The Poll Winners: A Music Pick Trio of Albums
jazzfan | Published on 3/1/2026
Rather than a full album review, I have a trio of albums by The Poll Winners as my album picks for this month. The group got together to produce four albums from 1957 to 1960, when they disbanded, but returned for a final fifth album in 1975. While I enjoy their entire library of five albums, my favorites are first two albums released by the group, The Poll Winners (1957), The Pool Winners Ride Again! (1958), and their last album Straight Ahead (1976). If you're not familiar with this straight-ahead West Coast Jazz trio, it's led by Barney Kessel on guitar, Shelly Manne on drums, and Ray Brown on bass. Many of the tracks on their albums are jazz standards, like "Satin Doll", "Jordu", and "Angel Eyes". If you want a relaxing afternoon of music, with a few fast-paced exceptions, these albums are a good choice for setting the mood.