Music

Charles Lloyd, Samara Joy and Terri Lyne Carrington win big in the 28th Annual JJA Jazz Awards

WRTI Your Classical and Jazz Source

Published May 17, 2023 at 1:03 PM EDT

Saxophonist Charles Lloyd, performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2018.

Among the two dozen or so artists honored with a 2023 JJA Jazz Award — an annual tradition of the Jazz Journalists Association, whose members make the nominations and cast ballots — a few stand out for dominant wins in multiple categories.

One of these, NEA Jazz Master Charles Lloyd, won not only the Lifetime Achievement Award in Jazz, but also Tenor Saxophonist of the Year — underscoring the fact that at 85, he is still very much in active circulation. Terri Lyne Carrington, another NEA Jazz Master, won Musician of the Year and Record of the Year, for New Standards Vol. 1.

And Samara Joy was named Female Vocalist of the Year as well as Up-and-Coming Musician of the Year, adding to a list of accolades that includes two recent Grammys.

In the recordings category, producer Zev Feldman also cleaned up this year — winning Recordings Producer of the Year as well as Historical Record of the Year, for Ahmad Jamal's Emerald City Nights, which he produced for Elemental Music.

Among the other winners were Immanuel Wilkins, for Alto Saxophonist of the Year; Christian McBride's New Jawn, for Mid-Size Ensemble of the Year; Miguel Zenón, for Composer of the Year; and Tomeka Reid, for Strings Player of the Year.

Here are the full results of the JJA Jazz Awards for performance. The JJA also gives out awards for Jazz Journalism, and WRTI's Bob Perkins is among the honorees. Read our coverage of the journalism awards.