San Jose, Calif. – Awards in 11 categories were presented at a reception this evening at the 2016 JazzWeek Summit at Vyne Bistro in San Jose, Calif.
Station of the Year awards were presented in three categories. Among stations with 40 hours a week or more of jazz programming, KSDS, San Diego, was the winner. In the category of stations with fewer than 40 hours, KANU, Lawrence, Kansas, was the winner. Among internet or non-terrestrial stations or syndicators, the winner was Public Radio International (PRI) for its program Jazz After Hours.
Presenter of the Year, for an individual program host, was awarded to Michael Valentine of WDNA, Miami.
Awards both for broadcast and for internet, non-terrestrial, or syndicated programmers of the year – named in memory of former WCPN and WCLK host and music director Bobby Jackson – were presented. Derrick Lucas, WGMC, Rochester, New York, received the terrestrial radio award, while Jeff Hanley won for programming his PRI programs Jazz After Hours and Jazz Happening Now. Winners in these two categories were selected by voters who are in record promotion or with record labels.
Promoter of the year, the Dick LaPalm Award, named in memory of the longtime record promoter, manager, and record executive, was awarded to Jazzzdog Promotions. This award was selected by voters at radio stations whose reports comprise the weekly JazzWeek Jazz Chart.
Record Label of the Year was presented to Blue Note Records and accepted by label president Don Was, who presented the JazzWeek Summit keynote address in a morning session.
Two new awards were presented this year. The Jazz Impact Award, recognizing an individual whose impact on jazz radio has been especially significant, was given to Dorthaan Kirk of WBGO.
The other new award presented was the Tom “The Jazzman” Mallison Award for Lifetime Achievement. Mallison was an active member of the jazz radio community and the Sunday night host of An Evening with Tom The Jazzman on public radio in North Carolina for more than 30 years. Mallison was killed Sept. 6, 2015, in a head-on automobile collision on his way home after completing his program that evening. Winners of the award were Jim Wilke, who retired from 30 years of broadcasting PRI’s Jazz After Hours in 2014, and Bob Seymour, who retired after 35 years as jazz music director and host at WUSF, Tampa.
The final award presented was the Duke Dubois Humanitarian Award, presented to an individual whose contributions go beyond the jazz radio community to advance the artform. This year’s recipient was Gary Vercelli, jazz music director at Capital Public Radio in Sacramento, Calif.