Additional honorees include recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder and trumpeter Snooky Young. This year’s honorees join jazz legends such as Count Basie, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock.

The October ceremony and concert, sponsored by the NEA and Jazz at Lincoln Center, will be held at Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York, and will feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

The National Endowment for the Arts has supported jazz artists and organizations since 1969, providing millions of dollars in grants and awards. In 2004, the NEA significantly expanded its NEA Jazz Masters program and in 2005 created the NEA Jazz Masters Initiative, a comprehensive program of jazz support that includes the NEA Jazz Masters Award; NEA Jazz Masters Live, a series of multiple event engagements in selected communities, featuring NEA Jazz Masters; radio programming featuring NEA Jazz Masters; a compilation CD produced by Verve Music Group; educational resources through the NEA Jazz in the Schools program produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center; and publications and reports.

Carter, Rollins and Blakey join other BMI jazz legends inducted in previous years, including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Art Tatum, Clark Terry and Freddie Green.

Cullum was born in Essex but grew up in Wiltshire where he absorbed all genres of music, favoring jazz luminaries such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Steely Dan. While studying English at college, Jamie began performing as a singer/pianist, which led to Universal Classics & Jazz signing him in 2003 and the release of his debut recording Twentysomething. Cullum’s international fame and appeal, has made him one of the brightest, gifted and exciting UK artists to emerge in jazz.

The British Academy of Composers & Songwriters is the single voice for all UK music writers and, with over 2,000 members, is the recognized independent trade association for UK music creators. Covering a wide range of disciplines, ages and musical styles, the Gold Badge Awards are the British composers’ salute to an outstanding group of people who have made a special and lasting contribution to Britain’s entertainment industry.

A number of jazz masters were honored in various categories: Sonny Rollins (Tenor Saxophonist), Keith Jarrett (Pianist), Wayne Shorter (Soprano Saxophonist), Roy Haynes (Drummer), Joe Zawinul (Electric Keyboard & Synthesizer Player), Bobby Hutcherson (Vibist), James Moody (Flutist) and Toots Thielemans (Miscellaneous Instrumentalist). B.B. King was also honored as Blues Artist/Group of the Year.

Many of the most accomplished young lions received honors: Kurt Elling (Male Vocalist), Poncho Sanchez (Percussionist), Dave Douglas (Trumpeter), Steve Turre (Trombonist), Gary Smulyan (Baritone Saxophonist), Don Byron (Clarinetist), Joey DeFrancesco (Organist). The innovative blues performer Otis Taylor won Blues Album of the Year for Definition of a Circle.

For complete coverage of the awards, consult downbeat.com.

BMI songwriters dominate the selections, representing 58% of the individuals and groups. The variety and superiority of the material attests not only to the wide-ranging talents of BMI songwriters but also the consistency of BMI’s involvement with all eralms of music throughout the course of its history. The diversity of styles and genres included is remarkable, ranging from folk (Woody Guthrie) to rap (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five), jazz (Miles Davis) to punk (Sex Pistols), blues (Howlin’ Wolf) to country (Hank Williams), rhythm & blues (Sam Cooke) to soul (Aretha Franklin), disco (Chic) to folk-rock (Fairport Convention), the over-the-top (Velvet Underground & Nico) to the indefinable (Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band).

As with any list, arguments are invited and disagreements encouraged. The following are BMI’s representatives in Mojo’s decisions, including their number in the final grouping.

For the complete list, consult mojo4music.com or rocklistmusic.co.uk/mojo.html.

