Critics vs. Readers in the Downbeat Jazz Polls

Earlier this year, I compared the blues critics' and the readers' choices for the Living Blues awards. When I previously reported the results of Downbeat's jazz Critics' Poll, I promised to compare them to the Readers' Poll results when they were released. They are in the current (December) issue.

The big news is that the readers have elected Pat Metheny to the Downbeat Hall of Fame. Each year, both the critics and the readers elect a new member. This year, the critics chose Charlie Haden. It is interesting that Metheny did not even place in the critics' poll. The magazine listed the top 21 vote-getters and Metheny was not among them. In addition, the critics chose Bill Frisell as the best guitarist, with Metheny finishing a distant second. Pat Metheny, of course, has a reputation as a jazz lightweight, although some of his recent albums have received better critical receptions.

On the other hand, both the critics and the readers agreed that this was Wayne Shorter's year. They both chose him in the following categories: jazz artist, jazz group, jazz album (Without a Net) and soprano saxophone. Here are the winners in all the categories.

	Critics	Readers
Hall of Fame	Charlie Haden	Pat Metheny
Jazz Artist	Wayne Shorter	Wayne Shorter
Jazz Group	Wayne Shorter Quartet	Wayne Shorter Quartet
Big Band	Darcy James Argue's Secret Society/Maria Schneider Orchestra (tie)	Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Trumpet	Dave Douglas	Wynton Marsalis
Trombone	Wycliffe Gordon	Trombone Shorty
Soprano Saxophone	Wayne Shorter	Wayne Shorter
Alto Saxophone	Rudresh Mahanthappa	Kenny Garrett
Tenor Saxophone	Joe Lovano	Sonny Rollins
Baritone Saxophone	Gary Smulyan	Gary Smulyan
Clarinet	Anat Cohen	Anat Cohen
Flute	Nicole Mitchell	Hubert Laws
Piano	Jason Moran	Keith Jarrett
Keyboard	Robert Glasper	Herbie Hancock
Organ	Joey DeFrancesco	Joey DeFrancesco
Guitar	Bill Frisell	Pat Metheny
Bass	Christian McBride	Christian McBride
Electric Bass	Stanley Clarke	Stanley Clarke
Violin	Regina Carter	Regina Carter
Drums	Jack DeJohnette	Jack DeJohnette
Vibes	Stefon Harris	Gary Burton
Percussion	Cyro Baptista	Poncho Sanchez
Miscellaneous Instrument	Bela Fleck (banjo)	Bela Fleck (banjo)
Female Vocalist	Cassandra Wilson	Diana Krall
Male Vocalist	Kurt Elling	Kurt Elling
Composer	Wadada Leo Smith	Wayne Shorter
Arranger	Darcy James Argue	Maria Schneider
Jazz Album	Wayne Shorter, Without a Net	Wayne Shorter, Without a Net
Historical Album	Miles Davis, Live in Europe, 1969	Miles Davis, Live in Europe, 1969
Record Label	ECM	Blue Note
Blues Artist	Dr. John	B. B. King
Blues Album	Dr. John, Locked Down	Dr. John, Locked Down
Beyond (neither blues nor jazz) Artist	Robert Glasper Experiment	Robert Glasper Experiment
Beyond Album	Jose James, No Beginning, No End	Donald Fagen, Sunken Condos

The critics and readers agreed on 16 of 34 categories. This total is somewhat inflated by some categories in which there are few viable candidates, i. e., baritone saxophone, violin. Although Trombone Shorty may appear to be an outlier, he finished third among the critics. The readers' choice finished fifth or lower among the critics in the following categories: big band, trumpet, alto saxophone, flute, piano, percussion, and female vocalist.

In case you were wondering which albums the readers preferred, the top ten are:

1. Wayne Shorter Quartet, Without a Net
2. Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette, Somewhere
3. John McLaughlin and the 4^th Dimension, Now Here This
4. Chick Corea/Gary Burton, Hot House
5. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Four MFs Playin' Tunes
6. Pat Metheny, Unity Band
7. Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Brooklyn Babylon
8. Kenny Garrett, Seeds From the Underground
9. Kurt Rosenwinkel, Seeds of Jupiter
10. Return to Forever, The Mothership Returns

You may also enjoy reading:

The 61st Annual Downbeat Critics' Poll

Living Blues Poll: Critics vs. Fans