DownBeat Magazine is the most important chronicle of the jazz music world, and its annual surveys of the artists who matter are closely watched. Frost School of Music alumni and faculty placed multiple times in DownBeat’s 89th annual Readers Poll, following similarly strong showings this year in the magazine’s annual Critics Poll and Student Music Awards.
Henry Mancini Institute (HMI) artistic director Maria Schneider led the way, topping both the Composer and Large Ensemble categories and appearing in the Hall of Fame category. (Schneider comes to the Frost School campus in January for a teaching residency and to lead the HMI Orchestra in concert with guest artist Scott Robinson.)
DownBeat readers picked several full-time faculty as favorites. Professor, trumpeter, and Afro-Caribbean jazz visionary Etienne Charles topped off a banner year by being named in the Top Trumpet category, while his latest recording, “Creole Orchestra,” appeared in Album of the Year. Also appearing in the Top Trumpet group was fellow professor, composer, and trumpeter Brian Lynch, who premiered his latest major work, the multimedia piece “7X7by7,” at the Frost School in October. Readers chose Professor Dafnis Prieto, the brilliant GRAMMY-winning drummer and composer, for the Top Percussion list and associate professor Marcus Strickland for the Top Soprano Saxophone category.
Christian McBride, the artistic director of the JAS Academy, the Frost School’s stellar summer jazz program in partnership with Jazz Aspen Snowmass, topped the Bassist and Producer categories and was second in the Artist of the Year, Large Ensemble and Arranger lists. McBride also appeared in the Top Composer, Electric Bass, and Top Group (with Ursa Major) categories.
Alumnus Emmet Cohen, a pianist who will bring his popular “Live from Emmet’s Place” collaborative-style concert to the Frost School in January, demonstrated his strong appeal to listeners by topping the Pianist category, placing third in the Album and Group categories and sixth in Artist of the Year. Jazz singer and fellow alum Veronica Swift was chosen for the Female Vocalist category.
Finally, alumnus Pat Metheny, the groundbreaking jazz guitarist who is one of the jazz program’s early success stories, continued to show his powerful impact on the jazz field, appearing second in Guitar, third in Composer, and Album of the Year (for “MoonDial”), and fourth in Artist of the Year.
