2008 Critic's Choice Jazz Awards

Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Marian McPartland Musician of the Year Herbie Hancock Up & Coming Musician of the Year Lionel Loueke Record of the Year Sky Blue  Maria Schneider Orchestra  Artists Share Reissue/Historical Release of the Year Cornell 1964  Charles Mingus Sextet  Blue Note Reissue/Historical Box Set of the Year A Life In Time: The Roy Haynes Story  Dreyfus Jazz Record Label of the Year Blue Note Records Composer of the Year Maria Schneider Arranger of the Year Maria Schneider Male Singer of the Year Andy Bey Female Singer of the Year Abbey Lincoln Latin Jazz Album of the Year Big Band Urban Folktales  Bobby Sanabria  Jazzheads Small Ensemble of the Year Ornette Coleman Quartet/Quintet Large Ensemble of the Year Maria Schneider Orchestra Trumpeter of the Year Terence Blanchard Trombonist of the Year Wycliffe Gordon Player of Instruments Rare in Jazz Scott Robinson, reeds/brass/antiques Alto Sax Player of the Year Ornette Coleman Tenor Sax Player of the Year Sonny Rollins Soprano Sax Player of the Year Jane Ira Bloom Baritone Sax Player of the Year James Carter Clarinetist of the Year Anat Cohen Flutist of the Year Nicole Mitchell Pianist of the Year Hank Jones Organ–Keyboards of the Year Dr. Lonnie Smith Guitarist of the Year Bill Frisell Bassist of the Year Christian McBride Electric Bassist of the Year Steve Swallow Strings Player of the Year Regina Carter Mallets Player of the Year Joe Locke Percussionist of the Year Candido Camero Drummer of the Year Roy Haynes Events Producer of the Year Patricia Nicholson–Parker, Arts for Art, RUCMA, Vision Festival Jazz Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award Doug Ramsey, author, biographer, blogger Willis Conover–Marian McPartland Broadcasting Award Nancy Wilson, for "Jazz Profiles"  National Public Radio Helen Dance–Robert Palmer Feature & Review Writing Award Nate Chinen  New York Times, JazzTimes Best Periodical Covering Jazz JazzTimes Best Website on Jazz AllAboutJazz.com Best Book about Jazz Playing the Changes: Milt Hinton's Life in Stories and Photographs by Milt Hinton, David G. Berger and Holly Maxson (Vanderbilt University Press) Lona Foote–Bob Parent Photography Award Milt Hinton (1910–2000) Jazz Photo of the Year "Time Stood Still for Andrew Hill,"  by Laurence Donohue-Greene The Jazz Journalists Association  2008 Awards for the 'A Team'  Activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz Dr. Valerie Capers, pianist, composer, emeritus chair of City University of New York Department of Music and Art at Bronx Community College Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts Lauren Deutsch, photographer and executive director of the Jazz Institute of Chicago Susan Muscarella, pianist-composer-arranger-educator, founder of JazzSchool (Berkeley) Phil Nimmons, clarinetist, improviser, father of Canadian jazz education George Russell, conceptualist, composer, orchestra leader, educator (New England Conservatory) Dick Wang, musician, educator (Univ of Illinois-Chicago), mentor, historian, archivist, co-founder, past president and current board member of the Jazz Institute of Chicago Dr. Herb Wong, founder of the Palo Alto jazz alliance and Berkeley public school jazz programs, broadcaster, record producer and annotator, past-president of the International Association of Jazz Educators, spirit of the Monterey Jazz Festival Wendy Oxenhorn, executive director of the Jazz Foundation of America, founder of Street News, blues harmonica player