The 1968 Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll

A top Jazz leader has recorded an album called If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em!, in which he does songs out of the pop-rock-folk bag of such luminaries as Petula Clark, Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Many rock groups are making jazzlike improvisations central to their acts. A number of combos have integrated jazz instrumentalists and rock musicians. Jazz critics have begun nodding approvingly in the direction of other contemporary musical idioms. A national jazz magazine has begun covering pop.

It has been that kind of year, with the boundaries between pop and jazz becoming less and less visible. No one, it appears increasingly obvious, can tell where jazz leaves off and pop begins. With this in mind, we have adjusted and expanded our poll to encompass a much broader spectrum of performers.

To vote in the 1968 Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll, all you have to do is read the simple instructions below, check off your favorite artists and fill in your choices for The Playboy Jazz Hall of Fame and for Playboy's Records of the Year, where indicated, and make sure you forward the ballot to us. The musicians chosen by the readers to make up the 1968 All-Star Band will each receive the coveted Playboy Medal. Results of our twelfth annual Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll will appear in our February 1968 issue.

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

2. The artists have been divided into categories to form the Playboy All-Star 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 1968 Playboy All-Star 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. Any instrumentalist or vocalist, living or dead, is eligible for the Jazz Hall of Fame, except for those previously elected: Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. The top three choices by our readers will be installed in playboy's music pantheon.

7. Cut your ballot along the dotted line and mail it to Playboy Jazz & POP POLL, Playboy Building, 919 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611. Ballots must be postmarked before midnight, October 15, 1967, in order to be counted, so mail yours today.

Nominating Board: Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Bob Brookmeyer, Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, Charlie Byrd, 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, Henry Mancini, Charles Mingus, Wes Montgomery, Joe Morello, Gerry Mulligan, Mimi Perrin (Double Six of Paris), Oscar Peterson, Buddy Rich, Diana Ross (Supremes), Frank Sinatra, Nancy Wilson, Kai Winding, Si Zentner; Leonard Feather, Jazz Critic; Nat Hentoff, Jazz Critic; Dan Morgenstern, Editor, Down Beat; John Tynan, Jazz Critic; George Wein, Independent Record Producer; Michael Zwerin, Jazz Critic; Nesuhi Ertegun, Atlantic; David Axelrod, Capitol; Teo Macero, Columbia; Lester Koenig, Contemporary; Milt Gabler, Decca; Bernard Stollman, ESP-Disk; John Driscoll III, Fantasy; Robert Thiele, Impulse; Richard Bock, Pacific Jazz; Don Schlitten, Prestige; Brad McCuen, RCA Victor; Stan Cornyn, Reprise.

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.)

Your 1968 Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll Ballot

Clarinet

(Please check one.)

Piano

(Please check one.)

Guitar

(Please check one.)

Bass

(Please check one.)

Drums

(Please check one.)

Your 1968 Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll Ballot

Misc. Instrument

(Please check one.)

Male Vocalist

(Please check one.)

Female Vocalist

(Please check one.)

Your 1968 Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll Ballot

Instrumental Combo

(Please check one.)

Vocal Group

(Please check one.)

Your 1968 Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll Ballot

The Playboy Jazz Hall of Fame

(Instrumentalists and vocalists, living or dead, are eligible. Artists previously elected--Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra--are not eligible.)

1.

2.

3.

Playboy's 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__