At a ceremony in New York City on June 16th, 2009, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has added seven music greats to the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame: Jon Hendricks, Johnny Mandel, Annie Ross, and Randy Weston; and posthumous honorees John Coltrane, Dave Lambert, and Tito Puente.

In addition, violinist and composer Regina Carter has been honored with The ASCAP Foundation Vanguard Award for her innovative musical activity, and the first-ever ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame Prize was presented to clarinetist/saxophonist/composer Anat Cohen for her promise in composition and musicianship.

The evening also recognized winners of the seventh annual ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards. The recipients are:

Mike Baggetta, 29 (Brooklyn, NY); Tyler Gilmore, 26 (Denver, CO); Victor Gould, 21 (Boston, MA); Aaron Grad, 28 (Takoma Park, MD); Nick Grondin, 26 (Boston, MA); Alex Heitlinger, 28 (Brooklyn, NY); Armand Hirsch, 18 (New York, NY): Matt Holman, 26 (New York, NY); Remy Le Boeuf, 22 (New York, NY); Ben Markley, 27 (Longmont, CO); Kendall R. Moore, 22 (Miami, FL); Rob Mosher, 29 (Brooklyn, NY); Daniel Ori, 29 (New York, NY); Travis Reuter, 22 (Brooklyn, NY); Albert Rivera, 25 (Bronx, NY); Sam Sadigursky, 29 (Brooklyn, NY); Nikos Syropoulos, 20 (Los Angeles, CA); Matthew Vashlishan,26 (Coral Gables, FL); Justin Vasquez, 26 (Austin, TX); and Brandon Wright, 26 (Brooklyn, NY).

The youngest ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composers, ages 15 to 17, are: Lucas Apostoleris, 15 (MA); Phillip Golub, 15 (CA); Nicolas Hetko, 17 (NY); David Lantz, 17 (PA); Caili O’Doherty, 16 (OR) and Keshav Singh, 17 (CA).

Composers receiving Honorable Mention are: Benj Bellon, 17 (CA); Michael Collins, 29 (Tempe, AZ); Zaccai Curtis, 27 (Bronx, NY); Douglas Detrick, 25, (Eugene, OR); James Hirschfeld, 27, (New York, NY); Pascal Le Boeuf, 22 (Santa Cruz, CA); Chase Morrin, 15 (CA); Joshua Moshier, 22 (Evanston, IL); Matt Savage, 16, (NH); Erica Seguine, 21 (Rochester, NY); and Stephen W. (Red) Wierenga, 29 (New York, NY).

The ASCAP composer/judges for the 2008/2009 competition were: John Fedchock, Jay Leonhart, and Phil Markowitz.

More information about ASCAP and their Jazz Wall Of Fame can be found on their site.

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