Tom Hull
For many years now, we’ve collected brief lists of important jazz figures who passed in the previous year.
The creative force behind jazz is so strong and so universal that the music will continue to sustain us through whatever perils and calamities the upper echelons of business and politics land us in.
There is a lot of extraordinary jazz out there that few of us are noticing, myself included.
Any survey of new jazz will show the broad range of creation being produced by an extraordinary diversity of musicians. That’s because jazz has spread all around the world, bringing us together in peace (and sometimes even harmony).
It was not just networking that propelled William Parker into the front rank of bassists. He could generate such a huge and complex cascade of sound that he energized leaders from Cecil Taylor and Ivo Perelman to Zoh Amba.
For many years now, the Francis Davis Jazz Poll has collected brief lists of important jazz figures who passed in the previous year.
The special categories tend to get overlooked, or sampled erratically, in the new releases lists, so Francis Davis thought a nudge might help.
A roll call of some of the notable musicians who passed away lat year.
There exists a worldwide community of journalists and critics who depend on each other to keep tabs on the ever-expanding universe of jazz and it’s more-or-less-affiliated fringes and fusions, and this poll is one of our most effective — and most anticipated — resources.
The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll — Sharing What We Know at Mid-Year
We are all part of a community with a deep commitment to this extraordinary but way-too-often unappreciated musical art, and the late critic Francis Davis believed we should work together and share what we know. His poll was one important way to do just that
Read More about The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll — Sharing What We Know at Mid-Year