Playboy Jazz & Rock Poll

It was an interesting year. Gangsta rappers faced tremendous pressure to censor themselves. Pearl Jam tried to tour without Ticketmaster. Courtney Love's every move was recorded by photographers. The media frenzy surrounding Michael Jackson's CD History didn't add up to huge sales. A young fiddle player, Alison Krauss, revived bluegrass. Saxophonist James Carter made jazz seem young again. There was a big blues revival on CD, and good-time music from Sheryl Crow. Hootie & the Blowfish, the Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler jammed the airwaves and the concert stages. Death took Selena, a young phenom whose tejano music crossed into the mainstream after her murder. Head Dead Jerry Garcia died too, ending the fantasy that Sixties culture could outlast the Nineties. Musicians settled into chat rooms on the Internet, R.E.M. came out of hibernation, George Jones and Tammy Wynette reunited and Barry White's distinctive bedroom voice caressed lyrics again. Björk moved out of the clubs and onto the main stage. It was a year with less stadium hoopla and more musical intimacy. We approve.

The Ballot

Here is the 1996 Jazz & Rock Poll ballot. Check the box next to your favorite performer in each category (or write someone in). Put a stamp on the attached envelope and mail it in no later than January 15, 1996.

Rock

Male Vocalist

Instrumentalist

Female Vocalist

Album

Group

Jazz

Male Vocalist

Instrumentalist

Female Vocalist

Group

Album

Concert

Soundtrack

Video

VJ

Hall of Fame

Male Vocalist

Group

Female Vocalist

Album

Country

Male Vocalist

Female Vocalist

Album

Group

Playboy Jazz & Rock Poll

P.O. Box 11236

Chicago, Illinois 60611