The results of the Annual Critics Poll is published in the August issues. There is also an Annual Readers Poll, the results of which are published in the December issues. It seems that the readers are very much influenced by the Critics Poll in their decisions. Down Beat's polls do not only cover the jazz albums and reissues of the year (listed below), but also the best musicians according to instrument and a broad range of other evaluations.
Unlike Jazzman, the selections of a notable bunch of well known international criticists lead to a ranking within the listed records, the topmost listed records here being the most popular.
Albums of the Year:
Dave Douglas: Soul on Soul (RCA)
Keith Jarrett: The Melody at Night with You (ECM)
Bill Frisell: Ghost Town (Nonesuch)
Dave Holland: Prime Directive (ECM)
Steve Lacy, Roswell Rudd: Monk's Dream (Verve)
Michael Brecker: Time Is of the Essence (Verve)
Origin: Change (Stretch)
Wynton Marsalis: Big Train (Columbia)
Dave Douglas: Leap of Faith (Arabesque)
Dewey Redman, Cecil Taylor, Elvin Jones: Momentum Space (Verve)
Reissues:
Duke Ellington: The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (RCA Victor)
Miles Davis with John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings (Columbia Legacy)
Lester Young: The Complete Lester Young Sessions on Verve (Verve)
Various Artists: Central Avenue Sounds (Rhino)
Duke Ellington: Ellington at Newport (Columbia Legacy)
Horace Silver: The Horace Silver Retrospective (Blue Note)
Duke Ellington: The Duke: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - The Columbia Years (Columbia Legacy)
Albums of the Year:
Herbie Hancock: Gershwin's World (Verve)
Brad Mehldau: Songs - Art of the Trio, Vol. III (Warner)
Dave Holland: Points of View (ECM)
Joe Lovano: Trio Fascination (Blue Note)
Cassandra Wilson: Traveling Miles (Blue Note)
Dave Douglas: Magic Triangle (Arabesque Jazz)
Keith Jarrett: Tokyo '96 (ECM)
Jesus "Chucho" Valdés: Bele Bele En La Habana (Blue Note)
Andy Bey: Shades of Bey (Evidence)
Peter Brötzmann: Chicago Octet/Tentet (Okkadisk)
Greg Osby: Banned in New York (Blue Note)
Patricia Barber: Modern Cool (Premonition)
Chick Corea and Origin: Live at the Blue Note (Stretch)
Dave Douglas: Charms of the Night Sky (Winter & Winter)
Tommy Flanagan: Sunset and the Mocking Bird (Blue Note)
Gary Burton: Like Minds (Concord)
Steve Coleman: Genesis & the Opening of the Way (RCA Victor)
Charlie Haden, Chris Anderson: None but the Lonely Heart (Naim)
Michel Petrucciani: Solo Live (Dreyfus)
Don Sebesky: I Remember Bill (RCA Victor)
Reissues:
Miles Davis: The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (Columbia/Legacy)
John Coltrane: The Complete Impulse! Studio Sessions (Impulse!)
Herbie Hancock: The Complete Blue Note '60s Sessions (Blue Note)
Various Artists: Complete JATP on Verve 1944-49 (Verve)
Charles Mingus: Complete 1959 Columbia Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)
Jimmy Giuffre Trio: Free Fall (Columbia/Legacy)
Hank Mobley: Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley 1950s Sessions (Mosaic)
Miles Davis: At Carnegie Hall (Columbia/Legacy)
Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington: Côte d'Azur Concerts (Verve)
Thelonious Monk: Live at the "It" Club (Columbia)
Charlie Parker: Complete Live (Savoy)
Charles Mingus: The Clown (Rhino)
Thelonious Monk: Monk Alone - The Complete Solo Studio Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)
Albums of the Year:
Bill Frisell: Nashville (Nonesuch)
T.S. Monk: Monk on Monk (N2K)
Wynton Marsalis: Blood on the Fields (Columbia)
Jacky Terrasson & Cassandra Wilson: Rendezvous (Blue Note)
Roy Hargrove: Habana (Verve)
Ornette Coleman & Joachim Kühn: Colors (Verve)
Bill Holman: Brilliant Colors (JVC)
Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter: 1+1 (Verve)
Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton: Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton (Verve)
Marcus Roberts: Blues for the New Millenium (Columbia)
Kenny Wheeler: Angel Song (ECM)
Marilyn Crispell: Nothing Ever Was, Anyway (ECM)
Brad Mehldau: Art of the Trio, Vol. 2 (Warner Bros.)
Kenny Garrett: Songbook (Warner Bros.)
Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny: Beyond the Missouri Sky (Verve)
Kansas City Band: KC after Dark (Verve)
Charles Lloyd: Canto (ECM)
Arcana: Arc of the Testimony (Axiom)
Fred Anderson: Fred: Chicago Chamber Music (Southport)
Steve Coleman: The Sign & the Seal (RCA Victor)
Tom Harrell: The Art of Rhythm (RCA Victor)
Dave Douglas: Stargazer (Arabesque)
Henry Threadgill: Where's Your Cup? (Columbia)
Joe Lovano & Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Flying Colors (Blue Note)
Reissues:
Miles Davis Quintet 1965-68: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)
John Coltrane: The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (Impulse!)
