74th DownBeat Critics Poll

74th Annual DownBeat Critics Poll 2026

  Hall of fame:

Sheila Jordan




Sheila Jordan photographed by James Gavin




Jazz artist, group and guitarist of the year:

Mary Halvorson




Photo of Mary Halvorson @ nytimes.com



Top Jazz Albums:

Jazz album, vibraphonist and rising star group of the year:

Patricia Brennan




Patricia Brennan photographed by Werner Siebert



1. Patricia Brennan - Of the near and far (Pyroclastic)





2. Mary Halvorson - About ghosts (Nonesuch)

3. Linda May Han Oh - Strange heavens (Biophilia)

4. James Brandon Lewis - Abstraction is deliverance (Intakt)

5. Tomeka Reid Quartet - Dance! Skip! Hop! (Out Of Your Head)

6. Charles Lloyd - Figure in blue (Blue Note)

7. Bill Frisell - In my dreams (Blue Note)

8. Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons - Live in Philadelphia (Ars Nova Workshop/Otherly Love)

9. Maria Schneider Orchestra - American crow (ArtistShare)

10. Terry Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell - We insist 2025! (Candid)