Jazz Journalists Association Announces 2020 Jazz Heroes

  I  

Each year, The Jazz Journalist Association—a nonprofit that supports mediamakers in jazz—offers up a list of notable advocates of the genre who have worked to better their local scenes. This year’s honorees, which were announced Saturday, are below.

Ann Arbor, Michigan: Deanna Relyea

Atlanta: Gwen Redding

Baltimore: Sean Jones

Bay Area, California: Richard Hadlock

Birmingham: Leah Tucker

Boston: Ran Blake

Brooklyn, New York: Matthew Garrison & Fortuna Sung

Capital Region, New York: Susan Cohen Brink

Charlotte, North Carolina: Lonnie & Ocie Davis

Chicago: Harriet Choice

Cleveland: Terri Pontremoli

Denver, Colorado: Norman Provizer

Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Dr. Ronald B. Weber

Hartford, Connecticut: Ed Krech

Indianapolis: Albert Coleman

Los Angeles: Billy Mitchell

Minneapolis: Patty Peterson

New York: Roberta Alloway

Philadelphia: Anthony Tidd

Portland, Oregon: Ron Steen

Seattle: Jay Thomas

St. Louis: Gene Dobbs Bradford

Tallahassee, Florida: Jan & Mark Pudlow

Washington, DC: Sunny Sumter

JJA’s full announcement can be read here. DB



  • Andy_Bey_NYC_2014_by_Steven_Sussman_copy.jpg

    “It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”

    Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85

    Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…

  • Al_Foster_Marketing.jpg

    Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.

  • Francis-Davis_by_Ken_Winter%3AGetty_Images_copy.jpg

    ​Davis was a two-time Grammy winner for liner notes.

  • Branford_Marsalis_by_Mark_Sheldon_copy.jpg

    “Branford’s playing has steadily improved,” says younger brother Wynton Marsalis. “He’s just gotten more and more serious.”

  • Sasha_Berliner_by_Gulnara_Khamatova_copy.jpeg

    “What did I want more of when I was this age?” Sasha Berliner asks when she’s in her teaching mode.


On Sale Now
July 2025
Joe Satriani & Steve Vai
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad