Norma Winstone MBE, Claire Martin, Georgia Mancio, Jas Kayser and Nubya Garcia were among the recipients of the event, streamed online from Pizza Express, in London’s Dean Street.
Norma received the Services to Jazz Award, Georgia the Jazz Vocalist of the Year Award and Claire, in partnership with arranger Callum Au, won Album of the Year for their album, Songs and Stories. Saxophonist Nubya won Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year and septet Kokoroko won Jazz Ensemble of the Year. While Jas Kayser, the 24-year-old drummer and recent NYJO appointee won Jazz Newcomer of the Year Award.
Nottingham Jazz Club Peggy’s Skylight won Jazz Venue of the Year. Women in Jazz Media, the collection of writers, photographers, painters, musicians, journalists and producers, won the Jazz Media Award. The Original Jazz Summer School won the Jazz Education Award and The Globe in Newcastle upon Tyne won the Lockdown Innovation Award for keeping music live during the pandemic.
The Awards are organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group (APPJAG) with the support of PizzaExpress.
There were special APPJAG awards for Digby Fairweather and for Lord Colwyn, the Jazz FM founder and APPJAG stalwart, who originally gained funding from PPL for the Parliamentary Jazz Awards on their launch in 2005.
Co-chair of APPJAG, John Spellar MP, said:
“These awards are a great opportunity to celebrate the talents and energies of the great musicians, educators, promoters, record labels, jazz organisations, blogs, jazz magazines and journalists who kept jazz flourishing, in spite of the challenges they faced in 2020. In a year of hardship, unparalleled in the last 76 years, these shortlists demonstrate the wealth of talent and commitment that exists in the British jazz scene. Now in their 16th year, the Parliamentary Jazz Awards honour the best of British jazz. MPs and Peers in the All Party Group are grateful to PizzaExpress Live for supporting the event.”
