The London Awards for Art and Performance is the country's most expansive awards and recognises artists and performers across many art-forms. Each is presented to an individual or team who have made an outstanding contribution to their art form.

Who better than the nominees themselves to judge each category. We'll be asking nominees in each of the categories to pick their top artist/s and from that we'll arrive at the shortlist and award winner who will receive the trophy. The shortlist and winner will be announced at the Presentation Ceremony in June.

There will also be a public vote, where anyone can vote online. However, this will only be taken into account if there's a tie in the nominee votes.

Long list in competition (click on title for more) - nominations: 15

London Jazz Award Nomination Soweto Kinch: '[His] gig was a scalding display of post-Coleman alto-sax improvising, a virtuosic and intelligent exposition of political rap, and a visually riveting event into the bargain. Accompanied only by his keyboard-mimicking laptop, bassist Karl Rasheed-Abel and drummer Graham Godfrey for much of the gig, Kinch instantly revealed the barking emphasis and melodic resourcefulness that has made him a world-league saxophonist.'

Venetia Twigg · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Feb 15

London Jazz Award Nomination Zoe Rahman: '.. currently touring the surprisingly compatible confection of American, Bengali and Irish music... Ireland and the east were joined in two Rabindranath Tagore pieces (the Bengali polymath tuned into Celtic music while studying in the UK), brought to life by the band... It was an evening of broad-ranging jazz played with glee.'

Venetia Twigg · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Feb 10

London Jazz Award Nomination Trevor Watts and Veryan Weston: 'A mark of invention pervades throughout, as the duo fuses sublime persuasions, inverted theme-building jaunts, and mesmeric passages with fleeting melodies and rhythmical dynamics.'

Venetia Twigg · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Jan 27

London Jazz Award Nomination Tim Hodgkinson: '[on album Klarnt] There is a sense of heightened emotion as Hodgkinson plums every register and mood of which the clarinet is capable... despite being jam-packed, the playing never feels frantic, and there’s always room to let each statement breathe. Beyond that, each moment of reflection cleanses the palette for what follows.'

Venetia Twigg · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Jan 12

London Jazz Award Nomination Acoustic Triangle: 'The trio’s fascination with the nature of sound itself was epitomised during the introduction to Cole Porter’s “All Of You” with Garland placing the bell of his tenor sax directly inside the raised lid of Simcock’s grand piano. The reverb that this generated was little short of astonishing.'

Venetia Twigg · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Dec 23

London Jazz Award Nomination Beats and Pieces Big Band: ‘An explosive, 14-piece contemporary jazz band, led by the talented and energetic Ben Cottrell, spearheading the return of the big band into the 21st century hipster’s musical consciousness with swagger and style’.

Alice Stride · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Dec 23

London Jazz Award nomination Bad Ass Brass: 'Whoops and yells from both the band and the loyal audience between phrases punctuated with Pink Panther-esque trumpet squeals set this gig’s tone.'

Venetia Twigg · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Dec 20

London Jazz Award nomination Ola Onabule: '.. is a storyteller .. he tells his tales with a soulful openness which is infectious, and he sings with a beautiful clarity and depth.'

David Knight · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Dec 09

London Jazz Award nomination Dennis Rollins: '.. a new found subtlety and a certain weight that transforms his rich tones into something elegant.'

David Knight · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Dec 06

London Jazz Award nomination Kieran Hebden: '.. playing with more interest in the perfect personal musical moment than pristine dance-floor momentum.’

David Knight · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Dec 05

London Jazz Award nomination Empirical: '.. have become fascinating and fearless.'

David Knight · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Dec 01

London Jazz Award nomination Neil Yates: '.. there are jig-like dances, and long-note tone poems in which the brass sound slowly curls and wreathes like a voice.' [on album Five Countries]

David Knight · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Nov 25

London Jazz Award nomination Guy Barker: '.. he is a serious force to be reckoned with, and what he has put together is all together mind-blowing stuff.'

Venetia Twigg · Facebook · Twitter · Email · Nov 14

London Jazz Award nomination Blinq: 'All four singers have astonishing ranges. All lead or blend at will.'

Facebook · Twitter · Email · Nov 04

London Jazz Award nomination Phronesis: 'Pitch Black – premiering at Brecon – was conceived as a natural live follow-up to the band’s 2009 album Green Delay, written after band leader and double-bassist Jasper Høiby learned that his sister had gone blind. [...] Extended to a live setting, Høiby’s vision played out like musical theatre, a mix of drama, tension and comedy, held together by remarkable jazz, immaculately played.'

Facebook · Twitter · Email · Aug 16