BMI Songwriters on the MOJO List:

Animals: “The House of the Rising Sun” [#86]
Anthology of American Folk Music [#8]
Beach Boys: Pet Sounds [#21]
The Beatles: “I Want To Hold Your Hand” [#2]
                       Revolver [#40]
                      Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band [#16]
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band: Trout Mask Replica [#51]
Chuck Berry: “Johnny B. Goode” [#12]
Big Youth: Screaming Target [#76]
David Bowie: The Rise and Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And the Spiders From Mars [#31]
                       Low [#64]
James Brown: “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” [#15]
Jeff Buckley: Grace [#37]
The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo [#57]
Ray Charles: “What’d I Say” [#9]
Chic: “Good Times” [#54]
John Coltrane: My Favorite Things [#60]
Sam Cooke: “You Send Me” [#47]
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue [#43]
Lonnie Donegan: “Rock Island Line” [#38]
Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left [#78]
Brian Eno: Discreet Music [#68]
Fairport Convention: Liege & Lief [#58]
Aretha Franklin: “I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You” [#18]
Gang Of Four: Entertainment [#77]
Gnarls Barkley: “Crazy” [#100]
Davy Graham with Alexis Korner: 3/4AD [#35]
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: “The Message” [#29]
Woody Guthrie: Dust Bowl Ballads [#13]
Billie Holiday : “Strange Fruit” [#67]
Buddy Holly: “That’ll Be The Day” [#52]
Howlin’ Wolf: The Rocking Chair Album [#23]
Michael Jackson: Thriller [#33]
Carole King: Tapestry [#74]
John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band [#55]
The Libertines: Up The Bracket [#94]
Little Richard: “Tutti Frutti” [# 1]
Love [#66]
MC5: Kick Out The Jams [#69]
New York Dolls [#39]
Nirvana: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” [#27]
Nuggets [#42]
N.W.A.: Straight Outta Compton [#61]
Oasis: Definitely Maybe [#89]
Charlie Parker: “Koko” [#26]
Pixies: Surfer Rosa [#79]
Elvis Presley: “Heartbreak Hotel” {#3]
R.E.M.: Murmur [#75]
Rolling Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” [#19]
                          “Sympathy For The Devil:” [#48]
Ronettes: “Be My Baby” [#45]
Sex Pistols: “God Save the Queen” [#10]
The Shadows: “Apache” [#84]
The Smiths: This Charming Man [#80]
Sonic Youth: EVOL [#85]
The Stone Roses [#99]
The Stooges: Funhouse [#36]
Television: Marquee Moon [#97]
Upsetters: Blackboard Jungle Dub [#59]
The Velvet Underground & Nico [#7]
The Who: “My Generation” [#44]
Hank Williams: “Move It On Over” [#30]
Link Wray: “Rumble” [#41]

More information about Jazz Appreciation Month is available in the press release below.

John Hasse, Director of Music at the Smithsonian, BMI Corporate Relations Vice President Robbin Ahrold, Rona Sebastian (President, Herb Alpert Foundation),legendary jazz photographer and donor William Claxton, Stanton Davis (American Federation of Musicians), Sandra Gibson (CEO, Association of Performing Arts Presenters), Charles Fishman (Dizzy Gillespie's last manager; President of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival), renowned jazz portrait artist LeRoy Neiman, and Angela Martinez (Program Director, Association of Performing Arts Presenters).

At a special ceremony today, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History kicked off Jazz Appreciation Month with a tribute to three prominent trumpeters: Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong and Herb Alpert, as well as donations from photographer Bill Claxton and artist LeRoy Neiman.

Now in its sixth year, JAM is an annual event that pays tribute to jazz both as a historic and living American art form. Throughout the month, the Smithsonian will present numerous events, including performances, film and displays in venues around Washington, D.C.

“Jazz is a truly American style of music that has played an important role in our heritage,” said Brent D. Glass, director of the National Museum of American History. “Through the Smithsonian’s Jazz Appreciation Month activities, we will highlight jazz and its history and expose audiences to this significant piece of American culture.”

Four donations were recognized at today’s JAM kick off event:

• Business records and personal ephemera belonging to John Birks ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie, one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of the 20th century. The collection was donated by Charles Fishman, Gillespie’s manager from 1985 to 1993, who won a Grammy for producing “Dizzy Gillespie and United Nations Orchestra” and founded the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in Washington, D.C.

• Twenty-two photographs by acclaimed fashion and jazz photographer Bill Claxton of jazz greats, including Ray Charles, Miles Davis and Chet Baker.

