Sonny Rollins appears in...
Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden & More Saluted as NEA Jazz Masters Celebrates 30 Years

BMI partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts to host the annual luncheon toasting the 2012 class of NEA Jazz Masters on Tuesday, January 10. In a clear illustration of BMI’s storied commitment to jazz, all of the 2012 honorees are BMI creators: composer, drummer and keyboardist Jack DeJohnette; saxophonist Von Freeman; composer, bassist and educator Charlie Haden; and vocalist and educator Sheila Jordan; as well…
BMI Composers Make Up Majority of DownBeat Critics Poll Winners

BMI’s family of jazz songwriters and composers garnered the majority of 59th Annual DownBeat Critics Poll nods, revealed in the magazine’s August issue. The honorees underscore the muscle of BMI’s jazz repertoire, which is the home of the genre’s legends and contemporary torchbearers. Critics opted to induct BMI songwriters Abbey Lincoln and Paul Chambers into the DownBeat Hall of Fame. Lincoln, who died almost one year…
Marsalis Family, Hubert Laws, Dave Liebman Saluted as NEA Jazz Masters

BMI partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts and its Chairman Rocco Landesman to celebrate the 2011 Class of NEA Jazz Masters at a luncheon at Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 11. In addition to the Marsalis family, BMI composers Hubert Laws and Dave Liebman were honored along with legendary composer and producers Johnny Mandel and Orrin Keepnews. "I am really pleased to continue the…
BMI Jazz Composers Top ‘Downbeat’ Readers Poll
Downbeat has released its 73rd Annual Readers Poll with BMI jazz composers topping 24 of the 29 categories, accounting for 84% of the winners. These composers represent the “who’s who” of jazz performers and BMI’s dominance in the genre. Sonny Rollins top two categories, Jazz Artist and Tenor Saxophone, while the Pat Metheny Trio garnered the Jazz Group award; Pat Metheny himself nabbed the…
BMI Jazz Greats Honored at Lincoln Center
BMI jazz greats Ron Carter, Sonny Rollins and the late Art Blakey will be inducted into the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame at an event held June 17 at Lincoln Center Carter, Rollins and Blakey join other BMI jazz legends inducted in previous years, including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Billie…
Jazz Appreciation Month Kicks Off In Washington
April has once again been designated as Jazz Appreciation Month, and BMI is proud to again be an anchor sponsor, as it has been since the JAM’s beginnings seven years ago. The month-long celebration pays tribute to jazz as a true American art form and features a variety of activities, including performances, film and displays in venues around Washington, D.C. Pictured (l-r) are…
Nelo

February 2008. That’s the target release date for the full-length debut album by the Austin, Texas-based sextet nelo. Doubtless, for the growing legion of restless fans who have been clamoring for a CD on an almost daily basis on the band’s MySpace page, the wait’s going to feel like an eternity. But considering the fact that the completion of the as yet untitled record represents nothing less…
Max Roach, Lauded Jazz Percussionist, Dies at 83
Max Roach, the musical genius who helped create modern jazz and is considered to be one of the most important drummers in the genre’s history, died August 16 in New York City. He was 83. His cause of death was undisclosed. Roach, a BMI affiliate since 1961, was born Jan. 10, 1924 in New Land, N.C., but later moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn where he began playing drums…
BMI Jazz Giants Score in Down Beat 2007 Critics Poll

BMI composers dominated the 2007 Down Beat Critics Poll, winning 69% of the awards. Celebrated bassist and bandleader Dave Holland was a multiple winner, taking home honors both for Bassist of the Year and Band of the Year for his quintet. The late pianist Andrew Hill was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame, and Miles Davis’s Legendary Prestige Sessions won…
BMI Jazz Composers Sweep 2007 Jazz Journalists Association Awards
BMI jazz composers took home the lion’s share of the awards at the 11th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards, held June 28 at the Jazz Standard Club in New York City. The event’s top honoree was pianist Andrew Hill, who passed away on April 20 of this year. He received the Lifetime Achievement in Jazz, Composer of the Year and Pianist of the Year, with his widow, Joanne…
