Listed below are this year’s MAMAs winners in the jazz category. For the complete list of winner’s see the MAMAs website. Blues artists Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo were the big winners overall with five awards including Artist of the Year. You can see them every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at the Brink Lounge.
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I attended the MAMAS last Saturday, and was impressed with lots of the performers. I thought Aaron was great. I think they deserved all the awards they received. But, why wasn’t he nominated for best guitarist? I’ve been listening to music in Madison for over 30 years, and I can’t remember ever hearing anyone play like that. But there was something missing. JAZZ!! Where was it? Does the Madison Area Music Association have something against Jazz? There were no Jazz performers at the 3 hour show. Was Mama Digdown’s Brass Band invited to play? What about Harmonious Wail, or any other local jazz performers? There was everything from classical marimba to hip hop but no jazz. Someone tell me what’s going on.
On the first count, artists choose the categories in which they wish to be considered. Aaron did not choose to enter this category.
On the second count, I’m not sure if Don was paying attention but the MAMAs All-Star Fusion Band was a jazz performance. When Hanah Jon Taylor released his excellent HyrPlacis album, I immediately asked him to represent jazz at the MAMAs. He offered to put together this all-star band, who then composed a piece especially for the MAMAs. It may not have been as traditional as Hanah’s album but it was very well received.
But a comment like this irks me in a whole other way. Artists need to represent themselves. The jazz community is largely failing to do this in the jazz award categories. To assert that we have something against jazz is so preposterous. If jazz wants to be represented at the MAMAs, it needs to step up and represent itself. The door is open.