November 10, 2009

By By Wolfgang Spahr, Berlin

Jazz music in Germany is to get its own ECHO Awards ceremony. As the German Recording Academy - the cultural institution of trade body Bundesverband Musikindustrie e. V. (BVMI) - announced in Berlin today (Nov. 10), the ECHO Jazz Awards will be awarded in the Bochum Jahrhunderthalle on May 5, 2010.

After the ECHO Awards for pop, rock and Schlager and the ECHO Klassik, the ECHO Jazz will be the third mainstay of the German music industry. The ECHO Jazz Awards will be awarded to national and international artists in 31 categories.

"Jazz has a considerable tradition in Germany," said Prof. Dieter Gorny, chairman of the BVMI in Berlin, in a statement. "In recent years, young artists like Till Br?nner, Nils W?lker or Roger Cicero have helped make this type of music more popular among a wider public. And it is just here that we want to step in with the ECHO Jazz by combining a high artistic level with the aim of providing the best possible cultural communication."

The nomination period for the ECHO Jazz Awards starts today. Record companies can submit their productions for the German jazz award to the BVMI up to and including Nov. 30, 2009. Nomination is subject to records being released between Nov. 1, 2008 and Oct. 31, 2009.

"All labels whose products are sold on the German market may participate. The award winners will be chosen by a jury of 12 celebrities from the worlds of culture, media and the music business," reported Gorny in Berlin.

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