Born from a musical family, Edgar Cortazar has been influenced by art from generations behind. His grandfather, Ernesto Cortazar, composed most of Mexico's popular music hits in the 40's and 50's which were recorded by the voice of Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante among many others. Songs like "No Volveré", "Ay Jalisco No Te Rajes", "Cocula", "Yo Soy Mexicano", "La Chancla", "El Apagón", "Serenata Tapatía", “Esos Altos De Jalisco” , “Amor Con Amor Se Paga”, “Prisionero Del Mar”, “Tequila Con Limón”, “Ansiedad”, “Fiesta Mexicana”, “Soy Puro Mexicano” and many, many others are part of the Cortazar family music catalog.

Edgar Cortazar's father, Ernesto Cortazar Ducker, also kept the family tradition and legacy creating the background music for more than 600 movies in Mexico and his composing skills also gave numerous artists great hit songs in the 70's, 80's, 90's and today. Some of these artists include: Jose Jose, Manoella Torres, Alberto Vazquez, Marco Antonio Muñiz, Cesar Costa, Enrique Guzman, Alejandro Fernandez and Luis Miguel... today's best known contemporary Latin recording artist.

As a lyricist, Edgar Cortazar has shared co-authorship with his father, Ernesto Cortazar Ducker, his brother Ernesto Cortazar, Alejandro Asensi, Scott Blevins, Denise Bradley, Claudia Brant, Lynette Brehm, Alejandro Carballo, Garry Corman, Steve Dorff, Johnson Enos, Maria Entraigues, Rafael Esparza-Ruiz, Anthony Fedorov, Ruy Folguera, Ismael Gallegos, Mauricio Guerrero, Ron Irving, Molly-Ann Leikin, Francisco Loyo, Salo Loyo, Victor Loyo, Ana Malhoa, Paulo Massadas, Tony Melendez, Juan Mesa, Luis Miguel, Ximena Muñoz, D. Pickell, Adrian Pieragostino, Mark Portmann, Michael Ripoll, Toby Sandoval, Stephony Smith, Jose Luis Terrazas, Irene Toumainen, T. Wong, and Antonio Zamora.

Edgar Cortazar’s Songs have been recorded by multiple artists such as:

Luis Miguel, Olga Tañon, Conjunto Primavera, Pablo Montero, Graciela Beltran, La Mafia, Grupo Montez de Durango, Horoscopos de Durango, Banda Machos, Salomon Robles, Chicos De Barrio, No-Pals, Alex Arellano, Grupo Prezisso, Priscilla y Sus Balas de Plata, Witchy's Band, Los Reyes Del Camino, Ke-Zafados and Grupo La Onda among others in the first two years of his exclusive administration agreement with Warner-Tamerlane Music Corp.

Edgar Cortazar is also working Spanish lyric adaptations for authors like, Scott Blevins, Denise Bradley, Lynette Brehm, Garry Corman, Steve Dorff, Johnson Enos, Anthony Fedorov, Ron Irving, Molly-Ann Leikin, Michell Ripoll and Irene Toumainen among others, extending his artistic abilities to the International Music Market.

Edgar Cortazar's singular style of singing and voice recording has made him become part of numerous music projects as a professional in the commercial scene. He has participated in numerous T.V., radio, and commercial voiceover campaigns with companies such as: Ford Motor Company, Disney, Chrysler, Telemundo, Univision and Frito Lay.

Edgar has also become part of many musical productions for the Disney Latin Music Division as a Composer / lead voice and background vocal professional singer.

Some of these productions are: Arrullo (Lullaby) 1996, Navidad Disney (Disney Christmas) 1996, Canciones de Viaje (Travel Songs) 1997, La Fiesta Dinosaurios (Dinosaur Party) 1998 and Multiplicando! (Multiplying!) 1998, among others.

As a professional singer, Edgar Cortazar has participated in the recording of more than 450 demo and full produced songs in different publishing companies and recording studios in the Los Angeles area.

The "See It Hear First" podcast, available at bmi.com/podcast, has become an important tool for exposing new BMI songwriters and artists to key industry professionals and fans alike. Since its release in May 2005, millions of listeners from around the world have tuned in to discover new music from a broad range of genres and regions.

In addition to hearing great music from an array of new talent like this month's four rising Latin stars, podcast listeners can also vote for their favorite artist to help them win a CD duplication package from Disc Makers, the leading CD manufacturer for the independent musician. Winners get 1,000 discs, a prize with a promotional value of more than $10,000.

