DownBeat

For other uses, see Downbeat (disambiguation).

DownBeat
CategoriesMusic magazine
FrequencyMonthly
Founded1934; 90 years ago (1934)[1]
CompanyMaher Publications
CountryUnited States
Based inChicago, Illinois, U.S.
LanguageEnglish
Websitedownbeat.com
ISSN0012-5768

DownBeat (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. It is named after the "downbeat" in music, also called "beat one", or the first beat of a musical measure.

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. Since 2008, the Hall of Fame also includes winners from the Veterans Committee.

Popular features of DownBeat magazine include its "Reviews" section where jazz critics, using a '1-Star to 5-Star' maximum rating system, rate the latest musical recordings, vintage recordings, and books; articles on individual musicians and music forms; and its famous "Blindfold Test" column, in which a musician listens to records by other artists, tries to guess who they are, and rates them using the 5-star maximum rating system.

History

DownBeat was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois.[2] In September 1939, the magazine announced that its circulation had increased from "a few hundred five years ago to more than 80,000 copies a month", and that it would change from monthly to fortnightly from the following month.[3] In Summer 1960 DownBeat launched the Japanese edition.[4] In 1972 the publisher of the magazine was Maher Publishers.[5] Starting in July 1979, DownBeat went to a monthly schedule for the first time since 1939.

DownBeat was named Jazz Publication of the Year in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021 by the Jazz Journalists Association.[6]

DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame

The DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame's current membership, by year, is listed in the following table. The Readers' Poll began in 1952, the Critics' Poll in 1961, and the Veterans Committee Poll in 2008.[7]

Year Readers Poll Critics Poll Veterans Committee Poll
1952 Louis Armstrong[8]
1953 Glenn Miller[9]
1954 Stan Kenton[10]
1955 Charlie Parker[11]
1956 Duke Ellington[12]
1957 Benny Goodman[13]
1958 Count Basie[14]
1959 Lester Young[15]
1960 Dizzy Gillespie[16]
1961 Billie Holiday[17] Coleman Hawkins[18]
1962 Miles Davis[19] Bix Beiderbecke[20]
1963 Thelonious Monk[21] Jelly Roll Morton[22]
1964 Eric Dolphy[23] Art Tatum[24]
1965 John Coltrane[25] Earl Hines[26]
1966 Bud Powell[27] Charlie Christian[28]
1967 Billy Strayhorn[29] Bessie Smith[30]
1968 Wes Montgomery[31] Sidney Bechet & Fats Waller[32]
1969 Ornette Coleman[33] Pee Wee Russell & Jack Teagarden[34]
1970 Jimi Hendrix[35] Johnny Hodges[36]
1971 Charles Mingus[37] Roy Eldridge & Django Reinhardt[38]
1972 Gene Krupa[39] Clifford Brown[40]
1973 Sonny Rollins[41] Fletcher Henderson[42]
1974 Buddy Rich[43] Ben Webster[44]
1975 Cannonball Adderley[45] Cecil Taylor[46]
1976 Woody Herman King Oliver[47]
1977 Paul Desmond Benny Carter[48]
1978 Joe Venuti Rahsaan Roland Kirk[49]
1979 Ella Fitzgerald Lennie Tristano[50]
1980 Dexter Gordon Max Roach[51]
1981 Art Blakey Bill Evans[52]
1982 Art Pepper Fats Navarro[53]
1983 Stéphane Grappelli Albert Ayler[54]
1984 Oscar Peterson[55] Sun Ra[56]
1985 Sarah Vaughan Zoot Sims[57]
1986 Stan Getz Gil Evans[58]
1987 Lionel Hampton Johnny Dodds, Thad Jones, Teddy Wilson[59]
1988 Jaco Pastorius Kenny Clarke[60]
1989 Woody Shaw Chet Baker[61]
1990 Red Rodney Mary Lou Williams[62]
1991 Lee Morgan John Carter[63]
1992 Maynard Ferguson James P. Johnson[64]
1993 Gerry Mulligan Ed Blackwell[65]
1994 Dave Brubeck Frank Zappa[66]
1995 J. J. Johnson Julius Hemphill[67]
1996 Horace Silver Artie Shaw[68]
1997 Nat King Cole Tony Williams[69]
1998 Frank Sinatra Elvin Jones[70]
1999 Milt Jackson[71] Betty Carter[72]
2000 Clark Terry Lester Bowie[73]
2001 Joe Henderson Milt Hinton[74]
2002 Antonio Carlos Jobim John Lewis[75]
2003 Ray Brown Wayne Shorter[76]
2004 McCoy Tyner Roy Haynes
2005 Herbie Hancock Steve Lacy
2006 Jimmy Smith Jackie McLean[77]
2007 Michael Brecker Andrew Hill[78]
2008 Keith Jarrett[79] Joe Zawinul Jo Jones, Jimmie Lunceford, Erroll Garner, Harry Carney, Jimmy Blanton
2009 Freddie Hubbard Hank Jones Oscar Pettiford, Tadd Dameron
2010 Muhal Richard Abrams Chick Corea Baby Dodds, Chick Webb, Philly Joe Jones, Billy Eckstine
2011 Ahmad Jamal Abbey Lincoln Paul Chambers
2012 Ron Carter Paul Motian Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt
2013 Pat Metheny Charlie Haden Robert Johnson
2014 B.B. King Jim Hall Bing Crosby, Dinah Washington
2015 Tony Bennett Lee Konitz Muddy Waters
2016 Phil Woods Randy Weston Hoagy Carmichael
2017 Wynton Marsalis[80] Don Cherry Eubie Blake, George Gershwin, Herbie Nichols
2018 Ray Charles Benny Golson[81] Marian McPartland
2019 Hank Mobley Nina Simone Scott LaFaro, Joe Williams
2020 George Benson Jimmy Heath Mildred Bailey, Carmen McRae
2021 Roy Hargrove[82] Carla Bley[83] Booker Little, Yusef Lateef
2022 Kenny Barron[84] Geri Allen[85]
2023 Pharoah Sanders[86] Alice Coltrane[87] Red Norvo, Mario Bauza
2024 John McLaughlin[88] Charles Lloyd[89]

