Juno Award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year explained

The Juno Award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year was presented as recognition each year for the best contemporary jazz album in Canada. It was first presented in 1994, after the Juno Awards split the former award for Best Jazz Album into separate categories for contemporary and traditional jazz,^[1] and was discontinued after 2014, when the traditional and contemporary jazz categories were replaced with new categories for Jazz Album - Solo and Jazz Album - Group.

Winners

Best Contemporary Jazz Album (1994 – 1999)

Year	Winner(s)	Album	Nominees	Ref.
1994	Holly Cole Trio	Don't Smoke in Bed	Michael Farquharson, Michael Farquharson Five After Four feat. Vito Razza, Notorious Garbo's Hat, Face the Music David Mott, The Standard Line
1995	Jim Hillman and The Merlin Factor	The Merlin Factor	Mark Duggan, We Were Talking Sonny Greenwich, Hymn to the Earth Joe Sealy and Paul Novotny, Dual Vision John Stetch, Carpathian Blues	^[2]
1996	Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra	NOJO	Jane Bunnett, Rendez-vous Brazil Cuba Rich Shadrach Lazar and Montuno Police, Touch The Merlin Factor, Frontier Tunes Carol Welsman, Lucky to Be Me
1997	Joe Sealy	Africville Suite	Paul Bley and Kenny Wheeler, Touché James Gelfand, Time Zones Sonny Greenwich, Spirit in the Air Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra, FireWater
1998	Metalwood	Metalwood	Stefan Bauer, Best of Two Worlds D.D. Jackson, Paired Down, Volume One Ted Quinlan, As If Carol Welsman, Inclined
1999	Metalwood	Metalwood 2	Hard Rubber Orchestra, Cruel Yet Fair François Houle, In the Vernacular: The Music of John Carter Phil Dwyer, Road Stories Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra, You Are Here

Best Contemporary Jazz Album – Instrumental (2000 – 2002)

Year	Winner(s)	Album	Nominees	Ref.
2000	D. D. Jackson	...So Far	Jeff Johnston, The Field Joe Sealy and Paul Novotny, Blue Jade Bob Shaw and Freeflight, Freeflight Jean-Pierre Zanella, Puzzle City	^[3]
2001	François Carrier Trio	Compassion	Knut Haaugsoen, Step and a Half Michael Kaeshammer, No Strings Attached Metalwood, Metalwood 3 Michael Occhipinti, Creation Dream
2002	François Bourassa Trio and André Leroux	Live	D.D. Jackson, Sigame Jeff Johnston, Nuage Metalwood, The Recline Chris Tarry, Of Battles Unknown Mysteries

Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year (2003 – 2014)

Year	Winner(s)	Album	Nominees	Ref.
2003	Richard Underhill	Tales from the Blue Lounge	Mark Duggan's Vuja dé, Mistura Warren Hill, Love Songs Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra, Highwire Jean-Pierre, Mother Tree
2004	Great Uncles of the Revolution	Blow the House Down	François Bourassa Quartet, Indefinite Time D. D. Jackson, Suite for New York Michael Kaeshammer, Strut Metalwood, Chronic
2005	Hilario Durán Trio	New Danzon	Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra with Sam Rivers, City of Neighbourhoods Alain Caron, 5 Jane Bunnett, Red Dragonfly (aka Tombo) Sekoya, Sekoya
2006	Jane Bunnett	Radio Guantánamo (Guantánamo Blues Project Vol. 1)	Hilario Durán and Perspectiva, Encuentro en la Habana Marc Rogers, Robi Botos, Phil Dwyer and Terri Lyne Carrington, One Take: Volume Two David Buchbinder, Shurum Burum Jazz Circus Roberto Occhipinti, Yemaya
2007	Hilario Durán and His Latin Jazz Big Band	From the Heart	Ingrid Jensen, At Sea Hugh Marsh, Hugmars Richard Underhill, Moment in Time Kent Sangster, Obsession
2008	The Chris Tarry Group	Almost Certainly Dreaming	Michael Occhipinti and Creation Dream, Chasing After Light David Occhipinti, Forty Revolutions Altered Laws, Metaphora Manteca, Onward!
2009	Jane Bunnett	Embracing Voices	Roberto Occhipinti, A Bend in the River Barry Romberg’s Random Access Large Ensemble, Existential Detective François Bourassa Quartet, Rasstones Michael Occhipinti, The Sicilian Jazz Project
2010	Charles Spearin	The Happiness Project	Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Infernal Machines Hilario Durán, Motion John Roney with the Silver Birch String Quartet, Silverbirch Kirk MacDonald Quartet, Songbook Vol. 1
2011	Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra	Treelines	Chet Doxas, Big Sky Matt Herskowitz, Jerusalem Trilogy Kelly Jefferson Quartet, Next Exit Adrean Farrugia, Ricochet
2012	Phil Dwyer Orchestra feat. Mark Fewer	Changing Seasons	Hilario Durán and Jane Bunnett, Cuban Rhapsody François Bourassa Quartet, Idiosyncrasie Colin Stetson, Chris Tarry, Rest of the Story
2013	Joel Miller	Swim	Alex Goodman Quintet, Bridges Allison Au Quartet, The Sky Was Pale Blue, Then Grey François Houle 5+1, Genera Rafael Zaldivar, Drawing
2014	Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra	Habitat	Brandi Disterheft, Gratitude Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Brooklyn Babylon Earl MacDonald, Mirror of the Mind Trifolia, Le refuge

Notes and References

1. "Quirky mix of nominees for 1994 Junos". The Globe and Mail, February 9, 1994.
2. "Juno categories make unlikely bedfellows". Edmonton Journal, March 19, 1995.
3. Web site: Sharpe . John . April 1, 2000 . D. D. Jackson: Anthem . All About Jazz .