The concert was held in conjunction with the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition Finals; BMI awarded the grand prize to an exceptionally talented composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and big band leader, Sherisse Rogers. Proceeds from “The Blues and Jazz: Two American Classics” gala concert will help fund public school’s blues and jazz education programs throughout Los Angeles Unified School District, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Delta.

Shown at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz gala honoring B.B. King (l-r):

BMI Vice President of Film & Television Relations, Doreen Ringer-Ross and honoree B.B. King

BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross and Herbie Hancock

BMI’s Sr. Director of Film & Television Relations, Linda Livingston; Keb’ Mo; and BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross

BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross, Thelonious Monk Jazz Saxophone grand prize winner, Sherrise Rogers; and Grammy Foundation President, Neil Portnow

Thelonious Monk, Jr., BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross; and Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, Robert J. Pilon, JR

BMI’s Doreen Ringer-Ross and Poncho Sanchez

Terrance Blanchard

Photos by Michael Bucker & Charley Gallay (WireImage)

The winner of the Competition will receive a $20,000 scholarship, second place a $10,000 scholarship and third place a $5,000 scholarship. The Competition application and guidelines are available on the Monk Institute website, www.monkinstitute.org.

The Institute has also announced today that the application for the Thelonious Monk International Composer’s Competition is available on the Institute’s website. Sponsored for the past 15 years by BMI, the Composers Competition awards a $10,000 grand prize to the young composer who best demonstrates originality, creativity and excellence in jazz composition.

"A mutual desire to draw attention to the central role of the composer in creating new works for the jazz idiom, a role epitomized by Thelonious Monk, led to our collaboration with the Institute 15 years ago in developing the Composers Competition, " said BMI President and CEO Del Bryant. "As with the Institute's main competition, the process has identified some of the most exciting young jazz composing talent from around the world, and played a significant role in launching and supporting careers for the young composer/ artists who are creating a new repertoire that will be treasured by generations to come."

In addition, the Monk Institute and Concord Music Group jointly announced an historic partnership that will guarantee the 2008 winner a record deal from Concord. This is the first time in the 21-year history of the competition that the winner will walk off stage with a guaranteed recording contract and the first time Concord Music Group has ever entered into a partnership of this kind. Concord Music Group plans to release the winner’s album in mid-2009.

An All-Star Concert Gala to benefit the Institute’s jazz education programs will immediately follow the Saxophone Competition and will include the presentation of the 2008 Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award. Details on the benefit concert line-up and the 2008 Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award recipient will be announced in the coming months.

“I am so pleased that the Monk Competition will return to Los Angeles and I’m inspired at this historic partnership with Concord. What an incredible opportunity Concord and the Institute are offering young musicians. This is truly a visionary moment in the history of jazz and I am certain that this year’s winner, like many past winners, will have a significant impact on the future of music”, said Herbie Hancock, Institute Chairman and 2008 Grammy Album of the Year winner.

“Today, the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition has been taken to a new level. For 20 years, the competition has consistently discovered some of the most successful young jazz artists of our time. Our partnership with Concord ensures that the competition continues to be the most prestigious and influential jazz competition in the world by identifying and showcasing the young artists who are the future of jazz”, said Thelonious Monk, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

Pictured (l-r): Monk Institute Executive Director Tom Carter, Chairman Herbie Hancock and BMI's Robbin Ahrold

The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition is the most prestigious jazz competition in the world, attracting the brightest young jazz talent in the world to compete for a series of scholarships. 2007 marks BMI’s 15-year anniversary of collaboration with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, lauding young composers who best demonstrate originality, creativity and excellence in jazz composition. The composer award is in direct association with the jazz institute’s annual competition of highlighting a featured instrument.

BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross and Institute Board Chairman T.S. Monk

This year’s competition was followed by a gala tribute to legendary ten-time Grammy winning BMI jazz composer Herbie Hancock for his incomparable contribution to the music industry. Hancock was treated to an all-star homage with performances by Joni Mitchell, Sting, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, and Nancy Wilson, among others.

Recording Academy Chairman Jimmy Jam, BMI Monk Composer's Competition winner Petros Sakelliou, Academy Chief Executive Neil Portnow and BMI's Doreen Ringer Ross.

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 Robinson Hill, accepting the awards in his name. Marc Ostrow, President of Boosey & Hawkes and the publisher of Hill’s compositions, was present for the recognition. Hill wrote and recorded a number of extraordinary albums for Blue Note Records between 1963 and 1969 that are known for their challenging compositions and compelling improvisational energy. Some of the most noted musicians of the time participated, including Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard, and critics consider the work amongst the best of the decade. Hill later became a teacher at Portland State University in Oregon, and returned triumphantly to the New York scene in the 1990s. His 2000 release, Dusk, was named Album of the Year by Down Beat and Jazz Times.

