Jazz

ASCAP's 2013 General Annual Membership Meeting was held on Thursday, April 18th at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. The meeting kicked off the 2013 ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO, the annual three-day conference for music creators featuring educational and inspiring panels, networking opportunities and exhibits.

Award recipients for the 17th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards were announced on Wednesday, May 1st. ASCAP members scored an impressive 12 awards in total, including Musician of the Year, Composer/Arranger of the Year and Record of the Year.

Noted pianist-composer John Beasley will act as the Music Director for the culmination of the 2nd annual International Jazz Day, held this year in Istanbul, Turkey. The concert will feature performances by jazz icons from around the world.

While the afterglow of this year’s eighth annual ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO still burns, here’s a look back at some of the highlights, from lessons learned to great photo and video moments from the heart of it all in Hollywood.

The United Nations hosted ASCAP member, American jazz musician and designated UNESCO Artist for Peace, Marcus Miller, in a concert to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The invitation-only concert took place at the United Nations General Assembly Hall.

ASCAP Day is designed to provide both Film Scoring and Songwriting students with information on current trends in their fields. Larkin will discuss her own career in classes with Songwriting students, and ASCAP staff will meet with students in the Film Scoring classes.

To celebrate her latest and eighth album release, Live at Scullers, ASCAP’s Grace Kelly brought her quintet down to New York for a two-night romp at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Special surprise guest for the March 5th-6th blow-out was fellow ASCAP musician and trombonist extraordinaire Wycliffe Gordon.

Allison Miller is an acclaimed drummer with a storied pop career. She's less well-known as a modern jazz composer, although her Boom Tic Boom quartet's sophomore release should remedy that. The album is filled with striking, poignant, reflective pieces played magnificently by Miller and special guests.

ASCAP member Blossom Dearie was a jazz singer, pianist and songwriter, known for her girlish voice and beloved supper club performances ‘round the world. She died on February 7th, 2009. To commemorate the anniversary of Dearie's passing, her co-writer Mahriah Blackwolf recounts how they started working together.

Established by The ASCAP Foundation in 2002 to encourage gifted jazz composers under the age of 30, the program awards recipients with cash prizes after a juried national competition.

ASCAP is pleased to announce that OnStage is now available through its latest mobile update. ASCAP Onstage gives members the opportunity to receive royalties when their music is performed live. The mobile version includes the ability to locate venues using a device's GPS. ASCAP members can now submit performances wherever they are.

The Clayton Brothers and their longtime bandmates are some of the most soulful and accomplished players in modern jazz. On The Gathering, the group is joined by trombone great Wycliffe Gordon and vibes virtuoso Stefon Harris for a wonderful recording that showcases their fabulous melodies, interplay, energy and expression.

Several ASCAP members were among the honorees at the Los Angeles Jazz Society's 29th annual Jazz Tribute Awards Dinner & Concert, including jazz guitarist John Pisano and GRAMMY-Award winning composer Gordon Goodwin.

The ASCAP Plus Awards reward writers whose works have a unique prestige value for which adequate compensation would not otherwise be received, and compensate those writers whose works are performed substantially in media not surveyed by ASCAP.

The contest, named after famed jazz trumpeter and ASCAP member Doc Severinsen, recognizes new works that are a fusion of jazz and classical music, and feature trumpet as a soloist with a large ensemble (either wind ensemble or orchestra).

The release of Bop! Bang! Boom! marks Grant Geissman’s fifteenth solo album since breaking onto the scene over 30 years ago. Recently the celebrated guitarist and composer spoke to us about his latest release, how scoring popular TV has affected his work and career, his hobbies outside of making music and lots more.

It is with great sorrow that we share the news that ASCAP member and Founding Artistic Director of Symphony Space in New York Isaiah Sheffer, best-known as the voice of radio program "Selected Shorts," has passed away at the age of 76.

Modern music lost a true jazz titan when ASCAP tenor saxophonist David S. Ware passed away on October 18th. Ware's longtime collaborator Matthew Shipp offers a thoughtful appreciation of Ware's work as a composer, a musician and a band leader.