DownBeat
DownBeat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate it's expansion beyond the jazz realm that it exclusively cover in previous years. The publication was established in 1935 in Chicago, Illinois. It is named after the "downbeat" in music also called the "one beat" or the first beat of a musical measure. The words "Down" and "Beat" are conjoined to form the magazine's title.
DownBeat publishes results of annual surveys of both its readers and critics in a variety of categories. The DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame includes winners from both the readers and critics poll. The results of the readers poll are published in the December issue, those of the critics poll in the August issue.
Well-known features of DownBeat are it's "Reviews" section where jazz critics rate the latest musical recordings, vintasge recordings, and books, articles on individual musicians and music forms, and its "Blindfold Test" column, in a which a musician listens to records from other artists and tries to guess who they are. Musicians that get 50% right on the "Blindfold Test" do better than average.
Down Beat went to a monthly schedule in April 1979, the first time since 1939.
Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame
The Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame is maintained at Universal Studios' City Jazz club in Orlando, Florida. Current membership, by year, is listed in the following table. The critics poll was not initiated until 1961, so there are only readers poll winners before then. Although they have many members in common, the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame is separate and distinct from the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.
Down Beat Jazz Album of the Year
An essential contribution of the critics and readers polls are the selections for "Jazz Album of the Year", listing the dozen or so most popular records.
2006 critics poll:
(1) Andrew Hill: Time Lines (Blue Note)
(2) Wayne Shorter Quartet: Beyond The Sound Barrier (Verve)
(3) Sonny Rollins: Without A Song (The 9/11 Concert) (Milestone)
2007 critics poll:
(1) Ornette Coleman: Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar)
(2) Trio Beyond: Saudades (ECM)
(3) Sonny Rollins: Sonny, Please (Doxy)
External links
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