Other instrumental winners at the ceremony include the legendary Sonny Rollins for Tenor Saxophonist of the Year and multi-award winner Dave Douglas for Trumpeter of the Year. Dave Liebman was honored as Soprano Saxophonist of the Year, and Gary Smulyan as Baritone Saxophonist of the Year. Frank Wess won as Flutist of the Year, while Scott Robinson’s expertise on a multitude of reeds brought him the Player of the Year of Instruments Rare in Jazz award.

Other instrumental award-winners include celebrated BMI jazz composers: Pat Metheny for Guitarist of the Year; Dave Holland for Acoustic Bassist of the Year; Steve Swallow for Electric Bassist of the Year; Bobby Hutcherson for Mallets Player of the Year; Roy Haynes for Drummer of the Year; and Cyro Baptista for Percussionist of the Year.

Both of the vocalist awards went to BMI songwriters: Kurt Elling for Male Singer of the Year and Roberta Gambarini for Female Singer of the Year. The Large Ensemble of the Year was won by the Charles Tolliver Big Band, and the Latin Jazz Album of the Year by Brian Lynch & Eddie Palmieri’s Simpatico.

The work of celebrated BMI jazz masters was recognized in the reissue categories as well. The Single CD Reissue of the Year went to Charles Mingus’s Music Written for Monterey 1965 Not Heard: At UCLA 1965 and The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings of Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane.

Finally, one of the A Team Awards, which recognize extraordinary efforts by individuals in support of jazz, went to BMI composer Donald Harrison in his role as the artistic director of the New Orleans-based Tipitina’s Foundation.

The Jazz Journalists Association is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing news and views of jazz to the general public. They sponsor panel discussions at festivals and conventions and organize workshops and mentoring programs. Information on the organization can be found at www.Jazzhouse.org in addition to their quarterly journal “Jazz Notes.”

A complete list of the BMI winners of the Jazz Journalists Association 2007 Jazz Awards follows:

Andrew Hill
Lifetime Achievement in Jazz
Composer of the Year
Pianist of the Year

Reissue of the Year, single CD
Charles Mingus, Music Written for Monterey 1965 Not Hear: At UCLA 1965

Reissue of the Year, boxed set
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings

Male Singer of the Year
Kurt Elling

Female Singer of the Year
Robert Gambarini

Latin Jazz Album of the Year
Brian Lynch & Eddie Palmieri: Simpatico

Large Ensemble of the Year:
Charles Tolliver Big Band

Trumpeter of the Year
Dave Douglas

Player of the Year of Instruments Rare in Jazz
Scott Robinson

Tenor Saxophonist of the Year
Sonny Rollins

Soprano Saxophonist of the Year
Dave Liebman

Baritone Saxophonist of the Year
Gary Smulyan

Flutist of the Year
Frank Wess

Guitarist of the Year
Pat Metheny

Acoustic Bassist of the Year
Dave Holland

Electric Bassist of the Year
Steve Swallow

Mallets Player of the Year
Bobby Hutcherson

Percussionist of the Year
Cyro Baptista

Drummer of the Year
Roy Haynes

For a complete list of the awards, consult www.Jazzhouse.org

The showcase will be held at the Sundance House at the Kimball Art Center (638 Park Avenue). This is an official 2007 Sundance Film Festival event and is open to festival badge holders, press passes and invited guests only; tickets will not be sold. Performance times will be Viktor Krauss at 6 p.m., Michael Penn at 6:30 p.m., Keb' Mo' at 7 p.m. and Terence Blanchard at 7:30 p.m.

Having presented an array of composers and singer/songwriters at the Festival for more than 15 years, BMI is a longtime supporter of Sundance's film music program, including the Sundance Composers Lab held each summer at the Sundance Institute. Click here to see coverage from last year.

A Sundance Composers Lab advisor and a Thelonious Monk Institute instructor, jazz trumpet player Terence Blanchard is a true musical wonder. Having created dual careers in the jazz and film/TV worlds, he has seen the launch of his critically acclaimed CD Flow in 2006, along with his score to Inside Man and his stirring music for Spike Lee's documentary on Hurricane Katrina, When the Levees Broke. Currently he is working on the score for director Kasi Lemmons new film Talk to Me starring Don Cheadle and will be going to Prague in January to record strings and orchestral arrangements for the When the Levees Broke CD release. A New Orleans native, Blanchard will be headlining the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on April 28, 2007.

