For the Children

In March at the Wilton School Performing Arts Center in Wilton, Connectictut, composer Chris Brubeck and the children of the Wilton public schools collaborated in presenting an evening of poetry, music, art and science. Brubeck's band, Triple Play, performed jazz while students read their original poetry. Then two new Brubeck symphonic compositions were premiered: River of Song was given its east coast premiere and his Waterworks was given its world premiere. Pictured at the concert (l-r) are Triple Play's Joel Brown, Peter "Madcat" Ruth and Brubeck, surrounded by children who participated in the event which was held to raise money for the Wilton Library.

Kidding Around with Tom Chapin

Beloved singer/songwriter and children's music favorite Tom Chapin, who won a Grammy this year for his album There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly, performed a special concert for ASCAP employees at the Society's New York offices to thank them for all the work they do for members. Pictured prior to his performance (l-r) are ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento, Chapin, ASCAP's Marcy Drexler and Phil Crosland, ASCAP member Michael Mark, who accompanied Chapin, and ASCAP's Seth Saltzman. In inset, Chapin performs on the autoharp.

TRIBUTE

Maria and Peggy

ASCAP member Peggy Lee (1920-2002), a notable songwriter and legendary singer, is celebrated with two new releases. Her own Peggy at Basin Street East (Collector's Choice Music) features a previously unreleased concert from 1961 at the famed night club. Among the gems performed by Lee are her songwriting collaboration with Duke Ellington ("Im Gonna Go Fishin'") and songs Lee wrote with her husband, Dave Barbour ("Mañana," "It's a Good Day"). Lee is also the subject of a tribute by her fellow ASCAP member, Maria Muldaur, on Muldaur's A Woman Alone with the Blues:...Remembering Peggy Lee (Telarc). Muldaur reflects Lee's spirit in her new renditions of "Black Coffee," "I Don't Know Enough About You," "Waitin' for the Train To Come In," among other classic songs associated with Peggy Lee.

More Peggy

In other Peggy Lee news, singer/songwriter/producer Richard Barone is putting together a tribute at Carnegie Hall, There'll Be Another Spring: A Tribute to Miss Peggy Lee, on June 23 as part of this year's JVC Jazz Festival. Pictured left (l-r) at the press conference announcing the show are Barone, Deborah Harry and jazz impresario George Wein.

Judy Collins Honored

ASCAP member and legendary vocalist Judy Collins was honored with the ASCAP Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award for her decades of activism on behalf of civil rights, peace, the environment and fighting hunger. The presentation was made at the annual World Hunger Year-Harry Chapin Awards Dinner at New York's Chelsea Piers. The late Harry Chapin was a co-founder of World Hunger Year. Making the presentation to Collins was Harry's brother, Tom Chapin, a noted ASCAP singer/songwriter.

Jaime Babbitt's Excellent Results

"As a kid I would always sing whenever I was happy, so I just figured that if I was always singing, I'd always be happy," says New York-based singer/songwriter Jaime Babbitt. So far, Babbitt must be a very happy person. From fronting rock bands to the lucrative jingle singing world where she became the voice for Hanes, Panasonic, Miller Beer, Pillsbury and Sears, Babbitt's voice paid the bills. That was all well and good, but by the late '90s, she was anxious to expand her creative horizons. Having learned to play the guitar years before when she was a teenager, she picked it up again and began writing songs. She found she couldn't stop. Then last year, after polishing her own material in New York clubs and journeying to Nashville to play her songs for her songwriting friends, she set about recording her first full-length album. The result is an excellent album called Excellent Driver, produced by Bronx-based studio guru Lincoln Schleifer and featuring an ace band comprised of New York musicians: guitarist John Putnam, drummer Denny McDermott and bassist Schleifer. Guest musicians also include Larry Campbell, Jeff Kazee, Danny Louis and others.

A highly impressive debut, Excellent Driver is a collection of songs in the modern roots/pop vein (a la Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin) where lyric and melody are central but groove is king. For more info on Jaime Babbitt, go to www.jaimebabbitt.com

SonaBLAST! Records Launches More Great Music

SonaBLAST Records was founded by NYC-based film producer Gill Holland a few years ago when Holland felt it was high time for music lovers with means to step in and promote great indie music. He was scouting music for his film company, cineBLAST!, when he came across the work of NYC-based Irish singer/songwriter Mark Geary, who inspired him to start the record label and became his first signing. Today, sonaBLAST!'s roster has swelled to include two other great New York artists, who have released new albums. One is alt/country singer/songwriter Andrew Hunt, pictured top right, whose debut album, Whiskey Talking, is a sublime mix of country and bluegrass. The other is the electropunk rock band Collider, pictured below, whose new EP, We're Collider...You're F***ed, was produced by Tommy Ramone and features a cameo by CJ Ramone and cover art by Arturo Vega. For more information on Hunt, Collider and sonaBLAST!, go to www.sonablast.com.

Island Soul

"Although I live on an island, no woman is an island," says singer/songwriter Patricia Watson, who makes her home on Maui. "It is a wonderful place to call home, raise children, create and dare to dream." Dare to dream she did and now an idea she had more than 10 years ago is coming to life. Watson's original rock opera, Soul Mates, featuring all Watson songs, revolves around two rock stars who have to find their own souls before they can find their true soul mate. The World Premiere of the work is planned for August 2003 at Hawaii's state-of-the-art Castle Theatre.

