Jazz & Pop

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Jazz & Pop
Jazz & Pop Oct. 1967 cover.jpg
Cover of the October 1967 issue of Jazz & Pop, featuring Milton Glaser's illustration of Bob Dylan
CategoriesMusic
FrequencyMonthly
Founded1962
Final issue1971 (1971)
CompanyJazz Press
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City
LanguageEnglish
ISSN 0021-5627

Jazz & Pop was an American music magazine that operated from 1962 to 1971. [1] It was launched as Jazz and managed by Pauline Rivelli, with finance provided by Bob Thiele, [2] the producer of jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines and Count Basie. [3] The publication served as a rival title to Down Beat magazine, [2] which had been established in the 1930s. [4]

The title of the publication changed to Jazz & Pop in August 1967. [2] Like Down Beat, the magazine began to cover popular music as a result of the widespread cultural recognition afforded the genre following the release of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ; [5] in turn, mainstream American publications increasingly adopted jazz-style critiques to analyse rock music. [6] With the change of name, the magazine's editorial focus widened to include jazz music, rock, folk and blues. [2]

In its original incarnation as Jazz, the magazine's staff included jazz critics Don Heckman, George Hoefer, John Mehegan and Stanley Dance, while New York–based freelancers such as Don Riker also contributed. [7] From 1967 to 1970, its rock contributors included Gene Sculatti, Lenny Kaye and David G. Walley. [1] Also a musician, Kaye wrote an article on the doo-wop genre in Jazz & Pop that led to the start of his successful collaboration with singer and poet Patti Smith. [8] Between 1968 and 1971, [9] the editor of the magazine was Patricia Kennealy, who became romantically involved with Jim Morrison of the Doors after interviewing him for Jazz & Pop. [10] Robert Levin worked as the magazine's jazz editor, [11] while Frank Kofsky and D.C. Hunt also contributed jazz-related articles in the late 1960s. [12] When Ritchie Yorke wrote an article for the magazine disparaging rock critics, particularly Rolling Stone writer John Mendlesohn, it led to a terse response from Mendlesohn in the February 1971 issue of Phonograph Record , as he sought to justify his seemingly harsh approach to album reviews. [13]

From its early years of operation, the magazine published an annual international critics poll. [14] Referring to the 1967 poll, the website rockcritics.com recognizes it as originating from "right at the dawn of rock criticism". [15] The Pazz & Jop annual poll, founded by Village Voice critic Robert Christgau in 1971, was named in acknowledgement of the magazine. The ratings system used by Jazz & Pop was also adopted for Christgau's poll. [16]

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References

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  3. Oliver, Myrna (February 2, 1996). "Bob Thiele; Record Label Owner, Producer of Top Jazz Musicians". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  4. Welburn, Ron (Autumn 1987). "Jazz Magazines of the 1930s: An Overview of Their Provocative Journalism". American Music . 5 (3): 255–270. doi:10.2307/3051735. JSTOR   3051735.
  5. Gould, Jonathan (2007). Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press. pp. 420–21. ISBN   978-0-307-35338-2.
  6. Philo, Simon (2015). British Invasion: The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 122. ISBN   978-0-8108-8626-1.
  7. Riker, Don (December 1965). "Steve Kuhn". Jazz. pp. 8–10.
  8. Huey, Steve. "Lenny Kaye". AllMusic . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  9. "Patricia Kennealy-Morrison". Amazon.co.uk . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  10. "Jim Morrison: AL Interviews Patricia Kennealy Morrison". American Legends. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  11. AAJ staff (August 21, 2010). "Robert Levin: The War Is Over – A Conversation About Jazz". All About Jazz . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  12. Cole, Bill (2001) [1976]. John Coltrane. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. pp. 254, 255. ISBN   978-0-306-81062-6.
  13. Mendelsohn, John (February 1971). "John Mendelsohn, Rock Critic". Phonograph Record . Available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required).
  14. Jet staff (19 February 1970). "Entertainment". Jet . p. 57. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  15. Rock Critics admin (14 March 2014). "1967 Jazz & Pop Results". rockcritics.com. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  16. "The Village Voice's 44th Pazz & Jop Music Critics' Poll". villagevoice.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.