Three-time Grammy-winning blues singer/songwriter Keb' Mo's music is a living link to the seminal Delta blues - the music that traveled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America before evolving into a universally celebrated art form. Born Kevin Moore, he adopted his better known stage name when he was a young guitar player who became inspired by his American legacy. His acclaimed self-titled 1994 debut album introduced that now famous appellation to the world, and his latest album, 2006's Suitcase - his eighth album for Epic/Okeh records - brings his talent to new heights. His distinctive sound embraces multiple eras and genres, including pop, rock, folk and jazz, showing he is well-versed in each. The disc follows his 2004 double play of Peace: Back By Popular Demand, featuring covers of classic '60s and'70s-era peace and protest songs, and the celebrated Keep It Simple, for which he won his third Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. In addition, he's done extensive songs and themes for TV and film.

One of the most acclaimed singer/songwriters to emerge during the late 1980s, Michael Penn was seemingly destined for a career in show business. Born in New York City's Greenwich Village, the older brother of siblings Sean (later recognized among the finest actors of his generation) and Chris (a noted character actor acclaimed for his work in features like Reservoir Dogs) chose music over acting. His debut March (1989) won him a 1990 MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. He followed it up with Free-for-All (1992), Resigned (1997) and MP4: Days Since a Lost Time Accident (2000). Penn then moved into film scoring and worked on Hard Eight; Boogie Nights; Alan Cumming's first two directorial efforts The Anniversary Party and Suffering Man's Charity; Melvin Goes to Dinner; the documentary The Comedians of Comedy; and The Last Kiss.

In addition to creating an eclectic mix of original music ranging from rock to bluegrass, composer, songwriter and double bassist Viktor Krauss has worked with many Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning artists, including Bill Frisell, Elvis Costello, Graham Nash, Dolly Parton and Lyle Lovett (he co-wrote his hit "You Were Always There"). The Illinois native and brother of bluegrass artist Alison Krauss is also known from performing with Lovett for nearly a decade. As a solo artist, Krauss shines with his CD Far from Enough released under Nonesuch Records to much critical and AAA radio acclaim. He is also behind a Zappa-esque rock unit called Difficult Listening, as well as progressive bluegrass pioneer Peter Rowan's group Free Mexican Airforce.

The Sundance Film Festival is the premier showcase for U.S. and international independent film. Held each January in and around Park City, Utah, the Festival is a core program of the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit cultural organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Presenting 120 dramatic and documentary feature-length films in seven distinct categories and 80 short films each year, the Sundance Film Festival has introduced American audiences to some of the most innovative films of the past two decades, including American Splendor, Clerks, Hustle and Flow, Maria Full of Grace, Napoleon Dynamite, sex, lies and videotape, Smoke Signals and Super Size Me. Beyond the streets of Park City, the official website of the Sundance Film Festival shares the Festival experience with a global audience through the streaming of short films, filmmaker interviews, and current news and box office information.

“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/news/entry/334985 Brecker, Randy, Byron, Don, DeJohnette, Jack, Hancock, Herbie, McNeely, Jim, Metheny, Pat, Monk, Thelonious, Redman, Joshua, Jazz, New York Thelonious Monk Institute's 20th Anniversary Gala held Sept. 20 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Oláh's winning work, performed by a group of jazz all-stars during the celebration, was entitled "Always." Listen to the the winning song, "Always"

For the past 13 years, BMI has sponsored the Composer's Competition, which awards $10,000 to the young composer who best demonstrates originality, creativity and excellence in jazz composition. This year's judges included three members of the BMI family: Jim McNeely and Michael Abene, musical directors of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, and clarinet player Don Byron.

BMI's Robbin Ahrold and Phil Graham, grand prize winner Kálmán Oláh, and TS Monk, Jr.

Born in 1970 in Budapest, Hungary, Kálmán Oláh began playing classical piano at the age of seven and started studying jazz piano at age 14. Greatly influenced by his grand-uncle, a Hungarian jazz pianist who was also one of his teachers, he continued playing jazz and began composing at the age of 17. Oláh attended the Béla Bartok Conservatory and completed his musical studies at the Franz Liszt Music University. In 1990, he established Trio Midnight, which launched his career in jazz. Since then, he has performed at festivals and concerts throughout the world.

Former BMI/Monk Jazz Composer's Competition winner Jackie Terrason (l), who performed "Always," congratulates 2006 winner Kálmán Oláh

Over the past decade, Oláh has recorded and performed compositions that fuse jazz and contemporary classical music with Hungarian folk music. Renowned for his distinctive compositional style and his original approach to playing jazz, Oláh has played and recorded with a number of well-known artists, including Lee Konitz, Randy Brecker, Pat Metheny, Steve Grossman, Jack DeJohnette, John Patitucci and Kenny Wheeler. He has recorded 10 albums in a variety of settings, including trio with strings, solo with chamber orchestra, and piano and bass duets, along with his rendition of Bach's "Goldberg Variations," which features his own improvisations over Bach's original themes.

