Melody Maker Readers Poll (1951)...

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 1951 poll published on March 22nd, 1952.		1951 (From the MM:) The Melody Maker 1951-52 Poll, while upholding the merits of the established favourites in the Dance Band world, shows a remarkable influx of new blood. In all there are 27 newcomers to top-three placings, including Humphrey Lyttelton, Joe Muddel and Lita Roza. Johnny Dankworth was again the outstanding individual with four first places. Ronnie Ball had a meteoric rise from 23rd to 2nd place in the piano section. There is a new section "Traditional Small Group", while "Commercial Band" has replaced "Swing Band". A number of sections were not contested this year - Accordion, Sweet Band, Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Vibes, Organ and Violin all being replaced by a "Miscellaneous instruments" section.
Johnny Dankworth Musician of the year 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Jack Parnell 3 Humphrey Lyttelton 4 Eddie Calvert 5 Steve Race 6 Kenny Graham 7 Jimmy Deuchar 8 Kenny Baker 9 Freddy Randall 10 Ted Heath 11 Sid Phillips 12 Ronnie Ball 13 Ken Mackintosh... Trombone 1 Jackie Armstrong 2 Keith Christie 3 Gordon Langhorn 4 Eddie Harvey 5 Johnny Keating 6 Don Lusher 7 Geoff Sowden 8 Jock Bain 9 Jimmy Watson 10 George Chisholm... Bass 1 Joe Muddel 2 Johnny Hawksworth 3 Coleridge Goode 4 Sammy Stokes 5 Mick Ashman 6 Charlie Short 7 Lennie Bush 8 Ronnie Stone 9 Jack Seymour 10 Jack Fallon.. Guitar 1 Ivor Mairants 2 Roy Plummer 3 Laurie Deniz 4 Malcolm Mitchell 5 Bert Weedon 6 George Elliott 7 Pete Chilver 8 Alan Metcalf...	Piano 1 Ralph Sharon 2 Ronnie Ball 3 Frank Horrox 4 Steve Race 5 Johnny Parker 6 Dick Katz 7 Winifred Atwell 8 Ralph Dollimore... Clarinet 1 Sid Phillips 2 Wally Fawkes 3 Vic Ash 4 Henry Mackenzie 5 Carl Barriteau 6 Nat Temple 7 Keith Bird... Alto Sax 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Les Gilbert 3 Ronnie Chamberlain 4 Ade Monsbrough 5 Ken Mackintosh 6 Derek Humble 7 Harry Klein 8 Dougie Robinson 9 Cliff Townshend... Drums 1 Jack Parnell 2 Tony Kinsey 3 Ronnie Verrell 4 Eric Delaney 5 George Hopkinson 6 Peter Coleman 7 Phil Seamen 8 Lennie Hastings 9 Norman Burns... Miscellaneous Instruments 1 Vic Feldman (vibes) 2 Tito Burns (accordion) 3 Harry Klein (baritone sax) 4 Robin Richmond (organ) 5 Ron Chamberlain (soprano sax) 6 Harold Smart (organ)... Vocal Group 1 Stargazers 2 Keynotes 3 Beverley Sisters 4 Tanner Sisters 5 Malcolm Mitchell Trio 6 Kordites 7 Radio Revellers...	Modern Small Group 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Tito Burns 3 Kenny Baker 4 Ralph Sharon 5 Ray Ellington 6 Kenny Graham 7 Norman Burns 8 Vic Lewis 9 Joe Muddel 10 Ronnie Ball 11 Ronnie Scott 12 Malcolm Mitchell... Tenor Sax 1 Ronnie Scott 2 Kenny Graham 3 Tommy Whittle 4 Don Rendell 5 Jimmy Skidmore 6 Kathleen Stobart 7 Laurie Gold 8 Keith Bird... Commercial Band 1 Geraldo 2 Cyril Stapleton 3 Joe Loss 4 Oscar Rabin 5 Ken Mackintosh 6 Eric Winstone 7 Billy Cotton 8 Sid Phillips 9 Ted Heath 10 Nat Temple... Male Singer 1 Alan Dean 2 Dickie Valentine 3 Teddy Johnson 4 Benny Lee 5 Jimmy Young 3 Bob Dale 4 Dickie Valentine 5 Steve Conway 6 Frank Holder 7 Howard Jones 8 Steve Conway 9 Franklyn Boyd... Arranger 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Reg Owen 3 Ken Thorne 4 Steve Race 5 Norrie Paramor 6 Wally Stott...	Traditional Small Group 1 Humphrey Lyttelton 2 Freddy Randall 3 Joe Daniels 4 Sid Phillips 5 Harry Gold 6 Christie Brothers 7 Saints Jazz Band 8 Freddy Clayton 9 Mick Mulligan 10 Crane River Jazz Band... Latin-American Band 1 Edmundo Ros 2 Santiago Lopez 3 Hermanos Deniz 4 Roberto Inglez 5 Eddie Calvert 6 Stanley Black 7 Don Carlos 8 Fransisco Cavez... Swing Band 1 Ted Heath 2 Jack Parnell 3 Geraldo 4 Vic Lewis 5 Cyril Stapleton 6 Squadronnaires 7 Sid Phillips 8 Oscar Rabin 9 Teddy Foster 10 Ken Mackintosh 11 Joe Loss 12 Toni Anton 13 George Evans... Trumpet 1 Kenny Baker 2 Humphrey Lyttelton 3 Eddie Calvert 4 Jimmy Deuchar 5 Freddy Randall 6 Albert Hall 7 Bobby Pratt 8 Jo Hunter 9 Eddie Blair... Female Singer 1 Lita Roza 2 Cleo Laine 3 Pearl Carr 4 Diana Coupland 5 Eve Boswell 6 Terry Devon 7 Carole Carr 6 Pet Clark 7 Marie Benson 8 Marion Williams 9 Jean Campbell...

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