Dear Colleague,
Founded by Francis Davis in 2006, this is the 19th annual Jazz Critics Poll. Results will be published by ArtsFuse shortly after January 1, 2025, with complete totals and ballots on this website. Please consult the website for additional information, including more precise definitions of what's eligible where.
Let's make this as simple as possible: Please fill this out and send it to me, the sooner the better, with Friday, December 20 as the official deadline:
Your name and primary affiliation(s)
Your choices for up to 10 New Releases (Jazz Albums)
of 2024 (in descending order, 1-to-10, or unranked and alphabetized
by artist).
Your choices for up to 5 Rara Avis (reissues and/or music
recorded in 2014 or earlier) of 2024 (in descending order, 1-to-5,
or unranked and alphabetized by artist).
We also have three categories: Vocal, Latin, and Debut. Please designate any albums in the New Releases you wish to be counted under those categories. In addition, you may list:
Your choices for up to 3 additional Vocal albums:
Your choices for up to 3 additional Latin albums:
Your choices for up to 3 additional Debut albums:
Once you send your ballot in, I will check and count it, and return to you a formatted copy of your ballot, as it will appear on the website. Please check this, and make sure I didn't mess anything up. I will make adjustment so that all ballots that refer to an album do so consistently.
You shouldn't think you need to wait until the last minute. If you change your mind before the December 20 deadline, just send me your revised ballot.
I think what you should focus on here is coming up with a list of records that you most wish to recommend to your colleagues and readers. While the consensus rankings will be of interest to many, the Poll is at least as valuable as a prospecting tool.
Unranked lists should be alphabetized by artist (last name). If you don't alphabetize, and don't explicitly say "unranked," the list will be counted as ranked. If you say "unranked" but do not alphabetize, I'll probably preserve your order, but the list will be counted as unranked. All unranked entries are counted as 1 point each.
Entries in ranked lists will be given extra weighting, ranging from 3-to-1 for New, 2-to-1 for Rara Avis. Thus you have some incentive to rank, but not a very large one.
The recommended divide between New Releases and Rara Avis is a recording date of Dec. 31, 2014. You may include older recordings under New Releases if that's what you prefer. You may include a record in both New Releases and Rara Avis to make sure it's counted both ways. (I may add points to Rara Avis for records eligible there that receive votes under New Releases.)
You may include any 2023 releases that are new to you. Nobody gets to listen to everything within the calendar year, so we're all catching up. You should not go back earlier for New Releases, and you should not include anything that won't be released until 2025.
The website (link above) has information of interest to voters, including news, more precise definitions of categories, details on album eligibility, and answers to other questions. (Not done yet, but the intention is to be as clear and complete as possible. If not, please ask.) Eventually, the website will include complete ballots and totals, as well as a nice way to explore by hopping from album to ballot to album again.
Please respond with any questions you may have. A notice that you receive this and intend to vote is not necessary, but would be appreciated. I will post further news on this in my Music Week blog, and (more cryptically) on X.
I use an email list (jazzpoll [at] hullworks.net) to send occasional messages to voters, including news, reminders, and notice when it is published. Most of you are signed up to that list, but if you are not -- I may have dropped the ball last year or two -- please let me know, and I will add you. It is a low-volume list, but you should have received one message so far this year (last week). If you haven't, please check your spam directory, as several big email providers don't seem to like my little domain. Your best recourse there is to complain to their customer service, to do whatever it takes to allow the email messages through.
You may contact me through my contact form, or by email: 24votes [at] hullworks.net.
Your colleague,
Tom Hull