1986 – Thelonious Monk
1987 – Stan Kenton
1988 – Stevie Wonder
1989 – Billie Holiday
1990 – Ray Charles
1991 – Chris Connor, From Kenton to Rediscovery
1992 – Mahalia Jackson
1993 – Aretha Franklin
1994 – Sarah Vaughan
1995 – Al Green
1996 – Abbey Lincoln
1997 – Duke Ellington
1998 – Horace Silver
1999 – Charles Mingus
2000 – Miles Davis, the unpopular
2001 – Bill Evans
2002 – George Russell
2003 – Ornette Coleman
2004 – Mahalia Jackson
2005 – John Coltrane
2006 – Dmitri Shostakovich
2007 – Chris Connor, New Again
2008 – Gunther Schuller
