Talking Jazz

As an exhausted Terry Carter slumped down next to me at 3.30 on Wednesday morning he had reason to be pleased with himself.

As an exhausted Terry Carter slumped down next to me at 3.30 on Wednesday morning he had reason to be pleased with himself. This year's BBC Radio Jazz Awards, which he organises, were not perfect - of course not, they're only in their third year - but the general consensus was that musically, at least, the evening, held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, was a triumph. And the music is, after all, what the awards are about.

Whatever quibbles I may have had about the shortlists, the winners provided reasons to be very cheerful about the variation and intelligence of the music being produced in this country. Brian Kellock, who won Best Album last year and walked off with Best Instrumentalist this time, sat down at the piano, having confessed minutes before that he had absolutely no idea what he was going to play, and proceeded with a warm mid-tempo stride that veered into some deliciously crashing thumps, as though Fats Waller's tipple of choice was absinthe instead of gin.

The Esbjorn Svennson Trio, who took the international award, produced a limpid performance, brilliantly underpinned by a solid but bendy, resonant double bass. Their award, incidentally, explained the presence of Ulrika Jonsson. She was there, she announced before calling EST on stage, "because I'm Swedish". Byron Wallen, winner of the Jazz Innovation category, laid down four tracks on shells of ascending pitch, picked up his trumpet and was joined by Cleveland Watkiss for an offbeat but fascinating take on "Summertime". And Guy Barker's International Jazz Septet, who took the Best Band prize, finished the evening off with a sparkling rendition of "Underdogs", from Guy's recent Soundtrack album.

From the nostalgic film noir of "Underdogs", the swing of Jamie Cullum and Claire Martin's take on "You and the Night and the Music", and the footstomping trad of the Merseysippi Jazz Band, to the controlled anarchy of Brian Irvine's Interrupting Cutler (Best New Work) and the hugely moving political statement of Gilad Atzmon's Exile, the nod was given both to the jazz tradition and to the new.

But what does need to change is the presentation. Humphrey Lyttleton and Courtney Pine, much-loved as they are, totally failed to maintain any momentum between awards or keep the guest presenters in line. There were some hilarious moments, such as Michael Garrick's imitation of Niles from Frasier and Warren Mitchell's jokes, but it all needed to be much snappier. It might be an idea to do away with "star guests" all together, as all the to-ing and fro-ing drags the evening on and on; it lasted three hours, which was probably about an hour too long. A big name professional host, such as Jools Holland, who was extremely competent last year, or Jonathan Ross is required to make the event worthy of television. It's a good job Tuesday night's ceremony didn't go out on the box as even Bruce Forsyth or Dale Winton might have winced at the lame banter between Humph and Pine.

These are, I hope, constructive criticisms. The awards are a welcome boost and get-together for UK jazz. They are in their infancy, and the most well-meaning child can stumble and mess up. The profile of the event should be higher and the structure tighter. But this will come in time. For now one should applaud the fact that the awards are growing in the right direction.