Melody Maker Readers Poll (1972/3)...
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Melody Maker Readers Poll (1972/3)...
For 74 years the "Melody Maker" was the weekly 'trade paper' for the dance band and jazz musician as well as all those interested in the modern music scene. One of it's continuing features and talking points were the annual Readers Polls where readers voted under different categories for individual musicians, singers, big bands and a host of other categories.
The annual jazz polls were a major event in the jazz world but were also an important historical record of the state of British jazz through the years and preserve some of the historical perspective on British Jazz.
This page carries the full results of the 1972/3 poll published on June 30th, 1973, some sixteen months after the 1971 poll.
1972/3
This was the year when the 'proper' jazz musicians started to fight back after several years of playing second fiddle to the so called 'free jazz' and 'jazz / progressive rock' groups.

The Top musician poll included Stan Tracey and Johnny Dankworth. Tracey was voted top pianist, and they were both among the top arrangers. Dankworth's big band were fifth in the Big band section.
The LP of the year poll produced a surprise with the 'Phil Seamen Story' voted into third place. The LP was released after drummer Seamen's death in 1972 and one side of it was Seamen talking about his early days in the music business.


Top Musician
1= John McLaughlin
1= Mike Gibbs
3 John Surman
4 Stan Tracey
5 Johnny Dankworth...



Trombone
1 Paul Rutherford
2 Malcolm Griffiths
3 Nick Evans
4 George Chisholm
5 Roy Williams...



Organ
1 Mike Ratledge
2 Alan Haven
3 Mike Carr
4 Dave McRae
5 Harry Stoneham...



Bass
1 Dave Holland
2 Barry Guy
3 Roy Babbington
4 Harry Miller
5= Jeff Clyne
5= Jack Bruce...



Arranger
1 Mike Gibbs
2 Barry Guy
3 Neil Ardley
4 Johnny Dankworth
5 Stan Tracey...



LP of the year
1 Iskra 1903 (Soft Machine 6)
2 Belladonna (Nucleus)
3 Phil Seamen
4 Metropolis (Mike Westbrook)










Big Band
1 Mike Gibbs
2 Brotherhood of Breath
3 London Jazz Composers Orch.
4 Centipede
5 Johnny Dankworth...



Clarinet
1 Mike Osborne
2 Tony Coe
3 Sandy Brown
4 Acker Bilk
5= John Surman
5= Dave Shepherd...



Soprano sax
1 John Surman
2 Evan Parker
3 Lol Coxhill
4 Don Rendell
5 Trevor Watts...



Alto sax
1 Mike Osborne
2 Elton Dean
3 Peter Watts
4 Peter King
5 Bruce Turner...



Baritone sax
1 John Surman
2 Ronnie Ross
3 Johnny Barnes
4 Karl Jenkins...



Vibes
1 Frank Ricotti
2 Bill Le Sage
3 Tubby Hayes...



Drums
1 John Marshall
2 Tony Oxley
3 Louis Moholo
4 John Stevens
5 Jon Hiseman...



Small Group
1 Nucleus
2 Soft Machine
3 Back Door
4 Iskra 1903
5 Alex Welsh...



Tenor sax
1 Alan Skidmore
2 Evan Parker
3 Brian Smith
4 Tubby Hayes
5= Ronnie Scott
5= Don Rendell...



Flute
1 Bob Downes
2 Ray Warleigh
3 Tubby Hayes
4 Jimmy Hastings
5 Johnny Scott...



Miscellaneous
1 Karl Jenkins
2 Elton Dean
3 John Surman
4= Harry Beckett
4= Evan Parker
4= Kenny Wheeler...



Composer
1 Mike Gibbs
2 Stan Tracey
3 Ian Carr
4= Keith Tippett
4= John Surman
4= Howard Riley...



Violin
1 Henry Lowther...



Female Singer
1 Norma Winstone
2 Cleo Laine
3 Julie Tippetts
4 Annie Ross
5 Maggie Nicholls...


Trumpet
1 Harry Beckett
2 Kenny Wheeler
3 Ian Carr
4 Marc Charig
5 Henry Lowther...



Piano
1 Stan Tracey
2 John Taylor
3 Keith Tippett
4 Howard Riley
5 Chris McGregor...



Guitar
1 John McLaughlin
2 Derek Bailey
3 Gary Boyle
4 Alan Holdsworth
5 Chris Spedding...



New Star
1 Alan Holdsworth
2 Elton Dean
3 Back Door
4= Colin Hodgkinson
4= Dave McRae...



Male Singer
1 George Melly
2 Jack Bruce
3 Robert Wyatt
4 Georgie Fame
5= Bobby Breen
5= Phil Minton...



Blues Artist
1 John Mayall
2 Alexis Korner
3 Duster Bennett
4 Eric Clapton
5= George Melly
5= Rory Gallaher...








This page was last updated during February, 2014.
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