BMI is saddened by the passing of Ray Mantilla, the percussionist and bandleader whose six-decade-long career ensured his legacy as one of the most diverse and respected jazz musicians in American music. Renowned for his playing of the congas and timbales, Mantilla added his touch to hundreds of recordings, including… Read more...
BMI is saddened by the passing of groundbreaking guitarist Larry Coryell at the age of 73. Coryell was known for incorporating the essence of rock into jazz, creating some of the original blurring of both genres with his inventive playing. Over the years, he continued to build his signature sound… Read more...
Gunther Schuller is full of dynamic energy as he continues to enjoy his career as a composer, conductor, educator and musician. There is a deluge of delightful stories that comes with chatting with the 88-year-old creative genius, whose latent musical talents emerged when he was a toddler; notably, conducting in… Read more...
The Milo Greene arriving to Austin, TX next week for the marathon SXSW festival is not a single person—he isn’t even real. What began as a phantom booking agent—an e-mail account concocted by band co-founders Robbie Arnett and Andrew Heringer when the friends still led separate projects—has since transformed to… Read more...
His projects include jazz trios and trip-hop groups. He has toured as a bassist for Mexican Institute of Sound and Digi & Gabo. He is a co-founder of Titán, one of Mexico’s pioneering electronic punk groups. His scores and songs routinely appear in jingles, films and documentaries. Andrés Sanchez is… Read more...
Jazz visionary and multi-talented BMI songwriter, bassist, composer and bandleader Avishai Cohen brought the Avishai Cohen Trio to London’s world renowned Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club on April 29. The performance was in celebration of their latest release, Gently Disturbed, on Cohen’s own Razdaz Recordz. Cohen was declared one of the… Read more...
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.… Read more...
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.… Read more...
It’s been more than 40 years since Ray Davies and the Kinks burst onto the pop music scene with “You Really Got Me.” The No. 1 English hit remains one of rock’s most primal songs, even credited by some as the first salvo of punk. He remains… Read more...
The highly lauded BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, now in its second decade, will highlight the best of new jazz compositions created during the last year at its 18th Annual Summer Showcase Concert. The concert is free to the public, and will be held on Thursday, July… Read more...
