Miles Davis has been voted the Greatest Jazz Artist of all time out of a shortlist of 50 jazz musicians, beating names who made the top 10 such as Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and Billie Holiday to the top spot. BBC Radio and Jazz FM listeners were invited to vote for the Greatest Jazz Artist of all time from a list of 50 shortlisted musicians drawn up by a panel consisting of BBC jazz presenters, Jazz FM presenters, jazz musicians, critics, and journalists. The results were broadcast by BBC Radio 3’s Geoffrey Smith and Jazz FM’s Helen Mayhew over four days.
“The top 10 jazz artists are the best of the best, across all styles and eras. They are crowned by three iconic immortals: Duke, the orchestral master, Louis, the father of us all, and Miles, the essence of the ever-changing contemporary spirit.” Geoffrey Smith commented.
BBC Music Jazz aims to pull together the best of jazz content on the radio and provide programmes designed to appeal to newcomers and jazz aficionados alike, including documentaries examining Dudley Moore’s love of jazz, Jamie Cullum introducing some of his favourite live recordings, musical masterclasses, an exclusive live broadcast of Kamasi Washington’s London Jazz Festival performance from the Barbican and BBC Radio 3’s Jazz on 3 Ronnie Scott’s gig simulcast on the pop-up station.
“Miles Davis is a very worthy musician to have been voted in at the very top of our 50 Greatest Jazz Artists chart. The epitome of cool and an iconic character, Miles was at the forefront of key developments in the sound of jazz through each decade of his long career. He’s also responsible for recording the biggest-selling and most universally loved jazz album of them all, the 1959 album Kind Of Blue.” Helen Mayhew commented.

Top 10 Greatest Jazz Artist of all time:-
1. Miles Davis
2. Louis Armstrong
3. Duke Ellington
4. John Coltrane
5. Ella Fitzgerald
6. Charlie Parker
7. Billie Holiday
8. Thelonious Monk joint with Bill Evans
10. Oscar Peterson