Awards

Album of the Year

Critics' Poll

Year Title Musician Label
1965 A Love Supreme John Coltrane Impulse!
1966 At the Golden Circle, Vol. 1 Ornette Coleman Trio Blue Note
1967 The Popular Duke Ellington Duke Ellington RCA
1968 The Far East Suite Duke Ellington Bluebird/RCA
1969 ...And His Mother Called Him Bill Duke Ellington Bluebird/RCA
1970 Bitches Brew Miles Davis Columbia
1971 New Orleans Suite Duke Ellington Atlantic
1972 The You and Me That Used to Be Jimmy Rushing RCA
1973
(tie)		 Constellation Sonny Stitt Cobblestone
Sahara McCoy Tyner Milestone
1974 Solo Concerts Keith Jarrett ECM
1975 Silent Tongues Cecil Taylor Freedom
1976 Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie Pablo
1977 Creative Orchestra Music 1976 Anthony Braxton Arista
1978
(tie)		 Insights Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band RCA
Dancing in Your Head Ornette Coleman Horizon
Sophisticated Giant Dexter Gordon Columbia
Homecoming: Live at the Village Vanguard Dexter Gordon Columbia
Nonaah Roscoe Mitchell Nessa
1979 Cumbia & Jazz Fusion Charles Mingus Atlantic
1980 Air Lore Air Arista/Novus
1981 Full Force Art Ensemble of Chicago ECM
1982 Playing Old and New Dreams ECM
1983 Blues Forever Muhal Richard Abrams Black Saint
1984 The Ballad of the Fallen Charlie Haden ECM
1985 That's the Way I Feel Now Various A&M
1986 The African Flower James Newton Blue Note
1987 Song X Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman Geffen
1988 In All Languages Ornette Coleman Caravan of Dreams
1989 Audio-Visualscapes Jack DeJohnette Impulse!
1990 In East Berlin Cecil Taylor FMP
1991 Dream Keeper Charlie Haden Blue Note
1992 Lush Life Joe Henderson Verve
1993 So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles) Joe Henderson Verve
1994 Always Say Goodbye Charlie Haden Verve
1995 Rush Hour Joe Lovano & Gunther Schuller Verve
1996 Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note Keith Jarrett Standards Trio ECM
1997 Sound Museum: Hidden Man Ornette Coleman Quartet Harmolodic/Verve
1998 Nashville Bill Frisell Nonesuch
1999 Gershwin's World Herbie Hancock Verve
2000 Soul on Soul Dave Douglas RCA
2001 Dusk Andrew Hill Palmetto
2002 Not for Nothin' Dave Holland ECM
2003 Footprints Live! Wayne Shorter Quartet Verve
2004 Extended Play: Live at Birdland Dave Holland Quintet ECM
2005 Concert in the Garden Maria Schneider ArtistShare
2006 Time Lines Andrew Hill Blue Note
2007 Sound Grammar Ornette Coleman Sound Grammar
2008 Sky Blue Maria Schneider ArtistShare
2009 Road Shows, Vol. 1 Sonny Rollins Doxy/EmArcy
2010 Historicity Vijay Iyer ACT
2011 Ten Jason Moran Blue Note
2012 Accelerando Vijay Iyer ACT
2013 Without a Net Wayne Shorter Quartet Blue Note
2014 WomanChild Cécile McLorin Salvant Mack Avenue
2015 Bird Calls Rudresh Mahanthappa ACT
2016 The Epic Kamasi Washington Brainfeeder
2017 America's National Parks Wadada Leo Smith Cuneiform
2018 Dreams and Daggers Cécile McLorin Salvant Mack Avenue
2019 Emanon Wayne Shorter Blue Note
2020 Waiting Game Terri Lyne Carrington Motema Music
2021 Data Lords Maria Schneider Orchestra ArtistShare
2022 Jesup Wagon James Brandon Lewis and the Red Lily Quintet Tao Forms
2023 Amaryllis & Belladonna Mary Halvorson Nonesuch
2024 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow Charles Lloyd Blue Note

Lifetime Achievement Award

See also

References

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