Event will honor Common, Chaka Khan, Les Paul and Chicago's JAM Productions
GRAMMY.com
GRAMMY-winners Chaka Khan, Les Paul, and multiple GRAMMY nominee Common, along with Chicago's JAM Productions have been named recipients of the Chicago Chapter's 2006 Recording Academy Honors. The Recording Academy Honors celebrates outstanding individuals and organizations whose work embodies excellence and integrity and who have improved the environment for the creative community. The gala event, which will attract recording artists, key entertainment executives and community leaders, will be held March 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower. Formerly known as the Heroes Awards, The Recording Academy Honors gala supports the Chapter's ongoing advocacy, education and professional development programs.
The gala also will include a special tribute to three-time GRAMMY Award winner and Chicagoan Lou Rawls, who was one of the music world's most versatile vocalists, covering gospel, R&B, soul, jazz, blues and pop before his death in January.
The evening will begin with a cocktail hour followed by dinner and tribute presentations with celebrity presenters and performers. The event is sponsored by Gibson Guitars and other local and national corporations and organizations.
While many of his peers were drawing pictures of the world in black-and-white, Chicago-native Common used a multi-color palette to paint a picture that would truly capture the experience of everyday life for average people. He has drawn from the musical roots of the Chicago and Detroit music scenes, taking inspiration from Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye to fill out his soulful hip-hop sound. True to his name, Common uses an unpretentious approach to create masterfully crafted story raps, conceptual rhythms and thought provoking lyrics. Common was nominated for four awards at the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards, including Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance and is an honorary member of The Academy's What's The Download Interactive Advisory Board.
Chicago-born Chaka Khan is an award-winning, multitalented singer/songwriter, musician and community advocate who has reached several milestones in a career that began in the early 1970s when Khan became the lead singer for Rufus, one of the first top funk bands of its time. A nine-time GRAMMY winner, she has built a reputation as an exciting stage performer and with Rufus scored a platinum album, five gold albums, five gold singles, five No. 1 hits and two GRAMMY Awards. In 1999, she created The Chaka Khan Foundation, which assists women and at-risk children, and helped raise more than $1.4 million for autism research, awareness and therapy. She is the recipient of Soul Train's Lena Horne Lady Of Soul Career Achievement Award and the International Association of Africa-American Music's Diamond Life Award for Excellence.
From 1972 to 2005, JAM Productions has produced nearly 24,000 events, attracting more than 65 million people and grossing sales of more than $1 billion. Started by one college student (Jerry Mickelson) and one graduate (Arny Granat) from Michigan, today JAM employs more than 100 people in offices based in Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. Mickelson and Granat have been trailblazers for the last 35 years, producing top concerts for three-and-a-half decades, including Farm Aid, which has raised close to $27 million. Their work includes theatrical productions, various openings and galas, national tours, state fairs, street festivals, presidential rallies, inaugural ceremonies, world-class tennis matches, circuses, ballets, championship boxing and motorcross. Among their many philanthropic contributions, the pair founded Rock For Kids in 1988, which offers assistance and inspiration to children who are homeless or in need in Chicago.
Guitar legend Les Paul has been the driving force behind many changes in popular music. His influence and love for the electric guitar fueled the blues-rock sound of the late '60s and southern rock of the late '70s. Paul's 1948 hit "Brazil" featured six guitar parts, which he played himself, in a virtuoso demonstration that would eventually earn him recognition as the father of multitrack recording. When he combined his guitar and electronic talents with the vocals of his wife Mary Ford, it resulted in the multi-platinum 1951 hits "Mockin' Bird Hill" and "How High The Moon." Since the early 1950s, Paul has long been a leading innovator in guitar and electronics design. Gibson Guitar approached Paul to help them launch their first commercially viable solid body electric guitar. The Gibson Les Paul Model has become the standard of electric guitars.
Tickets for The Recording Academy Honors gala are $100 for Academy members, $150 for non-members and are available by calling the Chicago Chapter office at 312.786.1121. Sponsorship packages and table sales are also available
