(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) —
Twenty individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to blues music will be honored with The Blues Foundation's 2006 Keeping The Blues Alive (KBA) Award during a recognition brunch on January 28 in Memphis TN. The KBA ceremony will be part of the International Blues Challenge (IBC) weekend of events that will feature the semifinals and finals of the 22nd IBC competition as well as seminars, presentations and receptions for blues societies, fans and professionals.
Unlike the Blues Music Awards, the blues musicians’ most sought-after honor voted on by thousands of The Blues Foundation’s members, the KBAs are awarded to non-performers on the basis of merit by a select panel of blues professionals. “Each year the committee sifts through many worthy submissions in the process of determining the most deserving, whether that decision is based on a particular event of the past year or on years of contributions," said board member board member and KBA Chairman Art Tipaldi. "After more than twenty years, one might think we would be running short on candidates, but the opposite is true. The sifting remains very difficult.”
2006 Keeping the Blues Alive Award recipients:
Blues Club–Chord On Blues, St. Charles, IL
Blues Organization–Detroit Blues Society, Detroit, MI
Education–David Berntson, Tulsa, OK
Blues Festival–Beale Street Music Festival, Memphis, TN
Film–Lighting in a Bottle, Antoine Fuqua, director; Alex Gibney, producer; Martin Scorsese, executive producer, New York, NY
Historical Preservation–River Music Experience, Davenport, IA
Internet–Blues Bytes, Bill Mitchell, Tempe, AZ
Journalism–Sean McDevitt, New York, NY
Literature–The B.B. King Treasures, Dick Waterman, Oxford, MS
Manager–Jim Bateman, Bogalusa, LA
Photography–Paul Natkin, Chicago, IL
Print Media–Blues Festival Guide, Reno, NV
Producer–Bruce Bromberg, Pacific Palisades, CA
Promoter–Ted Boomer, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Publicist–Cary Baker, conqueroo, Sherman Oaks, CA
Radio (Commercial)–Bill Wax, XM Satellite Radio, Washington, DC
Radio (Public)–KPFT Radio, Houston, TX
Record Label–M.C. Records, Huntington Station, NY
Retailer–Twist and Shout, Denver, CO
Sponsor—BMI, New York, NY
The IBC weekend commencing January 26 is sponsored in significant part by the Tennessee Arts Commission, Tennessee Film, Entertainment & Music Commission, Greater Memphis Arts Council, Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, bandvillage.com, Budweiser, XM Satellite Radio, the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise and Strings & Things. Additional sponsors include: Bar-B-Bar BBQ Sauces, Beale Street Merchants Association, Center for Southern Folklore, Delta Groove Productions, Doubletree Hotel, FedEx, Gibson Guitars, Ginnin’ Cotton Records and sonicbids. Media Sponsors include Big City Rhythm and Blues, Blues Festival Guide, Blues Revue, BluesWax, Downtowner magazine and Living Blues. –Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
