''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. It is named after the "

downbeat ''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 1 ...

" 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

, 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 Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

edition. 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 The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA), founded in 1987, is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2016, it has approximately 250 members, including professional journa ...

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 John Henry Hammond Jr. (December 15, 1910 – July 10, 1987) was an American record producer, civil rights activist, and music critic active from the 1930s to the early 1980s. In his service as a talent scout, Hammond became one of the most in ...

* 1982

George Wein George Wein (October 3, 1925 – September 13, 2021) was an American jazz promoter, pianist, and producer.

* 1983

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

* 1984

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

* 1985

Lawrence Berk Lawrence Berk (December 10, 1908 – December 22, 1995) was the founder of Berklee College of Music, a pianist, composer and arranger, and educator. Berk oversaw the growth of the modest Schillinger House music school into the Berklee College of ...

* 1986

Orrin Keepnews Orrin Keepnews (March 2, 1923 – March 1, 2015) was an American jazz writer and record producer known for founding Riverside Records and Milestone Records, for freelance work, and for his work at other labels. Biography Early life Keepnews ...

* 1987 David Baker * 1988 John Conyers Jr. * 1989

Norman Granz Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz record producer and concert promoter. He founded the record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, and Pablo and the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series. Gra ...

* 1990

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including Booker Ervin, John Coltrane, Mil ...

* 1991

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

* 1992

Rich Matteson Rich A. Matteson, (born Richmond Albert Matteson, January 12, 1929, Forest Lake, Minnesota – June 24, 1993, Jacksonville, Florida) was an American jazz artist and collegiate music educator who specialized in the euphonium. He played the tuba in ...

* 1993

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

* 1994

Marian McPartland Margaret Marian McPartland Order of the British Empire, OBE ( Turner;Hasson, Claire, . PhD Thesis. Retrieved 12 August 2008. 20 March 1918 – 20 August 2013), was an English and American jazz pianist, composer, and writer. She was the host of ...

* 1995

Willis Conover Willis Clark Conover, Jr. (December 18, 1920 – May 17, 1996) was a jazz producer and broadcaster on the Voice of America for over forty years. He produced jazz concerts at the White House, the Newport Jazz Festival, and for movies and televisi ...

* 1996

Chuck Suber Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...

* 1997 William P. Gottlieb * 1998

Bruce Lundvall Bruce Lundvall (September 13, 1935 – May 19, 2015) was an American record company executive, best known for his period as the President and CEO of the Blue Note Label Group, reporting directly to Eric Nicoli, the Chief Executive Officer of EMI ...

* 1999 Sheldon Meyer * 2000

George Avakian George Mesrop Avakian (; ; March 15, 1919 – November 22, 2017) was an American record producer, artist manager, writer, educator and executive. Best known for his work from 1939 to the early 1960s at Decca Records, Columbia Records, World P ...

* 2001

Milt Gabler Milton Gabler (May 20, 1911 – July 20, 2001) was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century. These included being the first person to deal in record reissues, the first to sel ...

* 2002 * 2003 * 2004 * 2005

Creed Taylor Creed Bane Taylor V (May 13, 1929 – August 22, 2022) was an American record producer, best known for his work with CTI Records, which he founded in 1967. His career also included periods at Bethlehem Records, ABC-Paramount Records (includin ...

* 2006

Claude Nobs Claude Nobs (February 4, 1936 – January 10, 2013) was the founder and general manager of the Montreux Jazz Festival. Biography Nobs was born in Montreux, Switzerland. After apprenticing as a cook, Nobs worked in the Tourism Office of Montreu ...

* 2007

Dan Morgenstern Dan Michael Morgenstern (October 24, 1929 – September 7, 2024) was an American jazz historian and archivist. Born to a Jewish family in Germany, Morgenstern fled Nazi-occupied Austria with his mother and in 1947 emigrated to the United States ...

* 2008 * 2009 * 2010

Manfred Eicher Manfred Eicher (born 9 July 1943) is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records. Life and career Eicher was born in Lindau, Germany. He studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He started as a double-bass player of classi ...

* 2011 * 2012 * 2013 * 2014 * 2015 * 2016 * 2017

* 2018 * 2019 * 2020 * 2021 * 2022 Gretchen Valade * 2023

Randall Kline Randall may refer to the following: Places United States *Randall, California, former name of White Hall, California, an unincorporated community * Randall, Indiana, a former town * Randall, Iowa, a city * Randall, Kansas, a city * Randall, Minne ...

References

External links

''Down Beat'' website"About ''Down Beat'': A History As Rich As Jazz"
*Th
Jazz Journalists Association
Lifetime Achievement Award *

Nesuhi Ertegun Nesuhi Ertegun ( Turkish spelling: Nesuhi Ertegün; November 26, 1917 – July 15, 1989) was a Turkish-American record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International. Early life Born in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, Nesuhi ...

Jazz Hall of Fame

Arts For Art
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501123848/http://www.visionfestival.org/ , date=May 1, 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award
NAMM Oral History Interview with Kevin Maher
January 25, 2014 Blues music magazines Jazz awards Jazz magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1934 Magazines published in Chicago Monthly magazines published in the United States Music magazines published in the United States