Jazz festival awards hardly come any bigger than the Paul Acket award named after the founder of the North Sea jazz festival in 1976, still one of the biggest jazz festivals in the world.

The award is, as explained by the festival, for “an artist deserving wider recognition for their extraordinary musicianship,” and this year it goes to Netherlands pianist composer the Slovenian born Kaja Draksler whose octet performs in Rotterdam at North Sea on 13 July. 

Among the festival jury deciding on the winner was Emily Jones of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the winner then reached by a vote drawn from a list of 21 musicians the electorate for which included invited writers and programmers.