Scottish Jazz Award 2020 Winners Announced.
Monday, October 19, 2020
The winners of the 8th Scottish Jazz Awards were unveiled on the night of Sunday 18 October, at a virtual ceremony hosted by Suzanne Bonnar & Luca Manning. Press release including list of winners att
We have received the following press release;
SCOTTISH JAZZ AWARDS 2020 WINNERS UNVEILED
The winners of the 8th Scottish Jazz Awards were unveiled last night, Sunday 18 October, at a virtual ceremony hosted by Suzanne Bonnar and Luca Manning.
Stand-out artists from Scotland’s vibrant jazz scene were honoured in seven categories, with more than 2,500 public votes cast online to decide which artists scooped prestigious awards including Best Instrumentalist and Rising Star.
The Services To Scottish Jazz Award and Lifetime Achievement Award were selected by a panel of industry specialists, including press and promoters from across the UK.
Revered music writer, jazz critic and agent Rob Adams was awarded the Services To Scottish Jazz Award and this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award was Ken Mathieson.
Ken ran the very first Glasgow International Jazz Festival in 1987, before devoting himself to playing and arranging for Fat Sam’s Band, Picante and his award-winning Classic Jazz Orchestra. Ken joins an esteemed hall of fame which includes Fionna Duncan, Carol Kidd and last year’s winner Martin Taylor.
Glasgow based nu-jazz collective corto.alto, who released new music every three weeks from their hub at 435, scooped two awards – Best Band and Best Album – for their collection of releases.
Acclaimed pianist Fergus McCreadie picked up the Best Instrumentalist Award after securing a record deal this summer, while Paisley’s Kitti was crowned Best Vocalist after recently releasing her debut EP.
The Rising Star Award was given to young trombonist and singer Anoushka Nanguy who has already performed with the SNJO and is making waves on the Scottish jazz scene.
The live-streamed awards included video messages from previous winners Martin Taylor, Tommy Smith from the SNJO, Georgia Cecile, Fergus McCreadie and Marianne McGregor, and exclusive performances from Fergus McCreadie and Laura MacDonald.
Winners of the 8th Scottish Jazz Awards are as follows:
Rising Star Award sponsored by Musicians’ Union
Anoushka Nanguy
Best Vocalist Award sponsored by Whighams Jazz Club
Kitti
Best Instrumentalist Award sponsored by ESP Music Rentals
Fergus McCreadie
Best Band Award sponsored by Love Supreme Jazz Festival
corto.alto
Best Album Award sponsored by Birnam CD
corto.alto - Live From 435 Vols 1, 2 & 3
Services To Scottish Jazz Award sponsored by Ticketmaster
Rob Adams
Lifetime Achievement Award in association with Help Musicians Scotland
Ken Mathieson
Jill Rodger, Director of Glasgow Jazz Festival and Producer of the Scottish Jazz Awards, said:
“Thank you to everyone who joined us for the first virtual Scottish Jazz Awards ceremony and to everyone who cast their vote to select this year’s winners. The categories were hard fought so a big congratulations to everyone who was nominated.
“The Awards have given us a chance to look back on what has been an incredible year for Scottish jazz, despite the challenges thrown our way, and to recognise some of the most talented and revered musicians in Scotland. Well done to everyone who was honoured, I hope everyone took the chance to raise a toast to the wealth of talent in the industry.”
The Scottish Jazz Awards are produced as an independent event by the organisers of Glasgow Jazz Festival and supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
You can watch the awards back on the Glasgow Jazz Festival My Player channel.
Glasgow Jazz Festival
The Glasgow International Jazz Festival was founded in 1987, when Glasgow was bidding to become the European City of Culture for 1990. The city had studied the competition and worked out that all major cities in Europe had a jazz festival. If they had one, then so should Glasgow.
From the very beginning, the Glasgow International Jazz Festival brought some of the biggest names of jazz to the City –1987’s programme included singer Sarah Vaughan, Chick Corea, Taj Mahal, Benny Carter and Carol Kidd. Other top headliners include Miles Davis (during the European City of Culture year 1990), Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Guy, Michael Brecker and Tony Bennett.
Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit http://www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and http://www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
Note;
As the Awards were moved from their scheduled date in May 2020 due to Covid-19, the time period for eligible album releases was extended to cover albums released up until the end of July 2020. Last year’s winners were ineligible for nomination in the same category for this year.
Nominating Panel for Scottish Jazz Awards 2020
Agnese Daverio Jazz & Blues Festival Promoter Edinburgh
Alan Steadman Jazz at Hospitalfield Promoter Arbroath
Alison Kerr The Herald & Scotsman Press Glasgow
Christoper Barr Glasgow Life Promoter Glasgow
Emma Marsh Swing Promoter Glasgow
Grace Black Langtoun Jazz Festival Promoter Kirkcaldy
Graeme Knox Whighams Jazz Club Promoter Edinburgh
Jill Rodger Glasgow Jazz Festival Promoter Glasgow
Jim Gilchrist The Scotsman Press Edinburgh
Joe Rattray Promoter Glasgow
Keith Mcrae Blue Lamp Promoter Aberdeen
Rebecca Vasmant Promoter Glasgow
Seb Scotney London Jazz News Press London
Sushil Dade BBC Radio Scotland Media Glasgow