of Digby Fairweather's Half Dozen whose repeat triumph in the small group category offset his perhaps surprising absence from the Trumpet listings. Another newcomer was Ben Crossland, his placing at Number 5 in the Double Bass no doubt partly in recognition of his highly rated recent work as a jazz composer.
Deciding eligibility is always a thorny problem. What’s Warren Vache doing coming second in the New CD category? In the end we decided that a British recording with an otherwise British band came within the terms of the act. It was good to see that Lake, with a total of three nominations between the two categories, picked up one award – and the other was a just reward for Avid's series of wonderful economy packages cram-full of jazz.