It’s getting near that time of year when one lucky jazz artist, or band, ends up warming in the glow of a Mercury nomination. Or not, as the case may be. It’s the unique chance to hang around and compare haircuts with bands that don’t as a rule play to phonebox-sized audiences. Last year the Mercury judges ordained that jazz was in for a bit of snubbing. This time, a little oddly, even if the genre is unfairly neglected again, there’s a strong chance among the ranks of the many landfill indie bands under consideration that jazz will creep in anyway, but only in the moniker of the must cooed-over Adult Jazz, whose album Gist Is has been described by that arbiter of indie taste and tactics The Quietus as “texturally ravishing and textually fascinating,” quite good in other words. Strong jazz contenders that should be in with a shout or might just as easily be preparing to be cruelly snubbed include: Get the Blessing, Lope and Antilope (Naim Jazz), GoGo Penguin V2.0 (Gondwana), Zara McFarlane If You Knew Her (Brownswood), Black Top #1 With Special Guest Steve Williamson (Babel), and Neil Cowley Trio Touch and Flee (Naim Jazz). The nominations come through on 10 September.

In for a shout at the Mercurys? Zara McFarlane, above