Jazz FM Awards 2021: Album of the Year
You decided the 'Album of the Year' at the Jazz FM Awards 2021 with PPL and PRS For Music
Last updated 1st Nov 2021
After revealing the nominees for the Jazz FM Awards 2021 with PPL and PRS for Music, which recognised a diverse array of artists from the UK and abroad who have made a significant impact on the genre.
Here's a rundown of the nominees for the Jazz FM Awards 2021 with PPL and PRS for Music.
Fergus McCreadie - Cairn
Cairn is Fergus McCreadie's second album, establishing his role as a proponent of the Scottish jazz scene, which is recognised through his nomination for 'UK Jazz Act of the Year'.
Rooted in the Scottish tradition and inspired by Scottish landscapes, ​Cairn​ combines contemporary, jazz and classical influences in​ a profound, mesmerising and compelling way. Fergus works with an established trio of bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson; Cairn​ is a testament to their instrumental command, originality and communication.
Cairn was released through Edition Records on 29 January 2021.
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
Promises is a collaboration between British electronic artist, producer and composer Floating Points (Sam Sheperd), teaming up with the legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Crossing the lines between jazz, electronic and classical music, this ambient album is one overarching composition which is split into nine movements.
Promises was released through Luaka Bop on 26 March 2021.
Jon Batiste - WE ARE
New Orleanian royalty Jon Batiste's eighth studio album We Are was predominately written and recorded in his dressing room, in between his performances on The Late Show. Featuring the talents of Mavis Staples, Zadie Smith, Trombone Shorty and PJ Morton, the album is a message of love for humanity, of humble reverence for our past, and of a hopeful future, in which we are the ones who can save us.
We Are was released through Verve Records on March 19 2020.
Matthew Halsall - Salute To The Sun
Salute to the Sun marks Matthew Halsall's return to releasing music, having released his last album Into Forever five years earlier in 2015.
Composer, trumpeter, producer, DJ and founder of Gondwana Records, Matthew Halsall has always worn many hats. But at the heart of everything that he does Halsall is first and foremost an artist and a musician. A trumpeter whose unflashy, soulful playing radiates a thoughtful beauty and a composer and band-leader who has created his own rich sound world. A sound that draws on the heritage of British jazz, the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, as well as world music and electronica influences, and even modern art and architecture, to create something uniquely his own.
Rooted in the spiritual jazz vein, Salute to the Sun is__ Halsall’s most beautiful and complete recording to date, playful, charming and imbued with the warmth of the sun and the energy of life.
Salute to the Sun was released through Gondwana Records on 20 November 2020.
Nubya Garcia - SOURCE
SOURCE is the debut album from saxophonist Nubya Garcia, a cornerstone of the contemporary London jazz scene, having been awarded two Jazz FM Awards in the past.
SOURCE is a collection of sonic mantras to live by, a deeply personal offering in which Garcia maps cartographies around the coordinate points of her identity, her family histories, grief, Afro-diasporic connections and collectivism. SOURCE is fundamentally about getting grounded within yourself so that you can be present with others. It's about a realisation of personal and collective power: the evolution of the saxophonist’s values as she reconnects with herself, her roots and her community.
SOURCE was released on Concord Jazz on 21 August 2020.
SAULT - UNTITLED (Black Is)
Released in the wake of George Floyd's murder and the repercussions that followed, Untitled (Black Is) is the third album from the mysterious R&B group Sault. The group, whose identities are not fully known, have also been nominated for 'The Innovation Award sponsored by Mishcon de Reya'.
With the record covering themes of expression, revolution and a celebration of black culture, the genre-crossing album helps tell the story of 2020.
Untitled (Black Is) was released through Forever Living Legends on 19 June 2021.
Jazz FM Awards 2021: Winners
You can see the full list of winners at the Jazz FM Awards 2021 with PPL and PRS for Music below.