Ian Carr won 1st place in the trumpet section of the Melody Maker jazz poll British section no fewer than three years running from 1967-1969. His two bands, The Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet and Nucleus won the MM jazz poll (British section) top small group categories for three years each, from 1967-1969 and 1971-1973 respectively. The following lists are selected highlights from MM jazz polls (British sections) showing how Ian Carr / Don Rendell Quintet or Nucleus related musicians and albums fared over a very exciting decade which had begun almost totally dominated by the phenomenally talented multi-instrumentalist Tubby Hayes and ended by an extraordinary exodus of ex-Nucleus personnel into the new champions of the British jazz scene, Soft Machine. However, Soft Machine finally ground to a halt by the beginning of the 1980s, whilst Ian Carr and Nucleus continued playing into the mid-1980s and continued making sporadic live appearances into the 21st Century.
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 1 February, 1964, page 7
Tenor sax section: Tubby Hayes (1st place) Ronnie Scott (2nd place) Danny Moss (3rd place) Dick Morrissey (4th place) Don Rendell (5th place) Note: as at 2003, Danny Moss and Don Rendell are still going strong and playing gigs in their seventies!
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 20 February, 1965, page iv
New star section: Ian Carr (4th place)
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 19 February, 1966, page 13
Trumpet section: Ian Carr (4th place) New star section: Ian Carr / Dudley Moore (joint 2nd place) Miscellaneous instrument section: Don Rendell (Soprano) (2nd place) Ian Carr (Flugelhorn) (3rd place) Piano section: Michael Garrick (joint 4th place with Harry South)
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 18 February, 1967, page 15
Top musician section: Don Rendell (5th place) Small Group section: Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet (1st place) Trumpet section: Ian Carr (1st place) Tenor section: Don Rendell (3rd place) Piano section: Michael Garrick (3rd place) Bass section: Dave Green (5th place) Miscellaneous instrument section: Don Rendell (Soprano) (1st place) Ian Carr (Flugelhorn) (3rd place) Flute section: Don Rendell (5th place) Composer section: Michael Garrick (4th place) LP of the year section: Rendell Carr Quintet - 'Dusk Fire' (5th place) ***point of interest - in this 1967 jazz poll, the late, great Tubby Hayes grabbed the top positions in four sections: top musician, flute, tenor sax and vibes!***
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 24 February, 1968, page 19
Top musician section:
Don Rendell (4th place)
Small Group section:
Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet (1st place)
Trumpet section:
Ian Carr (1st place)
Tenor section:
Don Rendell (2nd place)
Piano section:
Michael Garrick (2nd place)
Bass section:
Dave Green (3rd place)
Miscellaneous instrument section:
Don Rendell (Soprano) (1st place)
Ian Carr (Flugelhorn) (3rd place)
Drums section:
Trevor Tomkins (10th place)
Arranger section:
Michael Garrick (6th place)
Composer section:
Michael Garrick (3rd place)
LP of the year section:
Rendell Carr Quintet - 'Dusk Fire' (4th place)
***another point of interest - in this 1968 jazz poll, Tubbs 'scoops up
five firsts' in the top musician, flute, tenor, vibes and LP of the year
('100% Proof') sections***
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 1 March, 1969, page 16
Small Group section: Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet (1st place) Trumpet section: Ian Carr (1st place) Tenor section: Don Rendell (3rd place) Piano section: Michael Garrick (2nd place) Bass section: Dave Green (2nd place) Miscellaneous instrument section: Don Rendell (Soprano) (3rd place) Arranger section: Michael Garrick (3rd place) Composer section: Michael Garrick (2nd place) LP of the year section: Stan Tracey - 'Little Klunk' (1st place) Tubby Hayes - 'Mexican Green' (2nd place) Rendell Carr Quintet - 'Phase III' (3rd place)
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 28 February,1970, page 18
Trumpet section: Ian Carr (2nd place) Clarinet section: Don Rendell (3rd place) Guitar section: Chris Spedding (2nd place) Bass section: Jeff Clyne (1st place) Miscellaneous instrument section: Karl Jenkins (Oboe) (2nd place) Drums section: John Marshall (2nd place)
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 6 March, 1971, page 21
Small Group section: Nucleus (1st place) Trumpet section: Ian Carr / Mongesi Feza (Joint 3rd place) Miscellaneous instrument section: Karl Jenkins (Oboe) (2nd place) Drums section: John Marshall (2nd place) Guitar section: Chris Spedding (2nd place)
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 26 February, 1972, page 16
Small Group section: Nucleus (1st place) Trumpet section: Ian Carr (3rd place) Tenor Sax: Brian Smith (joint 3rd place) Baritone Sax: Karl Jenkins (joint 3rd place) Guitar: Chris Spedding (2nd place) Drums: John Marshall (joint 2nd place) Miscellaneous instrument: Karl Jenkins, oboe (1st place) LP of the Year: Solar Plexus, Ian Carr (3rd place)
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 30 June 1973, page 26
Nucleus (1st place) Soft Machine (2nd place) Back Door (3rd place) Iskra 1903 / Alex Welsh (joint 4th place) Trumpet section: Ian Carr (3rd place) Soprano section: Don Rendell (4th place) Tenor section: Don Rendell / Ronnie Scott (Joint 5th place) Miscellaneous instrument section: Karl Jenkins (instrument unspecified but presumably oboe) (1st place) Drums section: John Marshall (1st place) Guitar section: Allan Holdsworth (4th place) Chris Spedding (5th place) Bass section: Roy Babbington (3rd place) Jeff Clyne / Jack Bruce (joint 5th place) New Star section: Allan Holdsworth Composer section: Ian Carr (3rd place) LP of the year section: Soft Machine - 'Six' (1st place) Iskra 1903 - (2nd place) Ian Carr - 'Belladonna' (3rd place) Phil Seamen - (4th place) Mike Westbrook - 'Metropolis'
Melody Maker Jazz Poll British Section, 29 June 1974, page 54
Soft Machine (1st place) Trumpet section: Ian Carr (3rd place) Tenor section: Don Rendell (5th place) Baritone section: Karl Jenkins (3rd place) Flute section: Brian Smith (5th place) Miscellaneous instrument section: Karl Jenkins (unspecified) (1st place) Drums section: John Marshall (1st place) Bass section: Roy Babbington (1st place) Composer section: Ian Carr (3rd place) and just out of interest... LP of the year section: Mike Gibbs - 'In the public interest'(1st place) Stan Tracey / Mike Osborne - 'Original' (2nd place) Soft Machine - 'Seven' (3rd place) Isotope - (4th place) John Surman - 'Morning Glory'
There is another version of these polls with the focus on the late, great Tubby Hayes, however, some of the years in this version are quoted in FULL, which may be of use to some scholars of British modern jazz. Check it out here
Thanks to the National Jazz Archive for assistance in obtaining some of the Melody Maker details