DownBeat
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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. 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. In Summer 1960 DownBeat launched the Japanese edition. Don DeMicheal was editor-in-chief of DownBeat from 1961-1967. In 1972 the publisher of the magazine was Maher Publishers. 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.
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.
Awards
Album of the Year
Critics' Poll
Lifetime Achievement Award
- 1981 John H. Hammond
- 1982 George Wein
- 1983 Leonard Feather
- 1984 Billy Taylor
- 1985 Lawrence Berk
- 1986 Orrin Keepnews
- 1987 David Baker
- 1988 John Conyers Jr.
- 1989 Norman Granz
- 1990 Rudy Van Gelder
- 1991 Bill Cosby
- 1992 Rich Matteson
- 1993 Gunther Schuller
- 1994 Marian McPartland
- 1995 Willis Conover
- 1996 Chuck Suber
- 1997 William P. Gottlieb
- 1998 Bruce Lundvall
- 1999 Sheldon Meyer
- 2000 George Avakian
- 2001 Milt Gabler
- 2002
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005 Creed Taylor
- 2006 Claude Nobs
- 2007 Dan Morgenstern
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010 Manfred Eicher
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017 George Avakian
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
- 2022 Gretchen Valade
- 2023 Randall Kline
See also
- The Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award
- International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE)
- BBC Jazz Awards
- NEA Jazz Masters
External links
- The Lifetime Achievement Award
- Nesuhi Ertegun, December 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- May 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Lifetime Achievement Award
- January 25, 2014