The stars came out for this year's event - and put on a show that proved to be a celebration of the artform, rather than a backslapping showcase
As this blog has recorded a few times before, awards ceremonies get a mixed reception from jazzers. At its best, jazz is frequently informal, unpremeditated and uncompetitive - something that seems to run against the spirit of handing out prizes for Best In Show.
This year's BBC Jazz Awards shindig, held at the Mermaid Theatre at the beginning of this week, would probably have won over all but the most hardcore of dissidents. It made a stronger-than-usual case for the corporation's public service remit - getting behind a sidelined artform that has nonetheless transformed modern music.
The attempt to confer mainstream respectability on music famous for its ornery tendencies was also present in the high-profile presenters (Jamie Cullum, Jeff Beck, Nigel Kennedy, Beatles guru Sir George Martin, Goldie, Soul II Soul's Jazzie B, actor/musician Colin Salmon, Mica Paris, Barry Cryer) and the prudent avoidance of sounds with too many overly-disconcerting rough edges. But the performances were otherwise idiomatically varied, heartfelt, and qualified as possibly the best all-round display of jazz's virtues the BBC Awards have so far seen (in the views of several of the great and good at the after-show bash).
The show went out on Radio 2, and is available to stream via the the iPlayer site until just after midnight on Wednesday July 30. Highlights and discussion about the 2008 Awards will also be presented on Radio 3's Jazz Line-Up on July 26 from 4.00-5.30pm.
As this blog has recorded a few times before, awards ceremonies get a mixed reception from jazzers. At its best, jazz is frequently informal, unpremeditated and uncompetitive - something that seems to run against the spirit of handing out prizes for Best In Show.
This year's BBC Jazz Awards shindig, held at the Mermaid Theatre at the beginning of this week, would probably have won over all but the most hardcore of dissidents. It made a stronger-than-usual case for the corporation's public service remit - getting behind a sidelined artform that has nonetheless transformed modern music.
The attempt to confer mainstream respectability on music famous for its ornery tendencies was also present in the high-profile presenters (Jamie Cullum, Jeff Beck, Nigel Kennedy, Beatles guru Sir George Martin, Goldie, Soul II Soul's Jazzie B, actor/musician Colin Salmon, Mica Paris, Barry Cryer) and the prudent avoidance of sounds with too many overly-disconcerting rough edges. But the performances were otherwise idiomatically varied, heartfelt, and qualified as possibly the best all-round display of jazz's virtues the BBC Awards have so far seen (in the views of several of the great and good at the after-show bash).
The show went out on Radio 2, and is available to stream via the the iPlayer site until just after midnight on Wednesday July 30. Highlights and discussion about the 2008 Awards will also be presented on Radio 3's Jazz Line-Up on July 26 from 4.00-5.30pm.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