• Support for JAM from the Herb Alpert Foundation as the lead sponsor of Jazz Appreciation Month, with a donation of $300,000 to be used during the next three years.

• Use of celebrated American artist LeRoy Neiman’s conté-crayon drawing of Louis Armstrong, which is featured on the official 2007 JAM poster. This is the second year Neiman has donated image for this purpose. The museum and its JAM partners will distribute 250,000 posters around the country to promote local JAM activities.

This year, Carlos Santana and Herb Alpert have added their voices to those of other prominent musicians, including Geri Allen and Wynton Marsalis, in recording radio public service announcements produced by BMI. The PSAs will be distributed nationwide.

In a first this year, the museum will partner with leading online social network Care2 www.care2.com to co-host a discussion board that simultaneously resides in both the smithsonianjazz.org and Care2 communities, enabling music fans on both web sites to join together in one large conversation about jazz.

The Smithsonian Women’s Committee is supporting the 2007 JAM public programs throughout the institution with a special grant, and WAMU Radio, 88.5 FM, is the media partner in the nation’s capital, providing public service announcements.

Los Angeles born Herb Alpert is a notable musician known for co-founding – with Jerry Moss – A&M Records, for years the world’s largest, most successful independent label and home to artists including Stan Getz, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Carole King and Sting. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass’ 1962 debut “The Lonely Bull” was also A&M’s inaugural release. The band’s infusion of Latin and jazz sounds into pop music resulted in hits including the Grammy winners “A Taste of Honey” and “What Now My Love.” As a solo artist, Alpert is known for “Rise” which won nine Grammys.

Claxton, who hails from Pasadena, Ca., first gained fame in the 1950s, photographing artists for the Pacific Jazz record label and went on to have his work featured on album and magazine covers internationally. Throughout his career, Claxton has produced insightful portraits of many jazz legends, often capturing musicians in spontaneous, intimate moments, reflecting his vision of photography as “jazz for the eye.”

Born in South Carolina in 1917 as the youngest of 10 children, Gillespie taught himself to play the trumpet at age 12. In the 1940s, Gillespie helped develop an innovative style known as bebop, featuring intricate improvisations, complex harmonies and rapid rhythms. Gillespie played with such jazz greats as Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane and mentored young musicians, including Miles Davis. Known for his beret, horn-rimmed glasses, bent horn and puffed cheeks, Gillespie has had an enormous impact on subsequent generations of trumpeters.

LeRoy Neiman, born in St. Paul, MN., operates his studio out of New York. Growing up on the street during the Depression, his first commission was for the local grocer, drawing calcimine pictures of food items on the store windows. Neiman became interested in jazz during the 1970s. He created art for numerous program covers and posters for the Newport Jazz Festival, the Kool Jazz Festival and Jazzmobile, and painted jazz greats Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis.

The National Museum of American History launched JAM in 2001 and it has since grown to include celebrations in all 50 states and 20 other countries. This year the Smithsonian will present a record 29 events, including five performances by the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, the museum’s resident big band.

In commemorating JAM 2007, the museum collaborated with a diverse group of 28 organizations, institutions, associations and federal agencies that have provided financial and in-kind support and organized programs and outreach of their own. The Smithsonian operates the world’s most comprehensive set of jazz programs. The museum is home to incomparable jazz collections that include 100,000 pages of Ellington’s unpublished music and such objects as Fitzgerald’s famous red dress, Gillespie’s angled trumpet and Benny Goodman’s clarinet. A complete schedule of JAM events is available at http://americanhistory.si.edu.

The National Museum of American History collects, preserves and displays American heritage in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Documenting the American experience from Colonial times to the present, the museum looks at growth and change in the United States. The museum is closed for major renovations and will re-open in summer 2008. The public may visit the museum’s Web site at http://americanhistory.si.edu or call (202) 633-1000 or (202) 633-5285 (TTY) for general Smithsonian information.

R.E.M.	Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five	Ahmet Ertegun

Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died Dec. 14, 2006, will also be honored. Ertegun was a crucial figure in the careers of artists such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and The Rolling Stones, and one of the leading figures in the creation of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

R.E.M. was the quintessential indie rock band until breaking through to mass success in the early 1990s with hits including ''Losing My Religion.''

