The Jazz Journalists Association today announced its members’ choices for the 2013 JJA
awards. The organization honored saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter with its lifetime achievement award. Trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith was named musician of the year. Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans is the JJA’s record of the year.
 In addition, there are 26 jazz heroes, described as “activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz who have had significant impact in their local communities.†For the names and photographs of winners in all 29 music categories, plus the heroes, go to this page at the JJA Website.
As a part of the Evans Centennial project, here is Chris Hunter featured on alto saxophone in a concert a year ago. We hear the Evans arrangement of Charles Mingus’s “Goodbye Porkpie Hat.” The baritone saxophone soloist is Howard Johnson, the guitar soloist Oz Noy.
The members of this edition of the Gil Evans Orchestra:
Drums, Kenwood Dennard
Bass, Mark Egan
Guitar, Ryo Kawasaki
Guitar, Oz Noy
Keyboards, Gil Goldstein
Keyboards, Delmar Brown
Baritone Sax, Howard Johnson
Tenor Sax, Alex Foster
Alto Sax, Chris Hunter
Tenor Sax, Billy Harper
French Horn, John Clark
Tuba, Bob Stewart
Trumpet, Miles Evans
Trumpet, Lew Soloff
Trumpet, Jon Faddis
Trombone, Conrad Herwig
Trombone, David Bargeron
Trombone, Tom”Bones”Malone
Bass Trombone, Dave Taylor