Stars gather to honour Herbie Hancock, Norah Jones & more at Jazz FM Awards 2020

Herbie Hancock and Norah Jones were among the big winners at the Jazz FM Awards with OANDA 2020, which took place via a livestream from legendary London venue Ronnie Scott's.

Presenter Marcus Brigstocke was on hosting duties, as Herbie Hancock, winner of 14 Grammys, picked up the the PPL Lifetime Achievement Award and Norah Jones won the Impact Award.

Herbie Hancock, who turned 80 this year, said: “The UK has supported and kept jazz alive for so many years. Not just for its citizens, but globally. And people in distant lands, many fans from Asia, Africa and around the world have been able to enjoy great jazz in places like Ronnie Scott’s and other venues for many, many years.

He continued: “It has all been a wonderful ride and continues with the younger generation of jazz musicians collaborating with me and I’m inspired by that. They think I’m inspiring them; they don’t realise they are inspiring me! But jazz is in a very healthy state. The pandemic is not going to stop that. It’s continuing beyond that. So I want to thank the Jazz FM Awards and OANDA for this wonderful honour. Thank you all so very, very much.”

The UK has supported and kept jazz alive for so many years

Herbie Hancock

Elsewhere on the night, The Gold Award went to UK band leader and vibraphonist Orphy Robinson MBE, Earth Wind and Fire’s Philip Bailey was named Soul Act Of The Year, US saxophonist Charles Lloyd picked up International Act Of The Year and Binker Golding won Instrumentalist Of The Year. The Innovation Award went to record label Jazz re:freshed and Venue Of The Year was won by The Vortex.

Guest presenters (pictured above) on the night included Jamie Cullum, Hugh Laurie, Yolanda Brown, Robert Glasper, Clarke Peters, Alexander O’Neal and Tom Misch. There were performances from award winners Judi Jackson, Xhosa Cole and Yazz Ahmed.

Jazz FM content director Nick Pitts, said: “That we were able to put an event like this together in such tumultuous times is a reflection of the excellent work and will of our team at Jazz FM, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Serious, Ben Lloyd Evans Productions, Baxter PR and our various partners and sponsors. It also displays the strength and resilience of the jazz community as a whole and hopefully provides a much-needed boost to everyone who works within it. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved here and congratulations to all of our incredibly worthy winners.”

See the full list of winners and nominees below:

PPL Lifetime Achievement Award

Herbie Hancock

Impact Award

Norah Jones

Gold Award

Orphy Robinson

Breakthrough Act Of The Year