Past 'cast artists like singer/songwriter Brendan James, rockers somedaynew, Latin hip-hop artist Cosculluela, Canadian crossover band Soul Kid #1 and country-pop combo the Zac Brown Band have all grabbed the industry's attention through the BMI podcast, with some landing major recording and publishing deals and others on the verge of being signed.

Tune in to bmi.com/podcast to hear all 15 editions of BMI's "See It Hear First" podcast series, the first in the music industry to be listed in Apple's podcast directory. BMI's podcast is also available from iTunes at bmi.com/itunes, from Yahoo! at podcasts.yahoo.com, or though Pod2Mob.com.

Podcast #15 Featured Artists

Twenty-two-year-old Nashville native Alejandra Alberti contributes "Quiero" to this month's podcast, showcasing a fusion of pop, rock and r&b-influenced vocals that draw on all of her experiences of growing up in the U.S., while keeping strong ties to her Cuban/Mexican-mixed heritage.

Latin Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Elsten "Fulano" Torres is a contemporary bilingual artist recognized for his original musical style. The Cuban-born, New York-bred performer stands out with his eclectic pop-rock Latin songs and their sundry worldly grooves, Cuban-meets-British melodies, and heartfelt lyrics. Hear it first on "La Noche Entera."

From a young boy who was never supposed to be able to speak, to a man with a golden voice, American Idol finalist Anthony Fedorov has truly beaten all the odds. Hailing from the Ukraine and singing in English, Italian and Spanish, the 21-year-old crooner overcame a childhood illness that left him mute to become a fan-favorite during Idol's fourth season. Find out why with "Culpame."

Traveling on a musical journey that fuses r&b, soul, salsa, rock, hip-hop and Latin rhythms together into sweet pop ballads is Taxi Amarillo (yellow cab). Made up of Latin pop singer Cruzmonty and writer/producer Chris Hierro, Taxi Amarillo's lyrics will move you, their voices will elevate you, and their style will blow you away. Enjoy the ride with "Plan B."]]> 2006-10-31T04:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/533607 Artists, Bice, Bo, Fedorov, Anthony, Triple Threat, Underwood, Carrie, Musicworld, On The Scene From a young boy who was never supposed to be able to speak, to a man with a golden voice, Anthony Fedorov has truly beaten all the odds.

As a Top 4 finalist in season four of American Idol, to being voted the No. 2 most popular performer in the 2005 Idol summer tour, Anthony has begun the ascent he has dreamed about all his life.

His presence commanded attention, his voice commanded respect and endeared him to the over 130 million viewers and voters that tuned in week after week to vote him into the Top 10.

Anthony ultimately landed in the Top 4 with Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice and Vonzel Solomon, and by that time had become instantly recognizable and much loved by fans of the show everywhere.

Anthony was born in the Ukraine in 1985 to a very musical family. His grandmother sang opera and what can be called Russian “country” music, and his father plays guitar and accordion.

As a very young child, Anthony was stricken with a growth in his throat that needed removal. The doctors feared that removal of the growth would result in his inability to ever speak. For a considerable time that was true. But with the strength and caring of his family, Anthony overcame that hurdle. However, the physical scar remains—as in the tracheotomy, which is so clearly visible and frankly has become one of Anthony trademarks.

At the age of 9, Anthony moved with his family to the U.S. The only words in English he knew at that time were “thank you,” which he learned at school in Russia.

By age 10, he was speaking fluent English, and by age 14 he was singing with the promise of the powerful voice to come in clubs and restaurants around his hometown of Philadelphia and within New York. By this time, Anthony was singing in Spanish and Italian as well—his knack for languages is uncanny.

Anthony joined the 2005 American Idol summer tour, which played in 44 cities to over a half million people. Anthony has appeared on many of the most popular TV talk shows, including the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Tony Danza Show, and a host of Fox Network shows.

In January 2006, the Fox Reality network re-aired the entire fourth season of American Idol and in June, Anthony was featured in the celebrity competition on Fox’s Fear Factor.

Summer 2006 was very productive for Anthony. While touring and performing live and working on solo material with some of music’s most successful songwriters and producers—including Desmond Child, Diane Warren and Richard Marx—he also found time to co-star as a judge in the MTV original show “MTV’s Little Talent Show Triple Threat,” which is slated to air on the network later this fall. Anthony appears in four episodes.

Aside from the fame he has enjoyed from his experience competing on American Idol, Anthony has remained true to his passion of creating and performing great music.

One can only expect that, with a story like this, the true beginning has yet to be written.