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five led the most innovative act in hip-hop's formative era in the late 1970s, and the song ''The Message'' was like a letter from urban America. Grandmaster Flash was considered a pioneer in many DJ techniques.

Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria considered includes the influence and significance of the artist's contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll. Past inductees include Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Cream, Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones, among many others. All inductees are represented in the permanent exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, which contains the largest collection of rock and roll artifacts chronicling the history of popular music.

“They are fundamentally the same. Jazz composition is the floor that the carpet, which is improvisation, lays on top of, basically,” explains bassist Ron Carter. “It’s hard to say this and not have it sound so simple that anyone can do it because it’s pretty complex.

“What jazz composers bring to the plate that classical composers don’t: They rely on the player of that song to interpret it every night, to bring something new to the plate. Jazz composition is as dependent on the composer’s skill to write a nice piece as it is the performer’s ability to interpret it every night.

“Take Benny Golson’s ‘Stable Mates’: you hear Miles’ version of it, you hear Javon Jackson’s version of it, you hear my version of it. They are all different versions based on the same wonderful melody, and they are all valid.”

But for the typical listener it is the soloist who makes the performance; band members are noticed only in their individual roles as soloists. “Absolutely,” agrees Carter, “especially the rhythm section. They see the guy out front and they’re happy with that. They don’t know what it takes to make that work.”

Carter, who turns 70 next spring, began studying cello as a lad and switched to double bass in his teens. A member of the Eastman School’s orchestra, he graduated with a B.M. in 1959.

Did studying classical cello make him a better jazz bassist? “Probably not. I’m a pretty disciplined person with a focus on what it takes to make things better,” replies Carter. “If I had started out as lamp maker, I would have been just as good a bass player.”

He wasn’t inspired by other bass players but by baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne, who came up when the scene was dominated by Gerry Mulligan and Harry Carney, yet developed a distinctive voice, and trombonist J.J. Johnson, who found a whole series of notes without stretching past the bell of his horn. “J.J. made me aware of all the possibilities on the bass so that I didn’t have to jump up and down like a rabbit,” explains Carter.

Carter moved to New York, joined Chico Hamilton’s quintet and enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music, graduating with an M.M. After Hamilton moved to the West Coast, Carter performed and recorded with Don Ellis, Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk, Cannonball Adderley, and Bobby Timmons. He spent only a week in Art Farmer’s group before Miles Davis hired him to join Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock in the rhythm section of his classic quartet.

After that band broke up in the late ’60s, Carter began a career as a freelancer and occasional leader, performing with an encyclopedic list of jazz instrumentalists as well as non-jazz acts as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Laura Nyro and A Tribe Called Quest.
Carter’s next date, after this interview, was a live recording with pianist Steve Kuhn and drummer Al Foster, who was to fly in from Europe the day of their opening at Birdland.

With no rehearsal, how do you make it sound like a working band? “What it takes to sound like a rehearsed band is, in this case, three guys who are aware of each one’s presence and what the music can bring out of each one of them, to make the trio sound like three people playing together rather than three guys that just walked in. As a freelancer, that’s my job, to sound like I belong there.”]]> 2006-10-05T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/533481 Artists, Davis, Miles, Francis, Pete, Morrison, Van, Pink Floyd, Musicworld, On The Scene Pete Francis, an experienced musician, honed his skills and technique as a key member (vocals, guitar, bass) of the band Dispatch, which in the 1990s grew from northeast college phenomenon to national grassroots attraction, touring widely and selling out shows from New York City’s Roseland Ballroom to San Francisco’s Filmore West.

In June of 2004, Pete Francis and his fellow members of Dispatch got together at the Hatch Shell Amphitheater in Boston, Mass., for their final gig. “After being apart almost two years working on our own individual projects, it was exciting and refreshing to perform together again,” commented Francis. “The fans gave so much love; it was a wonderful and emotional farewell for all of us.” The final concert drew 110,000 people where Dispatch played a four-hour show.

