Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
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…
Terri Lyne Carrington, Artist of the Year
(Photo: Mark Sheldon)The Jazz Journalists Association announced its 2021 winners for its JJA Jazz Awards with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington being named its Artist of the Year and bassist Ron Carter receiving the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Maria Schneider received three awards for Record of the Year with Data Lords, as well as Composer and Arranger of the Year honors. Thelonious Monk, Palo Alto, on Resonance Records, was named Historical Record of the Year. Resonance was also named Record Label of the Year. Pianist Emmet Cohen was named Up & Coming Musician of the Year.
The organization also delivers awards for achievement in jazz journalism with Kevin Whitehead, author and jazz critic for NPR’s Fresh Air and a contributor to DownBeat, receiving the Lifetime Achievement In Jazz Award. Ted Panken, another DownBeat contributor, received the Robert Palmer-Helen Oakley Dance Award for Excellence in Writing for 2020. WBGO DJ Gary Walker received the Marian McPartland-Willis Conover Award for Career Achievement in Broadcasting and Billie, directed by James Erskine, was named Documentary of the Year.
We are proud to note that DownBeat was named Publication of the Year.
For a complete list of honorees, click HERE. DB
“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.”
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