As always, come JUNOS time, there’s much for us at The WholeNote to be pleased by, looking at the lists of nominees and seeing how many of the albums in question our recording reviews editor David Olds and his industrious DISCOVERIES team managed to review – this year 25 out of 40 in the categories that are the closest musical match with what we do. There are, of course, some nominees in those categories who we missed out on reviewing (or simply haven’t got to yet…so keep the recordings coming).
There are also, of course, lots of other JUNO categories outside the musical genres we cover – and many of these other categories will be front and centre in the televised JUNO broadcast (which many of the categories we cover will not!). All the more reason to read about them here, as a reminder that the JUNOS are a bigger musical tent than what you will see on TV during prime time on March 15.
So, here for your interest, are all the nominees in categories of music we normally cover, with albums we reviewed over the course of the year highlighted, and with links to those reviews, including magazine section and month of the review, along with, in many cases, links to tracks from the albums in question.
Vocal jazz album of the year
- Bria Skonberg, Nothing Never Happens
- Dominique Fils-Aimé, Stay Tuned!
- Elizabeth Shepherd, Montréal
- Jazz Affair, Wishes
- Monkey House, Friday 2019 – 10 Pot Pourri
Jazz album of the year: solo
- Jacques Kuba Seguin, Migrations 2019 – 09 Jazz
- Joel Miller, Unstoppable 2019 – 11 Jazz
- John Stetch, Black Sea Suite
- Ted Quinlan, Absolutely Dreaming 2020 – 02 Jazz
- The Mark Kelso Jazz Project, The Chronicles of Fezziwig 2019 – 11 Jazz
Jazz album of the year: group
- Al Muirhead's Canadian Quintet, Undertones
- Brad Turner Quartet with guest Seamus Blake, Jump Up 2019 – 10 Jazz
- Dave Young Trio, Trouble in Mind
- Ernesto Cervini's Turboprop, Abundance 2018 – 11 Jazz
- Jane Bunnett & Maqueque, On Firm Ground/Tierra Firme 2019 – 10 Pot Pourri
Instrumental album of the year
- Alexandra Stréliski, Inscape
- Bill McBirnie with Bernie Senensky, The Silent Wish 2018 – 11 Jazz
- Kevin Hearn, Calm and Cents
- Ron Davis' SymphRONica, SymphRONica UpfRONt 2018 – 12 Jazz
- Tanya Tagaq, Toothsayer
Classical album of the year: solo or chamber
- Angela Schwarzkopf, Detach 2020 – 02 Modern
- Ensemble Paramirabo, Alone & Unalone 2019 – 12 Modern
- James Ehnes, Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Op. 12
- Marina Thibeault and Marie-Ève Scarfone, Elles 2019 – 05 Strings
- Quatuor Molinari, John Zorn: Cat O'Nine Tails 2019 – 04 Editor
Classical album of the year: large ensemble
- Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra/The Bound of our Dreams 2018 – 11 Editor
- Jan Lisiecki with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos
- Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sibelius 1 2019 – 06 Classical
- Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducted by Kent Nagano, The John Adams Album
- Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Chopin: Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 2019 – 04 Keyed In
Classical album of the year: vocal or choral
- Chor Leoni Men's Choir, When There is Peace: An Armistice Oratorio 2019 – 11 Vocal
- Gerald Finley, Schubert: Schwanengesang; Brahms: Vier ernste Gesänge
- Ottawa Bach Choir, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schutz: Motets 2019 – 04 Vocal
- Peter Barrett, Martha Guth, Allyson McHardy, Helen Becqué, Summer Night
- Philippe Sly with Le Chimera Project, Schubert: Winterreise 2019 – 06 Vocal
Classical composition of the year
- Ana Sokolović, Evta 2019 – 05 Modern
- Bekah Simms, Everything is... Distorted 2018 – 11 Modern
- Jared Miller, Under Sea, Above Sky
- Rose Bolton, The Coming of Sobs 2019 – 09 Modern
- Vincent Ho, Kickin' It 2.0 2019 – 11 Modern
Traditional roots album of the year
- April Verch, Once A Day
- Miranda Mulholland, By Appointment Or Chance
- Natalie MacMaster, Sketches 2019 – 12 Pot Pourri
- The Dead South, Sugar & Joy
- The Small Glories, Assiniboine & The Red
World music album of the year
- Djely Tapa, Barokan
- Okan, Sombras 2020 – 02 Pot Pourri
- Okavango African Orchestra, Africa Without Borders
- Romina Di Gasbarro, Risorgimento 2019 – 03 Pot Pourri
- Silla and Rise, Galactic Gala
Recording engineer of the year
- George Seara: "If I Can't Have You"
- Jason Dufour: "Push For Yellow,"
- John "Beetle" Bailey: "Dividido (feat. Silvana Estrada)" (Alex Cuba, Sublime); "Shotgun" (Monkey House, Friday) 2019 – 10 Pot Pourri
- Ryan Worsley: "2 Myself"
- Vic Florencia: "Midnight," "Over Me" (Brooke Palsson, Midnight)
The 2020 JUNO Awards take place on Sunday, March 15, 2020. A complete list of nominees can be found here.
