Since 2011, jazzahead! has awarded the Prize for German Jazz Journalism to promote reporting in the German media and to honor jazz journalistic work. The prize is endowed with 5,000€ and honors German jazz journalism that is competent in terms of content and language. The previous awardees are Hans-Jürgen Linke, Ralf Dombrowski, Wolf Kampmann, Martin Laurentius and Stefan Hentz.

The jury, consisting of Götz Bühler (journalist), Stefan Hentz (last year's winner, journalist), Eva Kruse (bassist) and Jan Paersch (journalist) has now chosen three nominees for the 2022 award: Sophie Emilia Beha, Reinhard Köchl, Manuela Krause.
The winner will be announced at the award ceremony on April 30 at 3:45 pm at jazzahead!

What was striking about the jury's proposals for this year's award winner was that not only established journalists with many years of experience were nominated, but also talented younger ones. The proposals were not only oriented towards reporting at the center of jazz, but also at its edges, thus showing a cross-section of many ages and levels of creativity in the German jazz journalism scene.

The award is supported by: the Dr. E.A. Langner Foundation and the Friends of the jazzahead! festival

Sophie Emilie Beha
Most of the articles written by Sophie Emilie Beha, who is not even 30 years old, are about "classical" music. But the music journalist from Tübingen, who also moderates the opera discussion "Die Stunde danach" at the Dortmund Opera and works as a freelancer for the taz, Byte FM, WDR or Deutschlandfunk, also writes about jazz from time to time, for example for Jazz thing or the NMZ. She also moderates panels, for example on "How open is jazz?" at the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt, but also at the Domicil Dortmund, for example as part of a concert by Angelika Niscier or at "Talkin' Music" with guest Hans Nieswandt on the relationship between jazz and electronic music.

Reinhard Köchl
The freelance music journalist writes about jazz for various newspapers and trade magazines such as Jazzthing, Jazzthetik, Die Zeit, etc... He is a member of the jury for the German Record Critics' Prize and the Young Artists Award Burghausen, among others, and sees himself primarily as a mediator of jazz instead of a "critic". Reinhard Köchl's descriptions and interviews testify to his comprehensive knowledge of jazz in all its many styles and ramifications, as well as his involvement with artists throughout the history of jazz.

Manuela Krause
Manuela Krause has worked for classical, jazz and pop radio stations. She regularly presents Tonart Jazz on Deutschlandfunk Kultur and programs on WDR 3 Jazz. You can always hear the enthusiasm for music in the woman, who also works as a DJ, while she impresses with her expertise and pleasant speaking voice. With bold, contemporary-oriented music selections, she gives her jazz programs a recognizable, more contemporary tone. Krause also moderates events and is passionate about the stories behind the art, as evidenced by her Lang features at night on Deutschlandfunk Kultur.