Playboy Jazz & Rock Poll

It was quite a year. The Fugees and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony brought melody to rap. The next Brit invasion heated up with the new Oasis and the old Sex Pistols. Fourteen-year-old LeAnn Rimes and BR5-49 kicked country out of the mainstream. Tracy Chapman put a smile in her music and Me'Shell Ndegéocello put a growl in hers. Neither Toni Braxton nor Hootie & the Blowfish had sophomore slumps. Nor did Beck. Robert Altman's movie Kansas City spotlighted the young turks of jazz. And the great lady of song, Ella Fitzgerald, passed on. Babyface, the R&B power both behind and in front of the mike, won just about every possible accolade. Little Richard even played the Olympics. Can you get more accepted than that? On a somber note, there is a new heroin epidemic. It should be a cautionary tale. Jonathan Melvoin overdosed, and others were in and out of rehab. It's sordid, and it nearly derailed the Smashing Pumpkins' successful concert tour. But a year that combined Seventies nostalgia and a rediscovery of ska with Rancid cannot be dismissed. Take a listen to Tom Jones singing Kung Fu Fighting in Supercop. It's worth its weight in platform shoes.

The Ballot

Here is your 1997 Jazz & Rock Poll ballot. Please check the box next to your favorite in each category (or write someone in). Then put a stamp on the attached envelope and mail it no later than January 15, 1997.

Rock

Male Vocalist

Beck

Noel Gallagher

John Mellencamp

Tom Petty

Prince

Darius Rucker

Sting

Michael Stipe

Eddie Vedder

Neil Young

Female Vocalist

Tori Amos

Tracy Chapman

Ani DiFranco

Celine Dion

Gloria Estefan

Jewel

Natalie Merchant

Alanis Morissette

Joan Osborne

Patti Smith

Group

Everclear

Hootie & the Blowfish

Dave Matthews Band

Metallica

No Doubt

Oasis

Pearl Jam

R.E.M.

Smashing Pumpkins

Soundgarden

Instrumentalist

Peter Buck

Dave Grohl

Buddy Guy

Mickey Hart

John Popper

Trent Reznor

Keith Richards

Carlos Santana

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Jimmie Vaughan

Album

Crash: Dave Matthews Band

Evil Empire: Rage Against the Machine

Fairweather Johnson: Hootie & the Blowfish

Mercury Falling: Sting

New Beginning: Tracy Chapman

Sparkle and Fade: Everclear

Three Snakes and One Charm: Black Crowes

Tragic Kingdom: No Doubt

(What's the Story) Morning Glory?: Oasis

Wild Mood Swings: the Cure

Jazz

Male Vocalist

Tony Bennett

Freddie Cole

Harry Connick Jr.

Jon Hendricks

Kevin Mahogany

Bobby McFerrin

Jimmy Scott

Frank Sinatra

Mel Tormé

Joe Williams

Female Vocalist

Dee Dee Bridgewater

Randy Crawford

Shirley Horn

Lena Horne

Etta James

Sheila Jordan

Abbey Lincoln

Tania Maria

Sade

Cassandra Wilson

Instrumentalist

Wessell Anderson

James Carter

Cyrus Chestnut

Kenny G

Joe Lovano

Wynton Marsalis

Leon Parker

Joshua Redman

Max Roach

Joe Sample

Group

Ornette Coleman & Prime Time

Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band

Charlie Haden Quartet West

Bob James Trio

Ramsey Lewis

Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra

Mingus Big Band

Arturo Sandoval

Henry Threadgill

McCoy Tyner

Album

All for You: Diane Krall

The Best of the Songbooks: Ella Fitzgerald

The Child Within: Billy Childs

Conversin' With the Elders: James Carter

Gumbo Nouveau: Nicholas Payton

Live at the Village Vanguard: Joe Lovano Quartets

New Moon Daughter: Cassandra Wilson

The New Standard: Herbie Hancock

Old Places Old Faces: Joe Sample

Q's Jook Joint: Quincy Jones

Concert

Further Festival

Al Green

H.O.R.D.E.

Kiss

Lollapalooza

Oasis, Screaming Trees, et al.

Pearl Jam

Smokin' Grooves

Bruce Springsteen

ZZ Top

Soundtrack

The Crow: City of Angels

First Wives Club

I Shot Andy Warhol

Kansas City

Leaving Las Vegas

The Nutty Professor

Phenomenon

Tin Cup

Trainspotting

Waiting to Exhale

Hall of Fame

Tony Bennett

James Brown

Johnny Cash

Sam Cooke

Aretha Franklin

Marvin Gaye

Dizzy Gillespie

Jerry Lee Lewis

Joni Mitchell

Charlie Parker

Prince

Smokey Robinson

Mel Tormé

Hank Williams

Jackie Wilson

Video

Big Me: Foo Fighters

Tha Crossroads: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Gangsta's Paradise: Coolio with LV

Glycerine: Bush

Ironic: Alanis Morissette

It's Oh So Quiet: Björk

Killing Me Softly: Fugees

Missing: Everything But the Girl

Tonight, Tonight: Smashing Pumpkins

Where It's At: Beck

Veejays

Bill Bellamy

Joe Clar

Idalis De Leon

Daisy Fuentes

Kennedy

Donnie Simpson

Tabitha Soren

Angela Stribling

Rachel Stuart

Brett Walker

R & B/Rap

Male Vocalist

Babyface

D'Angelo

Al Green

R. Kelly

LL Cool J

Nas

Busta Rhymes

Tony Rich

Tupac Shakur

Keith Sweat

Female Vocalist

Toni Braxton

Mariah Carey

Celly Cel

Deborah Cox

Aretha Franklin

Whitney Houston

Monica

Me'Shell Ndegéocello

Ann Nesby

Crystal Waters

Group

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars

De La Soul

Fugees

Groove Theory

Isley Brothers

La Bouche

New Edition

SWV

Tribe Called Quest

Album

The Coming: Busta Rhymes

E. 1999 Eternal: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Gangsta's Paradise: Coolio

It Was Written: Nas

Mission to Please: Isley Brothers

R. Kelly: R. Kelly

The Score: Fugees

Secrets: Toni Braxton

Stakes Is High: De La Soul

Words: Tony Rich Project

Country

Female Vocalist

Mandy Barnett

Faith Hill

Patty Loveless

Martina McBride

Mindy McCready

Lorrie Morgan

LeAnn Rimes

Shania Twain

Trisha Yearwood

Wynonna

Male Vocalist

Rhett Akins

Garth Brooks

Junior Brown

Vince Gill

Alan Jackson

George Jones

Tracy Lawrence

Lyle Lovett

Collin Raye

George Strait

Group

Blackhawk

BR5-49

Brooks & Dunn

Confederate Railroad

Diamond Rio

Little Texas

Lonestar

Ricochet

Mavericks

Wilco

Album

Blue: LeAnn Rimes

Borderline: Brooks & Dunn

Calm Before the Storm: Paul Brandt

Clear Blue Sky: George Strait

Greater Need: Lorrie Morgan

High Lonesome Sound: Vince Gill

I Lived to Tell It All: George Jones

Revelations: Wynonna

Semi-Crazy: Junior Brown

The Trouble With Truth: Patty Loveless