Joe Lovano has spent his entire life as a student of jazz, and the majority as a teacher. The revered saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist, a second-generation Sicilian American and son of tenor saxophonist Tony “Big T” Lovano, developed a love for jazz at a young age. Growing up in Cleveland, his… Read more...
Born into a creative environment, Joshua Redman always had an affinity for making music. His father, Dewey Redman, was a renowned saxophonist, and his mother, Renee Shedroff, was a dancer. Although he started playing the clarinet in fourth grade and then switched to saxophone, he entered college expecting to become… Read more...
Recently named a BMI Icon at the Company’s Film/TV & Visual Media awards, Terence Blanchard has also been named the first Kenny Burrell Chair in Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. The multiple GRAMMY-winning jazz trumpeter, composer and music educator also this year was nominated for… Read more...
With a staggeringly prolific catalog of more than 500 recorded works, multiple GRAMMY nominations, and stints with jazz legends Miles Davis, Elvin Jones and Chick Corea, jazz saxophonist David Liebman could easily rest on his many laurels. Yet Liebman, who was named among the National Endowment for the Art’s prestigious… Read more...
David Amram might be the most accomplished composer of our times with the least amount of recognition. This is a man who has worked with so many 20th century icons that first names aren’t necessary: Bernstein, Copland, Monk, Gillespie, Mingus, Kerouac, Dylan and Seeger, just to name a few. His… Read more...
Saxophonist and composer Melissa Aldana is a living bridge between traditional and modern jazz. Her new album Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio offers gorgeous cascades of melody and daring – from the joyful post-bop rush of “M&M” to the closing notes of her solo performance “Ask Me Now,” which boldly… Read more...
BMI songwriter and fashion designer Astrella has come up with a unique way to sell fashion and music to fans. Astrella, daughter of BMI Icon and Songwriters Hall of Famer Donovan, has developed a unique line of Musical Ts. Each features iconic album artwork that allows the buyer to download… Read more...
Nearly thirteen years have passed since legendary musician/producer Quincy Jones helped the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History introduce the Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) initiative at a press conference in July 2001. The program spends each April celebrating the genre’s history, heroes and future with one month of special jazz-centric… Read more...
BMI presented the Composer’s Prize at the annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, at Washington’s Kennedy Center last weekend, continuing a 19-year partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. BMI president and CEO Del Bryant presented the prize to talented young Japanese composer/artist Yusuke Nakamura. Nakamura, who grew up… Read more...
BMI jazz legend Sonny Rollins won three top awards June 20 at the annual awards voted by the nation’s jazz journalists, delivered at a gala ceremony at the legendary Blue Note jazz club in New York’s Greenwich Village. Rollins, who won Record and Musician of the Year honors, was joined… Read more...
