2006 Keeping the Blues Alive Awards Announced

The Keeping the Blues Alive Awards Memphis, TN ­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 Saturday, January 28, 2006 in Memphis Tennessee. The KBA ceremony will be part of the International Blues Challenge (IBC) weekend of events, Jan 26-28, 2006 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. Board member and KBA Chairman Art Tipaldi commented on this year's recipients. "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. 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."

This year's Keeping the Blues Alive Award recipients are:

- 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 (Kaati Gaffney (Publisher), Michele Lundeen (Editor), Nancy Edwards (Marketing)
- 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

Details about the recipients can be found at www.blues.org

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