To help her bring the show to fruition, Watson reached out from her island to ASCAP's John Alexander who introduced her to ASCAP's Michael Kerker. After hearing the music, Kerker introduced Watson to nationally acclaimed theatre director David Galligan (David Foster's Scream). Galligan loved Soul Mates and showed it to poet Rod McKuen (who will be co-starring in the show as the priest) and Mary Jo Catlett ("Different Strokes," The Champ, Serial Mom).

Watson, who has written and recorded with EMI and Elektrola (Germany) for the World Wildlife Fund and International Earth Day projects as well as her own albums and videos in Hawaii and Canada, says that they are still casting the show. "We are still looking for our big name male rock star," she says. "It shouldn't be too tough to find someone to go to Maui for a month to be in the World Premiere of Soul Mates." Go to www.soulmatesarockopera.com.

Welcome to Tourrettaville: A Family Affair

When writer and lyricist June Rachelson-Ospa learned that her son, Jonny, had been diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, she learned everything she could about the condition that caused him to blink, roll his shoulders and neck and shout out strange words. What she worried about most, however, was how she could help him not become alienated at his school, P.S. 59 in Manhattan. After a teacher suggested that Jonny write about his experience, June asked him if he'd like to write a musical play. Jonny said he loved the idea. Together they created a story about Mark, a boy like Jonny who discovered he had Tourette Syndrome. Mark discovers a magical place called Tourettaville, where he comes face to face with aliens Tick, Blinky, Screamer and their leader the Big Bleeper. They befriend Mark inspiring him to self-acceptance and a new self-confidence. Jonny called the play "Welcome to Tourettaville."

June wrote the lyrics to the musical and got her theatre colleagues Daniel Neiden, Jody Gray and Doug Katsaros to create the music. June's other son, Jacob, illustrated the characters in the story for use in promoting the show.

But what started out as a school project turned into a national success story. After an initial performance of the musical in New York in the spring of 2000, the play won the Very Special Arts Playwright Award and was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for Congressional members and the public. It also was given further presentations around the country.

But the story of "Tourettaville" continues. Most recently one of the songs from the musical, "One of a Kind of You: The Tourettaville National Anthem" was given the star treatment. Legendary New Orleans writer/performer Dr. John was so moved by the song that he recorded it last year in New York with musicians from Bob Dylan's band and the Saturday Night Live band as well as a 16-piece string section featuring such artists as ASCAP composer member and violist Martha Mook. Pictured (l-r) at the recording session are Jonny Ospa, Martha Mook and June Ospa. Now "Tourettaville" has become a real positive force. On June 12, the show will commemorate National Tourette Awareness month by presenting the Kindness Concert in New York City's Bryant Park with ASCAP member Tom Chapin and others. For more information about "Welcome to Tourettaville," go to www.tourettaville.com.

Sarah's Smile

New York-based Sarah Nagourney is a very happy songwriter these days. Many of her original songs are making their way to artists around the world who are embracing her striking compositions. Recent cuts include the the title track and single for Randy Crawford's U.S. and European release, the title track for the Platinum-selling Startin' Something by Australia's Scandal'us and a song on Sita's Platinum-selling Happy. Nagourney has come a long way from the release of her own debut solo album, Realm of My Senses, which established her as an emerging talent and exposed her to other artists who wanted to work with her. To date, she has collaborated with an impressive array of writers from around the world, including Chris Difford, Billy Burnette, Phil Thornally, Melissa Manchester and Boo Hewerdine. She has also had songs on TV's "Young and the Restless" and in the hit cult film Ghost World. For more info, go to www.Glassbeat.com.

Something to Crow About

The great state of Texas produces some of the world's greatest rough-around-the-edges singer/ songwriters, including Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Joe Ely. That list just got a little longer with the release of Fort Worth singer/songwriter Will Gillham's new album Crow (Scowling Yogi Records). A low-fi acoustic recording featuring Gillham's earthy vocals and guitar and a second guitarist, Kevin Grove, providing beautifully nuanced picking, Crow is a quiet, dark and dusty tour de force. The Fort Worth Weekly praised Gillham for having "the good taste to steal ideas from the likes of Albert Camus and Lou Reed. His songs reflect a dark sensibility, whether he's singing about alienation and anomie ("Susan B. Anthony Dollar," "In This World"), random violence ("Kitchen Song"), paranoia ("Get a Gun"), or that ol' standby Death ("Crow"). "Banker" could have been written during the Depression but speaks eloquently of post-9/11 economic desperation. When Gillham finally waxes romantic in "Song for Her," the sentiment seems credible for being so hard-won." Crow and Gillham's first album, The Blue Wheel, are both available on CDBaby.com.

Todd Cochran

Pianist/composer Todd Cochran has enjoyed a multifaceted career. A classically trained pianist, jazz pianist, and pop/rock electronic musician, arranger and producer, his creative journey has placed him in the company of top artists in several genres. Currently he is completing new works on commission from The Commission Project in New York, a suite for Bob Watt, associate principal horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and an extended piece for 3 pianos premiering in September 2003. Cochrane has now moved into film composing and has a number of composing projects in place. Highlights include scoring last year's Keep The Faith Baby (The Adam Clayton Powell Story) for Showtime/Paramount. Says Todd, "Film scoring is becoming more and more interesting and rewarding to me and it feels like a natural fit. I'm very excited about the future."