2011 Critic's Choice Jazz Awards
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN JAZZ Jimmy Heath Muhal Richard Abrams Paul Motian Phil Woods Wayne Shorter
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR Esperanza Spalding Jason Moran Joe Lovano Sonny Rollins Vijay Iyer
COMPOSER OF THE YEAR Henry Threadgill Jason Moran John Hollenbeck Maria Schneider
UP AND COMING ARTIST OF THE YEAR Ambrose Akinmusire Darius Jones Gerald Clayton Jon Irabagon
RECORDING OF THE YEAR Apex - Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green (Pi Recordings)
The Art of the Improviser - Matthew Shipp (Thirsty Ear)
Bird Songs - Joe Lovano Us Five (Blue Note)
Mirror - Charles Lloyd Quartet (ECM)
Ten - Jason Moran (Blue Note)
HISTORICAL RECORDING, BOXED SET OR SINGLE CD REISSUE OF THE YEAR Bitches Brew: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition - Miles Davis (Columbia Legacy)
The Complete Ahmad Jamal Trio Argo Sessions 1952 - 62 - Ahmad Jamal Trio (Mosaic)
The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia, and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra - Duke Ellington (Mosaic)
The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air – Henry Threadgill & Air - Mosaic
The Complete Revelation Sessions - John Carter and Bobby Bradford (Mosaic)
RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR Blue Note Clean Feed ECM Pi Sunnyside
FEMALE SINGER OF THE YEAR Cassandra Wilson Dee Dee Bridgewater Gretchen Parlato Rebecca Martin Roberta Gambarini
MALE SINGER OF THE YEAR Bobby McFerrin Freddy Cole Giacomo Gates Gregory Porter Kurt Elling
LARGE ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble Maria Schneider Orchestra Mingus Big Band Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
SMALL ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR Charles Lloyd Quartet Henry Threadgill Zooid Jason Moran and The Bandwagon Joe Lovano Us Five Wayne Shorter Quartet
ARRANGER OF THE YEAR Bill Holman Carla Bley Darcy James Argue David Weiss Maria Schneider Vince Mendoza
TRUMPETER OF THE YEAR Ambrose Akinmusire Dave Douglas Jeremy Pelt Nicholas Payton Tom Harrell Wynton Marsalis
TROMBONIST OF THE YEAR Conrad Herwig Roswell Rudd Steve Davis Steve Swell Steve Turre Wycliffe Gordon
TENOR SAXOPHONIST OF THE YEAR Chris Potter Joe Lovano Jon Irabagon Sonny Rollins Tony Malaby Wayne Shorter
ALTO SAXOPHONIST OF THE YEAR Lee Konitz Miguel Zenon Ornette Coleman Phil Woods Rudresh Mahanthappa Steve Coleman
BARITONE SAXOPHONIST OF THE YEAR Claire Daly Gary Smulyan James Carter Joe Temperley Scott Robinson
SOPRANO SAXOPHONIST OF THE YEAR Dave Liebman Evan Parker Jane Bunnett Jane Ira Bloom Sam Newsome Wayne Shorter
CLARINETIST OF THE YEAR Anat Cohen Ben Goldberg Don Byron Evan Christopher James Falzone Ken Peplowski
FLUTIST OF THE YEAR Charles Lloyd Henry Threadgill Lew Tabackin Mark Weinstein Nicole Mitchell
GUITARIST OF THE YEAR Bill Frisell Jim Hall Marc Ribot Mary Halvorson Russell Malone
PIANIST OF THE YEAR Fred Hersch Geri Allen Jason Moran Kenny Barron Matthew Shipp Vijay Iyer
BASSIST OF THE YEAR Charlie Haden Christian McBride Dave Holland Ron Carter William Parker
DRUMMER OF THE YEAR Eric Harland Lewis Nash Matt Wilson Nasheet Waits Paul Motian Roy Haynes
PERCUSSIONIST OF THE YEAR Adam Rudolph Bobby Sanabria Cyro Baptista Hamid Drake Kahil El'Zabar
ORGANIST/KEYBOARDIST OF THE YEAR Craig Taborn Dr. Lonnie Smith Gary Versace Joey DeFrancesco Larry Goldings
MALLET INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR Gary Burton Jason Adasiewicz Joe Locke Stefon Harris Steve Nelson
VIOLINIST OF THE YEAR Billy Bang Christian Howes Jenny Scheinman Mark Feldman Regina Carter
PLAYER OF THE YEAR INSTRUMENTS RARE IN JAZZ Bela Fleck, banjo Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello Howard Johnson, tuba Rudi Mahall, bass clarinet Scott Robinson, specialty brass and reeds Toots Thielemans, harmonica
2011 NOMINEES FOR JJA JAZZ AWARDS: MEDIA PERIODICAL/WEBSITE OF THE YEAR AllAboutJazz.com DownBeat JazzTimes The New York City Jazz Record (formerly AllAboutJazz-New York) Signal To Noise
BLOG OF THE YEAR A Blog Supreme, by Patrick Jarenwattananon
Do The Math, by Ethan Iverson
JazzBeyondJazz, by Howard Mandel
JazzWax, by Marc Myers
Rifftides, by Doug Ramsey
BEST BOOK ABOUT JAZZ A Biographical Guide To The Great Jazz And Pop Singers, by Will Friedwald (Pantheon)
African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston, composed by Randy Weston/arranged by Willard Jenkins (Duke University Press)
I Walked With Giants: The Autobiography of Jimmy Heath, by Jimmy Heath and Joseph McLaren (Temple University Press)
Saxophone Colossus: A Portrait of Sonny Rollins, photographs by John Abbott, text by Bob Blumenthal (Abrams)
Where the Dark and the Light Folks Meet: Race and the Mythology, Politics, and Business of Jazz, by Randall Sandke -- Rowman & Littlefield Publishing
BEST LINER NOTES OF THE YEAR Dan Morgenstern - It's About That Time, Hot Club of Detroit (Mack Avenue)
Hank Shteamer – The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic)
Steven Lasker – The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia, and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra (Mosaic)
THE HELEN DANCE-ROBERT PALMER AWARD FOR REVIEW AND FEATURE WRITING Ben Ratliff Larry Blumenfeld Marc Myers Nate Chinen
THE WILLIS CONOVER–MARIAN MCPARTLAND AWARD FOR BROADCASTING Gary Walker Jim Wilke Josh Jackson Linda Yohn Phil Schaap
THE LONA FOOTE- BOB PARENT AWARD FOR PHOTOGRAPHY Jimmy Katz John Abbott Michael Jackson Mitchell Seidel
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN JAZZ JOURNALISM Amiri Baraka (also writing as Leroi Jones) Ben Ratliff Bill Milkowski Stanley Crouch
SHORT FORM VIDEO OF THE YEAR Henry Threadgill: Playing It Unsafe - Jeremy Robins, producer/director
I Heart Jazz - Alan Mezquida, producer/director
Jazz Robots - Joe Hundertmark, producer/director
Sonny Rollins: Getting It Back Together - Bret Primack, producer/director
TK Blue: Latin Bird, by Brian Grady - producer/director
PHOTO OF THE YEAR Benny Powell by Lena Adasheva
Carla Bley by John Watson
Esperanza Spalding by Andrea Canter
Maceo Parker by Bill King
Sonny Rollins by John Abbott
Tom Harrell by David Kawai