Currently, Oláh is a member of the jazz faculty of the Liszt Music Academy of Budapest and leads big band workshops at the Berlin Jazz Institute. He plans to record a Concerto for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band, and is working on arrangements for his new compositions, which will be included on an album in memory of Béla Bartok. Earlier this year, Oláh received the Franz Liszt Award, the most prestigious award for music given by the Hungarian Ministry of Culture.

BMI is proud to represent the work of Thelonious Monk and the majority of today's outstanding jazz composers, including Monk Award winners Joshua Redman and Jackie Terrasson. BMI supports the careers of more than 220,000 American composers, and we are proud to represent Herbie Hancock, the Institute's Chairman, Billy Dee Williams, and, of course, T.S. Monk, Jr.

Established in 1986 in memory of the renowned jazz pianist and composer, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz aims to preserve America's legacy of jazz through performance and education. The Institute offers the world's most promising young musicians college level training by America's jazz masters and presents public school-based jazz education programs for young people around the world. Additionally, the Institute provides scholarships, performance opportunities and worldwide recognition to gifted young musicians through its many jazz education programs. The Institute's most recent project is Jazz in America: The National Jazz Curriculum, a free Internet-based curriculum for 5th, 8th and 11th grade public school students.  ]]> 2006-09-18T05:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334902 Artists, Barretto, Ray, Byron, Don, Caine, Uri, Carter, James, Coltrane, John, Cooder, Ry, Cullum, Jamie, Cullum, Jamie, DeJohnette, Jack, Douglas, Dave, Drake, Hamid, Elling, Kurt, Frisell, Bill, Hill, Andrew, Holland, Dave, Hutcherson, Bobby, Jarrett, Keith, King, B.B., McLean, Jackie, Mitchell, Nicole, Monk, Thelonious, Moody, James, Rollins, Sonny, Shorter, Wayne, Souza, Luciana, Speed, Chris, Thielemans, Toots, Trucks, Derek, Turre, Steve, Woods, Phil, Zawinul, Joe, Zenón, Miguel, Musical Styles, Jazz Downbeat magazine, the voice of jazz since 1934. BMI's dedication to the advancement of original forms of American music exists as a cornerstone of the organization's very conception, and remains a priority today.

Sonny Rollins	Wayne Shorter	B.B. King

Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter both lead the gaggle of BMI winners with two awards apiece. Rollins earned the 2006 Jazz Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophone Musician of the Year trophies, while the Wayne Shorter Quartet was declared Jazz Group of the Year; Shorter himself landed the Soprano Saxophone Player of the Year title.

Jackie McLean	Jamie Cullum	Thelonious Monk

The iconic B.B. King was recognized as Blues Artist of the Year, while saxophonist Jackie McLean was inducted into Downbeat's Hall of Fame.

Best Jazz Album went to Andrew Hill for Time Lines, his first original album since the 90s. Thelonious Monk won a posthumous award for Best Historical Album for his collaboration with John Coltrane.

BMI also dominated categories designated for the jazz community's brightest up-and-comers, as worldwide phenomenon Jamie Cullum was named Rising Star Male Vocalist and Luciana Souza earned the Rising Star Female Vocalist title. SFJAZZ Collective nabbed Rising Star Jazz Group honors as well, while Derek Trucks was honored as Rising Star Blues Artist.

BMI's Downbeat Critics Poll Winners:

Jackie McLean
Hall of Fame

Sonny Rollins
Jazz Artist
Tenor Saxophone

Wayne Shorter Quartet
Jazz Group

Wayne Shorter
Soprano Saxophone

Andrew Hill
Jazz Album

Thelonious Monk/John Coltrane
Historical Album

SFJAZZ Collective
Rising Star Jazz Group

Dave Douglas
Trumpet

Steve Turre
Trombone

Joe Zawinul
Electric Keyboard/Synthesizer

Uri Caine
Rising Star Electric Keyboard/Synthesizer

Dave Holland
Bass

Jack DeJohnette
Drums

Ray Barretto
Percussion

Hamid Drake
Rising Star Percussion

Bobby Hutcherson
Vibes

Kurt Elling
Male Vocalist

Jamie Cullum (PRS)
Rising Star Male Vocalist

Luciana Souza
Rising Star Female Vocalist

Toots Thielemans
Harmonica

B.B. King
Blues Artist/Group

Derek Trucks
Rising Star Blues Artist

Phil Woods
Alto Saxophone

Miguel Zenón
Rising Star Alto Saxophone

James Carter
Baritone Saxophone

Don Byron
Clarinet

Chris Speed
Rising Star Clarinet

James Moody
Flute

Nicole Mitchell
Rising Star Flute

Bill Frisell
Guitar

Keith Jarrett
Acoustic Piano

Ry Cooder
Beyond Album
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