The 1966 Playboy Jazz Poll

Piano

(Please check one.)

Guitar

(Please check one.)

Bass

(Please check one.)

Drums

(Please check one.)

Misc. Instrument

(Please check one.)

Male Vocalist

(Please check one.)

In the Year since our last Playboy Jazz Poll, the jazz scene has undergone the usual shifting about of its cast of characters--some charging to the fore from obscurity, some fading, others disappearing entirely--with the one constant being change.

This Playboy Jazz Poll ballot gives you the opportunity of taking part in the biggest, most prestigious jazz consensus of them all and of paying tribute to the labors of those artists who you feel contributed most to jazz during the past twelvemonth. The musicians chosen by the readers to make up the 1966 All-Star Jazz Band will each receive the highly prized Playboy Jazz Medal.

This year, two new categories appear on your Jazz Poll ballot: Playboy's All-Time Jazz Hall of Fame and Playboy's Jazz Records of the Year. Any instrumentalist or vocalist, living or dead, is eligible for the Hall of Fame--it can be a Bix or a Benny, a Bunk or a Bing; just fill in your first three choices in the box provided at the end of the ballot. The top three vote getters chosen by our readers will be installed as occupants of Playboy's jazz pantheon and will be honored accordingly. The three categories in Playboy's Jazz Records of the Year will give you a chance to vote for your favorite jazz LPs issued since January First of this year. Just write, in the appropriate box, the titles of what you consider to be the best jazz instrumental LP (big band), the top jazz instrumental LP (fewer than eight pieces) and the number-one vocal LP. Results of this balloting and of that for the Hall of Fame will appear in our February 1966 issue along with the results of our tenth annual jazz poll.

To vote, all you have to do is read the simple instructions below, check off your favorite jazzmen and fill in your choices for Playboy's All-Time Jazz Hall of Fame and for Playboy's Jazz Records of the Year, where indicated, and make sure you forward the ballot to us.

1. Your official Jazz Poll ballot is on this foldout. A Nominating Board composed of jazz editors, critics, representatives of the major recording companies and winners of last year's poll has selected the jazz artists it considers to be the most outstanding and/or popular of the year. These nominations for the Playboy All-Star Jazz Band should serve solely as an aid to your recollection of jazz artists and performances, not as a guide on how to vote. You may vote for any living artist in the jazz field.

2. The artists have been divided into categories to form the Playboy All-Star Jazz Band, so in some categories you should vote for more than one musician (e.g., four trumpets, four trombones, two alto saxes, two tenor saxes), because a big band normally has more than one of these instruments playing in it. Be sure to cast the correct number of votes, as designated on the ballot, because too many votes in any category will disqualify all of your votes in that category.

3. If you wish to vote for an artist who has been nominated, simply place an X in the box before his name on the ballot; if you wish to vote for an artist who has not been nominated, write his name on one of the lines provided at the bottom of the category and place an X in the box before it.

4. For leader of the 1966 Playboy All-Star Jazz Band, limit your choice to the men who have led a big band (eight or more musicians) during the past 12 months; for instrumental combo, limit your choice to groups of seven or fewer musicians.

5. Please print your name and address in the space at the bottom of the last page of the ballot. You may cast only one complete ballot in the poll, and that must carry your name and address if your vote is to be counted.

6. Cut your ballot along the dotted line and mail it to Playboy Jazz Poll, 232 E. Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611. Ballots must be postmarked before midnight, October 15, 1965, in order to be counted, so get yours in the mail today.

Nominating Board: Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Bob Brookmeyer, Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, Charlie Byrd, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Buddy DeFranco, Paul Desmond, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Pete Fountain, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Al Hirt, Milt Jackson, J. J. Johnson, Elvin Jones, Henry Mancini, Wes Montgomery, Joe Morello, Gerry Mulligan, Mimi Perrin (Double Six of Paris), Oscar Peterson, Frank Sinatra, N. Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul & Mary), Barbra Streisand, Kai Winding, Si Zentner; George Avakian, Independent Record Producer; Don DeMicheal, Editor, Down Beat; Leonard Feather, Jazz Critic; Nat Hentoff, Jazz Critic; George T. Simon, Jazz Commentator, New York Herald Tribune; George Wein, Independent Record Producer; Esmond Edwards, Argo; Nesuhi Ertegun, Atlantic; David Cavanaugh, Capitol; Teo Macero, Columbia; Lester Koenig, Contemporary; John Driscoll III, Fantasy; Robert Thiele, Impulse; Dave Pell, Liberty; Jack Tracy, Mercury; Richard Bock, Pacific Jazz; Cal Lampley, Prestige; Brad McCuen, RCA Victor; Lee Young, Vee Jay; Creed Taylor, Verve; Stan Cornyn, Warner Brothers.

Leader

(Please check one.)

Trumpet

(Please check four.)

Trombone

(Please check four.)

Alto Sax

(Please check two.)

Tenor Sax

(Please check two.)

Baritone Sax

(Please check one.)

Clarinet

(Please check one.)

Female Vocalist

(Please check one.)

Instrumental Combo

(Please check one.)

Vocal Group

(Please check one.)

Playboy's all-Time Jazz Hall of Fame

(Instrumentalists and vocalists, living or dead, are eligible.)

1.

2.

3.

Playboy's Jazz Records of the Year:

Best Instrumental LP (Big Band)

Best Instrumental LP (Fewer than Eight Pieces)

Best Vocal LP

Name and address must be printed here to authenticate ballot.

Name

Address

City State Zip Code