An adventurer and searcher, this singer songwriter / guitarist / vocalist covers considerable ground in his narratives—from the year he spent studying the great poets in Ireland ("Burning the River") of the album Untold. “I was interested in making an actual album with songs that relate to each other and have fluidity from track to track,” he says.

In that spirit, “Burning the River” is a song about Francis’s own process of discovery, inspired by his journey to Galway, Ireland. After a rocky first day—with his host’s wife deciding she didn’t want a houseguest after all—Francis managed to stay on to study poetry and absorb the Irish way of life. “There was great a bookstore there, with a room full of poetry,” he says. “And at night I’d hang out in pubs where people were speaking Gaelic. They’d close the doors after hours and play music—squeezebox, fiddle and guitar. Everyone would sit in a circle and people would start dancing. Then they’d pass the fiddle into the crowd and someone else would start playing. It was amazing.”

His album Good To Finally Know was written during the touring and promotion of Untold. Good to Finally Know is a collection of observations and experiences that Pete Francis encountered on his journey with Untold, which included being signed to Hollywood Records. Francis had originally set out to record four tracks; that notion was quickly scrapped as song after song made themselves known.

His current album Everything Is One has been released on Francis’ own label, Scrapper Records, a collaboration between himself and fellow New York musician and friend, Craig Dreyer. Francis’ work with Dreyer on Everything Is One emanated from his desire to bring together interesting musicians to create music that does not fit into a particular framework or within specific boundaries. “I like to be involved in the discovery of unique musical forms created by improvisation.”

A passionate student of music, literature and art, Francis draws inspiration from many sources, including the music of Van Morrison, Pink Floyd and Miles Davis, first heard on records borrowed from his older siblings; the writings of Wallace Stevens, James Joyce and William Butler Yeats; and the surrealist school of painters and filmmakers.

“An abstract painting represents a moment of clarity with the chaos,” Francis says. “I’m interested in how that can relate to writing, that within a literal and figurative work you can also touch on the abstract, the surreal. I like that someone can understand the literal meaning and then explore from that.”

Francis applies that sense of exploration to his own writing and recording process, sometimes improvising lyrics as the tape rolls. “Some songs reveal themselves over time,” he says. “I’d get ideas in the moment and just trust the words that come.”

Francis’s intention is that his music be something special to those who hear it. “Negativity is being shoved down our throats—you turn on the TV and see ‘terror’ on the screen,” Francis says. “I want my songs to combat negativity, to be positive, beautiful, thoughtful background to your life. Music is our language, the language of the world. I want to make music that brings people together.”

The evening will also announce the winner of the BMI Foundation's seventh annual Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize, given to the writer of the best new work composed in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. This year's judges include jazz virtuosos Robin Eubanks and Joe Lovano, and noted jazz authority Dan Morgenstern.

The winning composer will receive a cash award and the $3000 Manny Albam Commission to compose a new piece for the following year's concert. Named in memory of the Workshop's co-founder and longtime musical director, last year's Manny Albam Commission winner, Sherisse Rogers, will premiere her commissioned work during the showcase.

The BMI Jazz Composers Workshop is led by internationally renowned composers Jim McNeely and Michael Abene, and offers a unique collaborative environment for professional jazz musicians with an emphasis on composition for the large jazz (big band) ensemble. The Workshop - a well-known forum for creative excellence - provides an environment where composers are free to explore new avenues in the creative process, while at the same time honing their skills. McNeely has performed with and written for Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Joe Henderson and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, among others, and is a six-time Grammy Award nominee. Abene is the Dean of the Manhattan School of Music, and has composed and arranged for Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, Chick Corea and others; he is also a well-known record producer.

BMI's impressive roster of jazz artists includes such legends as Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton and Charles Mingus, as well as today's new jazz stars like Herbie Hancock, Norah Jones, Kevin Eubanks, Joshua Redman, Mark Whitfield and Bobby Watson.

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance, and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 95% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.]]> 2006-06-01T18:00:00-05:00