Melody Maker Readers Poll (1959)...

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 1959 poll published on January 23rd 1960. The big jazz event of 1959 was the opening of Ronnie Scott's first jazz club, in Gerrard Street on October 31st. (more...) Alto sax player Peter King made his London club debut and was an instant hit. He was voted top of the 'New star' section in the MM poll, probably as a result of his success here.		1959 What these results show is that there was still a huge following for so called 'traditional jazz' in 1959. More than half of the groups in the 'Small combo' section fall into the 'trad' category. As further proof of this four out of nine musicians in the 'Other instruments' section were banjo players! The other feature is that the soloists in the Heath and Dankworth big bands still do well in the individual categories. Musicians who began in the 1940s such as Kenny Baker, George Chisholm and Dill Jones were still popular and still won or came second in the individual sections. An interesting name in the 'New star' section was Hank Shaw, who had been on the modern jazz scene for ten years! The overall best performance came from Johnny Dankworth who won four sections of the poll plus one second place. Humphrey Lyttelton with two firsts was the only other to win more than one section and he had two third places as well. Tubby Hayes with one win and two seconds was third best.
Musician of the year 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Ronnie Ross 3 Humphrey Lyttelton 4 Chris Barber 5 Joe Harriott 6 Tubby Hayes 7 Ted Heath 8 Acker Bilk 9 Monty Sunshine 10 Tony Coe 11 Ronnie Scott 12 Kenny Ball 13 Tony Kinsey... Trombone 1 George Chisholm 2 Keith Christie 3 Chris Barber 4 John Picard 5= Don Lusher 5= Ken Wray 7 Laurie Monk 8 John Bennett 9 Eddie Harvey 10 Roy Crimmins 11= Mac Duncan 11= Tony Millner 11= Cyril Preston... Vibes 1 Bill Le Sage 2 Tubby Hayes 3 Stan Tracey 4 Reg Wale 5 Lennie Best 6 Martin Slavin 7 Roy Marsh... Bass 1 Johnny Hawkesworth 2 Lennie Bush 3 Kenny Napper 4 Eric Dawson 5= Coleridge Goode 5= Micky Ashman 7 Brian Brocklehurst 8 Spike Heatley 9 Dick Smith 10 Vic Pitt 11 Pete Blannin 12 Jeff Clyne 13 Arthur Watts 14 Stan Wasser 15 Jack Fallon 16 Bill Reid 17 Joe Muddel... Arranger 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Kenny Graham 3 Ken Moule 4 Dave Lindup 5 Eddie Harvey 6 Johnny Keating 7 Humphrey Lyttelton 8 Tubby Hayes... Vocal group 1 Polka Dots (The Polka Dots won outright with more than 96% of the vote)	Johnny Dankworth Big band 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Ted Heath 3 Humphrey Lyttelton 4 Down Beat Big Band... Clarinet 1 Vic Ash 2 Monty Sunshine 3 Tony Coe 4 Sandy Brown 5 Henry Mackenzie 6 Wall Fawkes 7 Archie Semple 8 Terry Lightfoot 9 Dave Shepherd 10 Dave Jones 11 Acker Bilk 12 Sid Phillips 13 Dick Charlesworth 14 Ian Wheeler... Alto sax 1 Joe Harriott 2 Johnny Dankworth 3 Bruce Turner 4 Tony Coe 5 Alan Branscombe... Baritone sax 1 Ronnie Ross 2 Joe Temperley 3 Harry Klein 4 Tubby Hayes... Drums 1 Allan Ganley 2 Tony Kinsey 3 Phil Seamen 4 Kenny Clare 5 Eddie Taylor 6 Ronnie Verrell 7 Ron Bowden 8 Jack Parnell 9 Johnny Richardson 10 Jackie Dougan 11 Eric Delaney 12= Graham Burbidge 12= Bobby Orr 14 Tony Crombie 15 Ron McKay 16 Lennie Hastings...	Small combo 1 Humphrey Lyttelton 2 Jazzmakers 3 Jazz Committee 4 Chris Barber 5 Joe Harriott 6 Tony Kinsey 7 Tubby Hayes 8= Kenny Ball 8= Alex Welsh 10 Acker Bilk 11 Jazz Couriers 12= Dick Charlesworth 12= Terry Lightfoot 14 Clyde Valley Stompers 15= Johnny Dankworth 7 15= Fairweather / Brown 17 Ken Colyer 18 Eddie Thompson 19= Bruce Turner 19= Vic Ash... Tenor sax 1 Tubby Hayes 2 Don Rendell 3 Jimmy Skidmore 4 Ronnie Scott 5 Art Ellefson 6 Danny Moss 7 Bob Efford 8 Tommy Whittle 9 Ronnie Ross 10 Betty Smith... Flute 1 Johnny Scott 2 Tubby Hayes 3 Phil Goody... Other instruments 1 Max Geldray (Harmonica) 2 Dickie Hawdon (French horn) 3 Ron Chamberlain (Soprano sax) 4 Kenny Baker (Flugelhorn) 5= Eddie Smith (Banjo) 5= John Bastable (Banjo) 7 Ray Premru (Bass trumpet) 8 Dickie Bishop (Banjo) 9 Diz Disley (Banjo)... Composer 1 Johnny Dankworth 2 Kenny Graham 3 Ken Moule 4 Eddie Harvey 5 Bert Courtley 6= Humphrey Lyttelton 6= Bill Le Sage 8 Brown / Fairweather 9 Tubby Hayes 10 Tony Crombie... Male singer 1 George Melly 2 Bobby Breen 3 Jeremy Lubbock 4 Denis Lotis 5 Dickie Valentine 6 Ray Ellington 7 Frank Holder 8 Michael Holliday 9 Cab Kaye...	Trumpet 1 Humphrey Lyttelton 2 Kenny Baker 3 Bert Courtley 4.Dizzy Reece 5 Hank Shaw 6 Pat Halcox 7 Dickie Hawdon 8 Eddie Blair 9 Kenny Ball 10 Al Fairweather 11= Alex Welsh 11=Bobby Pratt 13= Les Condon 13= Alan Elsdon 15= Ken Colyer 15= Stu Hamer 17 Leon Calvert... Piano 1 Dill Jones 2 Eddie Thompson 3 Stan Tracey 4 Dave Lee 5 Lennie Felix 6 Alan Clare 7 Terry Shannon 8= Ian Armit 8= Colin Bates 10 Johnny Parker 11 Steve Race 12= Fred Hunt 12= Bill Le Sage 14 Bill McGuffie 15 Ken Moule 16= Harry South 16=Alan Branscombe 16=Dick Katz 16=Eddie Harvey... Guitar 1 Dave Goldberg 2 Diz Disley 3 Ken Sykora 4 Ike Isaacs 5 Bert Weedon 6 Bill Bramwell 7 Judd Proctor 8 Ivor Mairants 9 Dennis Newey 10 Denny Wright... New Star 1 Peter King 2 Alan Branscombe 3 Tony Coe 4 Stan Tracey 5 Bobby Wellins 6 Joe Harriott 7 Acker Bilk 8 Dick Charlesworth 9 Dudley Moore 10= Derek Warne 10= Hank Shaw... Female Singer 1 Cleo Laine 2 Ottilie Patterson 3 Beryl Bryden 4 Rosemary Squires 5 Shirley Bassey 6 Georgia Brown 7 Fiona Duncan...

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