PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Clyne Media, Inc.
Tel: (615) 662-1616
Fax: (615) 662-1636
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE RECORDING ACADEMY® PRODUCERS & ENGINEERS
WING HOSTS ROCK MY SOUL – CELEBRATING THE WORK OF LEGENDARY MUSIC
MEN TOM DOWD, AHMET & NESUHI ERTEGUN, ARIF MARDIN
AND JERRY WEXLER
The Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing Holds Its
Second Annual
GRAMMY® Week Event at the Legendary Village Recording Studios
Recording Academy Chair Jimmy Jam, Producers Nile Rodgers and Jimmy
Douglass Join Leading Members of the Recording Community to Pay Tribute
to the Legacy of These Visionaries
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (February 24, 2009) —
On Thursday, Feb. 5, days before the 51st GRAMMY® Awards telecast,
The Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing held its second
annual GRAMMY Week event. Titled "Rock My Soul," it honored
the work of legendary music innovators Tom Dowd, Ahmet & Nesuhi
Ertegun, Arif Mardin and Jerry Wexler. The event was hosted by the Village
Recording Studios, birthplace of scores of classic recordings from GRAMMY-winning
artists including Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, and Tom Petty.
At 8 p.m., the doors to The Village were opened to nearly
600 guests, consisting of GRAMMY-winning engineers and producers such
as Jimmy Jam, Roy Thomas Baker, Chris Lord-Alge, Phil Ramone, Jimmy
Douglass, Geoff Emerick, Al Schmitt, Brooks Arthur and more, as well
as other award-winning industry figures, including legendary producer/engineer
Eddie Kramer; artist/producer/remixer Carmen Rizzo; artists Keb' Mo',
Lucinda Williams, Billy Morrison (The Cult, Camp Freddy) and Weezer;
KCRW Music Director Jason Bentley and syndicated radio personality Shadoe
Stevens; EMMY® Award-winning actress Alfre Woodard; and former NBA
player Rick Fox. The event paid special tribute to Dowd, the Erteguns,
Mardin and Wexler, producers and engineers who made an indelible mark
on music history. From John Coltrane and Charles Mingus to Aretha Franklin,
Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and the Rolling Stones, these five
"record men" charted the course for rock and roll and left
an incredible heritage of music.
Addressing top industry guests and members of The Recording
Academy Producers & Engineers Wing, P&E Wing Sr. Executive Director
Maureen Droney and Co-chair Glenn Lorbecki, along with the Village Studios
CEO Jeff Greenberg, gave opening remarks on the night's presentation.
The event's Co-chairs, producers Nile Rodgers and Jimmy Douglass, shared
personal favorite experiences regarding working with the event's legendary
honorees, and Recording Academy chairman Jimmy Jam concluded the presentation
with eloquent comments about the importance of those who work behind
the scenes to create music.
The Village's various studios featured playback sessions
of songs with which each of the event's honorees were involved. Studio
A, the Rock and Pop Room, was sponsored by Fender® Musical Instruments.
The playlist in Studio A included tracks that ranged from Bobby Darin's
"Mack the Knife," to Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love,"
to Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love," to Norah Jones' "Don’t
Know Why," and more. In Studio B, the Shure-
sponsored Jazz Lounge, attendees were treated to such
classic jazz tracks as John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things,"
Charles Mingus' "My Jelly Roll Soul," and the Modern Jazz
Quartet's "Night in Tunisia." Studio D, the Rhythm & Blues
suite, was sponsored by Universal Audio. Their playlist included Albert
King's "Born Under a Bad Sign," Ray Charles' "What’d
I Say," Aretha Franklin's "Respect," Otis Redding's "Sittin'
on the Dock of the Bay," and much more. A VIP suite, sponsored
by GenAudio, showcased GenAudio's new AstoundStereo™ technology.
Other sponsors of the event included West L.A. Music and Westlake Audio,
JBL Professional, Digidesign, Sennheiser/Neumann, Neve, Korg and MIX/ReMix
magazines.
"The volume of musical work that Ahmet and Nesuhi,
Jerry, Arif, and Tom gave to the world is simply unsurpassed,"
stated Maureen Droney, Sr. Executive Director of The Producers &
Engineers Wing. "The P&E Wing is honored to be able to pay
tribute to these great men, who not only helped shape the course of
musical history but who personally influenced the P&E Wing's members
in very profound ways."
Photo File: PE_RockMySoul1.JPG
Photo Caption: Pictured L-R: P&E Wing Co-chair Glenn Lorbecki, P&E
Wing Sr. Executive Director Maureen Droney, honoree family member Joe
Mardin, Event Co-chairs Nile Rodgers and Jimmy Douglass, honoree family
members Cheryl Dowd, Dana Dowd and Paul Wexler, Recording Academy Chair
Jimmy Jam, and Village Studios CEO Jeff Greenberg, at the P&E Wing's
recent event "Rock My Soul," which honored the work of legendary
music innovators Tom Dowd, Ahmet & Nesuhi Ertegun, Arif Mardin and
Jerry Wexler. Photo Courtesy of The Recording Academy®/Wireimage.com
©2009. Photo by Rick Diamond.
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization
of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that
is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life
for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards
— the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence
and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is
responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment,
advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues
to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating
for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible
part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please
visit www.grammy.com.
Currently, 6,000 professionals comprise the Producers
& Engineers Wing, which was established for producers, engineers,
remixers, manufacturers, technologists, and other related creative and
technical professionals in the recording community. This organized voice
for the recording community addresses issues that affect the craft of
recorded music, while ensuring its role in the development of new technologies,
recording and mastering recommendations, and archiving and preservation
initiatives. For more information, please visit www.producersandengineers.com.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Robert Clyne/Clyne Media, Inc./615.662.1616/robert@clynemedia.com
Lisa Roy/310.463.1563/lisaroyaudio@mac.com
Jennifer Keppel/The Recording Academy/310.392.3777/jenniferk@grammy.com