Jammy Award

The Jammy Award (also known as the Jammys) is an awards show for bands - referred to as jam bands - and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and Shapiro. The Jammy Awards returned in 2008 to the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City after taking a one-year break.

The First Annual Jammy Awards were held on June 22, 2000, at Irving Plaza in New York City. The event was presented by Jambands.com and executive producers Peter Shapiro and Dean Budnick. Shapiro, who owns the Wetlands Preserve, is the publisher of Jambands.com. Budnick is editor in chief of Jambands.com and also co-hosted The Jammys with Peter Prince of Moon Boot Lover. The evening had two basic components: awards were presented in various categories, and the scene's best bands performed sets of blistering music with special guests. The idea originated nearly 10 months prior in a conversation between Budnick and managers for various bands. John Topper from Moe, Bob Kennedy from Deep Banana Blackout, and Darren Cohen from The Slip had all referenced "The Jammys" as an obvious play on "The Grammys."

Presenters included: Steve Bloom (High Times), Richard Gehr (The Village Voice), Lee Crumpton (Home Grown Music Network founder), Sam Kopper (first program director at WBCN in Boston, Phoenix Presents live engineer), John Scofield, Anthony DeCurtis (Rolling Stone, VH1), Kirk West (The Allman Brothers Band archivist), and Jambands.com staff members.

Strangefolk closed the show joined by Merl Saunders for a Grateful Dead tribute in which they performed "Scarlet Begonias", then Strangefolk's Eric Glocker was replaced on stage with Percy Hill's John Leccese, at which point they jammed into "Fire on the Mountain."

The Jammy Awards featured performers including The New Deal (band), Frogwings, The Disco Biscuits & Les Claypool, Merl Saunders, John Scofield, Strangefolk, Susan Tedeschi, Deep Banana Blackout, Soulive and The Slip.

The Second Annual Jammys took place at Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The show featured more than five hours of non-stop music and presentations. "The idea for the Jammys was to create a night of music where we didn't know what was going to happen," says Jammys executive producer Peter Shapiro. "We wanted to bring artists who not only hadn't played together, but hadn't met and now, after experiencing what went down, it's a pretty overwhelming feeling."

Col. Bruce Hampton, Yonder Mountain String Band's Jeff Austin (mandolin) and Robert Randolph (pedal steel) joined the Derek Trucks Band for a version of "Turn On Your Lovelight". Paul Shaffer sat in with Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade featuring Junior Brown for The Beatles' "Taxman" and King Crimson's "Thela Hun Ginjeet". DJ Logic and guitarist Stanley Jordan performed with The Disco Biscuits featuring John Popper for Jane's Addiction's "Three Days" and Led Zeppelin's "Bring It On Home". The show concluded with a two-stage dueling jam on The Meters' classic "Cissy Strut", which followed the presentation of the lifetime achievement award to George Porter Jr. The song featured the Derek Trucks Band with special guests Porter (bass, the Meters), Popper (vocals, harmonica, Blues Traveler) and Jordan (guitar).

Album of the Year: Phish "Farmhouse"
Live Performance of the Year: Phish, 7/11/00, Noblesville, IN
New Groove of the year: Yonder Mountain String Band
Radio Show: "Jam Nation" (Radio 104, Hartford, CT)
Fan Website: www.Etree.org
Festival: Gathering of the Vibes
Topper/Zahn Award: Howie Schnee
Mimi Fishman Memorial Award: Mockingbird Foundation
Live Album: Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade: Live Frogs Set 1
Jam of the Year: Phil Lesh and Friends with Mike Gordon (12-31-00)
Release of the year: "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Grateful Dead"
Lifetime Achievement: George Porter Jr. and the Meters