The 74th DownBeat Critics Poll results are in, and among the winners are Mary Halvorson, Ambrose Akinmusire, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Darcy James Argue, and Rhiannon Giddens, all repeat winners in their categories.

Mary Halvorson, who is featured the issue's cover, has been named Artist of the Year and, for the tenth year in a row, Guitarist of the Year. And once again, Group of the Year goes to Halvorson and her sextet Amaryllis—Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O’Farrill (trumpet)—several of whom have also won in their own categories. Their latest album, About Ghosts, "conjures such vibrant, picturesque riffs, capricious melodic excursions, and suspenseful rhythmic undertows," DownBeat says in its four-star review, "a marvelous document for Halvorson’s compositional acumen and conceptual ingenuity." It is runner up on the Album of the Year list, as is Halvorson for Composer of the Year.

Halvorson's latest release, Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings, is a duo album with label mate Ambrose Akinmusire, who has once again been named Trumpeter of the Year. The album features four new compositions by each musician plus one collaboration. The duo, long admirers of each other’s musicianship, began playing together periodically back in 2009. They rehearsed the music on Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings in January 2025, just before performing it at the NYC club The Stone; they recorded the album the next day at Sear Sound.

Cécile McLorin Salvant has once again been named Female Vocalist of the Year. Her new album, With Every Breath I Take, is her first with orchestra and features The Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley. They perform timeless songs—by Coleman, Coward, Ellington, Sondheim, Strayhorn, and Salvant—newly arranged by composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue, who has been named Arranger of the Year for the third time in a row.

Rhiannon Giddens returns to the Critics Poll, having once again been named Beyond Artist of the Year. Her new album, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, due September 18, was inspired by the beauty of people coming together and drawing strength from each other. It was intentionally recorded live with no frills and few overdubs, just pure and essential music that captures the feeling of community, clarity, as well as the joy and power of creating together.

You can find the complete results of the 74th DownBeat Critics Poll in the August issue of the magazine.