Charles Mingus: Passions of a Man (Rhino/Atlantic)
Sonny Rollins: The Complete Sonny Rollins RCA Victor Recordings (RCA Victor)
Lennie Tristano/Lee Konitz/Wayne Marsh: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (Mosaic)
Bill Evans: The Complete (Verve)
Jimmy Giuffre: The Complete Capitol & Atlantic Recordings (Mosaic)
Herbie Nichols: The Complete Blue Note Recordings (Blue Note)
Ray Charles: Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection (Rhino/Atlantic)
Ornette Coleman: In All Languages (Verve/Harmolodic)
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (Columbia/Legacy)
Various Artists: Hot Jazz on Blue Note (Blue Note)
Albums of the Year:
Ornette Coleman Quartett: Sound Museum Hidden Man (Harmolodic/Verve)
Bill Evans: Tun Out the Stars, The Final Village Vanguard Recordings June 1980 (Warner)
Don Byron: Bug Music (Nonesuch)
Chick Corea: Remembering Bud Powell (Stretch)
Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny: Beyond the Missouri Sky (Verve)
Kenny Garrett: Pursuance (Warner)
Joe Henderson Big Band: Joe Henderson Big Band (Verve)
Various Artists: Kansas City (Verve)
Mingus Big Band: Live in Time (Dreyfus)
Joshua Redman: Freedom in the Groove (Warner)
Greg Osby: Art Forum (Blue Note)
Benny Carter & Phil Woods: Another Time, Another Place (Evening Star)
Brad Mehldau: The Art of the Trio Volume One (Warner)
Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra: Coming About (Enja)
John Scofield: Quiet (Verve)
Reissues:
Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings (Columbia Legacy/Mosaic)
Dexter Gordon: The Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions (Blue Note)
Sun Ra: The Singles (Evidence)
Sonny Rollins: Silver City (Milestone)
Charlie Parker: Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Collection (Rhinestone)
Lee Morgan: Live at the Lighthouse (Blue Note)
Sam Rivers: The Complete Blue Note Sam Rivers Sessions (Mosaic)
Lennie Tristano & Wayne Marsh: Intuition (Capitol/Blue Note)
Oscar Peterson Trio: The London House Sessions (Verve)
Louis Armstrong: The Complete RCA Victor Sessions (BMG Classics)
Art Tatum: 20th Century Piano Genius (Verve)
Various Artists: The Debut Records Story (Debut)
Albums of the Year:
Keith Jarrett Standards Trio: Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note (ECM)
Ornette Coleman & Prime Time: Tone Dialing (Harmolodic/Verve)
Sonny Rollins: +3 (Milestone)
Herbie Hancock: The New Standard (Verve)
Joe Lovano: Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note)
Cassandra Wilson: New Moon Daughter (Blue Note)
Kenny Garrett: Triology (Warner)
John Coltrane: Stellar Regions (Impulse!)
Abbey Lincoln: A Turtle's Dream (Verve)
Charlie Haden & Hank Jones: Steal Away (Verve)
Reissues:
Miles Davis: Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 (Columbia)
John Coltrane: The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (Rhino/Atlantic Jazz Gallery)
Eric Dolphy: The Complete Prestige Recordings (Prestige)
Various Artists: Big Band Renaissance: The Evolution of the Jazz Orchestra (Smithsonian)
Duke Ellington: The Far East Suite: Special Mix (Bluebird)
Oiver Nelson: Blues & the Abstract Truth (Impulse!)
Andrew Hill: The Complete Blue Note Andrew Hill Sessions: 1963-1966 (Mosaic)
Lee Morgan: The Complete Fifties Blue Note Lee Morgan Sessions (Mosaic)
Lester Young: The Complete Alladin Sessions (Blue Note)
Sun Ra: Sound of Joy (Delmark)
Albums of the Year:
Joe Lovano & Gunther Schuller: Rush Hour (Blue Note)
Joe Henderson: Double Rainbow (Verve)
James Carter: J.C. on the Set (DIW/Columbia)
Betty Carter: Feed the Fire (Verve)
Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra: Desert Lady-Fantasy (Columbia)
Benny Carter: Elegy in Blue (MusicMasters)
Stan Getz: Nobody Else but Me (Verve)
Sonny Simmons: Ancient Ritual (Qwest/Warner)
Joshua Redman: Mood Swing (Warner)
Ginger Baker: Going Back Home (Atlantic)
Reissues:
Bud Powell: The Complete Bud Powell on Verve (Verve)
Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Columbia)
Bud Powell: The Complete Blue Note and Roost Recordings (Blue Note)
Various Artists: The Jazz Scene (Verve)
Herbie Hancock: Mwandishi - The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (Warner)
Thelonious Monk: The Complete Blue Note Recordings (Warner)
Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra: The Complete Solid State Recordings (Mosaic)
Thelonious Monk: Big Band and Quatet in Concert (Columbia)
Charlie Parker: With Strings (Verve)
Joe Henderson: The Milestone Years (Milestone)
Albums of the Year:
Charlie Haden: Always Say Goodbye (Verve)
Cassandra Wilson: Blue Light 'Til Down (Blue Note)
Randy Weston/Melba Liston: Volcano Blues (Antilles)
Joshua Redman: Wish (Warner)
Sonny Rollins: Old Flames (Milestone)
Wynton Marsalis Septet: In This House, on This Morning (Columbia)
Joe Lovano: Universal Language (Blue Note)
John Scofield/Pat Metheny: I Can See Your House from Here (Blue Note)
Reissues:
Ornette Coleman: Beauty is a Rare Thing: The Complete Antlantic Recordings (Rhino/Atlantic)
Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books (Verve)
Joe Henderson: The Blue Note Years (Blue Note)
Don Cherry: The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Don Cherry (Mosaic)
Sun Ra: Atlantis (Evidence)
Django Reinhardt: Djangology (EMI/Blue Note)
Jackie McLean: The Complete Blue Note 1964-66 Jacky McLean Sessions (Mosaic)
Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings of Jelly Roll Morton (Vols. I-IV) (Rounder)