BBC Radio Jazz Award Winners

While most of the revered jazz legends of the past century were born and bred in the U.S., our cousins over in the U.K. have produced quite a few stellar jazz musicians of their own, among them Dave Holland, George Shearing and Ronnie Scott.

While some of these British jazzmen enjoy considerable success stateside, some are not as fortunate. In turn, the BBC has been honoring their native jazz musicians for the past several years, and on July 31 the 2002 BBC Radio Jazz Awards were presented at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. The event was co-hosted by Jools Holland and Courtney Pine, and featured award presentations by Clive James, Mark Knopfler, Kenneth Clarke and Moira Stewart. Performances by the Jazz Jamaica All Stars, vocalist Stacey Kent, and the all-female sax quartet Saxophony were just a few of the evening’s highlights. Through a video link from New York, Dave Brubeck presented the award for lifetime achievement, which went to Dame Cleo Laine and John Dankworth (pictured). Complete List of Winners and Presenters:

Best Album: Brian Kellock Trio for Live At Henry’s, presented by Denis Lawson

Best Band: Jazz Jamaica All Stars, presented by Sue Mingus

Best Vocalist: Stacey Kent, presented by Humphrey Lyttelton

Best Instrumentalist: John Surman, presented by Ian Carr

Rising Star: Soweto Kinch, presented by Clive James

Best New Work: John Taylor for “Green Man Suite,” presented by Mike Gibbs

Jazz Innovation: Matt Bourne, presented by Julian Joseph

Services to Jazz: Chris Hodgkins (Jazz Services), presented by Moira Stewart

International Award of the Year: Hugh Masekela, presented by Annie Whitehead

Jazz Heritage Award: Chris Barber, presented by Mark Knopfler

Lifetime Achievement 1: Cleo Laine & John Dankworth, presented by Dave Brubeck

Lifetime Achievement 2: Stan Tracey, presented by Kenneth Clarke

The awards will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Mon., Aug. 5 at 7 p.m. and on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Line-Up on Sat., Aug. 3 at 4 p.m. The awards will also be available online as a streaming Webcast on Mon., Aug. 5 at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2

Originally Published August 2, 2002