2016 Awards

The highest achievers from the worlds of jazz, blues, soul and beyond were honoured at the third annual Jazz FM Awards produced by Serious, which took place on 26 April 2016 at a star-studded ceremony at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London. The ceremony featured performances from some of the hottest acts across the genre and was attended by a host of well-known faces including Jon Snow, Cerys Matthews, Nitin Sawhney, Soweto Kinch, the Brand New Heavies and others.

Multi-platinum-selling Gregory Porter picked up the Impact Award for his outstanding impression on the wider global music scene. Porter thanked Jazz FM for their unwavering support having previously credited the station with initiating his chart-topping collaboration with Disclosure. In typical Gregory warm-hearted fashion he thanked his audiences saying:

”Thank you to everybody because it is you who inspire me and then I just give it back to you. I’m inspired and impacted by you.”

Legendary composer, arranger and producer Quincy Jones was honoured with The PPL Lifetime Achievement Award and thanked the station via a specially recorded video message:

“What can I say Jazz FM? I’m so moved… To be so young and receive an award like this it’s astounding; I’m only 83, man! It’s with great honour and pride that I’d like to say thank you and show you my gratitude and my respect and love, I really appreciate it, thank you. It always feels good, man!”

Guests were treated to live performances from Kansas Smitty’s House Band, Liv Warfield and rising star singer/pianist Kandace Springs, an artist championed by Prince who will release her debut album Soul Eyes on Blue Note Records in July.

The event came to a climax with a performance from Hiatus Kaiyote, who were honoured with the prestigious award for Album of the Year for their critically acclaimed Choose Your Weapon.