Recording Academy president/CEO
Neil Portnow (left) with producer
T Bone Burnett. ©2011 Mel Lambert
By Mel Lambert.
Los Angeles (February 10, 2011)–The Recording Academy awarded its President’s Merit Award to producer T Bone Burnett last night, for his significant contributions to the art and craft of recorded music.
Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow made the presentation during the standing room-only Producers & Engineers Wing’s Grammy Week Gala at Village Recording Studios, West Los Angeles. The P&E Wing celebrated its 10th Anniversary during the event, entitled “Shaken Rattled & Rolled,” to honor the 10-time Grammy winner’s 40-year career. Elton John and Leon Russell, whose album The Union Burnett produced last year at Village Studios, served as honorary event co-chairs.
“When the P&E Wing was established,” Portnow says, “an essential voice was created for music makers: the voice of those ‘behind the glass’ who work so diligently to ensure that the quality and integrity of recorded music is captured and preserved. As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, it is only fitting that we pay tribute to one of our industry’s finest: T Bone Burnett, whose visionary talent and masterful skills have greatly impacted the landscape of audio production.”
Burnett’s work includes producer credits for Elvis Costello, Jakob Dylan, Elton John and Leon Russell, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, k.d. lang, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Ralph Stanley, Cassandra Wilson and many others. He has also produced soundtracks for such films as Across The Universe, Cold Mountain, Crazy Heart, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski and Walk The Line.
Grammy Week culminates with Sunday night’s 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, to be broadcast on the CBS television network.
Shaken Rattled & Rolled was held with the support of such entities as Focusrite Novation, Full Sail, Kurzweil, Sennheiser and Ultimate Ears, plus Village Studios, West L.A. Music and Westlake Professional Sales. Co-sponsors included Harman International brands AKG Acoustics, JBL and Lexicon, Avid, Music Marketing, Shure, Iron Mountain, Korg USA, PMC, Prism Sound, Mix and Pro Sound News.
Mel Lambert heads up Content Creators, a one-stop copywriting and photographic service.
T Bone Burnett
www.tboneburnett.com
The Recording Academy
www.grammy.com
The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing
www.producersandengineers.com
