[Dixielandjazz] Sonny Rollins Named Downbeat Favorite Jazz Artist

[Mike]

**/Downbeat/ magazine's readers have spoken: Sonny Rollins, 76, is their 
favorite jazz artist and favorite tenor saxophonist. They also voted 
Sonny's "Without A Song (The 9/11 Concert)" their favorite jazz album. 
VOA's Doug Levine has more on the return of Sonny Rollins and the 
winners of /Downbeat's/ 71st Annual Readers Poll.**


Just days after the collapse of the World Trade Center, Sonny Rollins 
traveled from his home in New York to Boston, Massachusetts, to perform 
at the Berklee College of Music. That concert, filled with Sonny's usual 
mix of emotion and showmanship, became one of last year's most talked 
about jazz albums and reinvigorated a career that has spanned the better 
part of 60 years.

/Downbeat's/ readers gave Sonny the edge over another jazz giant, 
Charles Lloyd, in all three categories: Jazz Artist, Jazz Album and 
Tenor Saxophonist.

Sixteen years younger than Sonny Rollins, but no less dynamic on stage 
and in the studio, bass player Dave Holland was the top choice among 
readers for Jazz Group, Big Band and Bassist of the Year. Holland came 
to the U.S. from his native England to play alongside Miles Davis. He 
appeared on three groundbreaking jazz albums with Davis before starting 
his own group in 1972. Holland's non-stop schedule of touring and 
recording has yet to catch up with him.

"There's not a day that goes by that I'm not grateful for what has come 
my way in music," he says.

*//*Other fan favorites include trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianist Keith 
Jarrett, guitarist Bill Frisell and vocalists Kurt Elling and Cassandra 
Wilson.

Legendary jazz organist Jimmy Smith may be gone but his many fans who 
voted him into /Downbeat's/ coveted Hall of Fame did not forget him. 
Blending jazz with soul and funk on the Hammond B-3 organ, Smith was a 
commanding stage presence in any setting, from trios to big bands.