[Dixielandjazz] Politics in Music Industry

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

Interesting article:

  As much as I admire and love my friend B.B. King, and do not in anyway 
suggest that he does not deserve any award that they wish to bestow upon him.

It does however seem ridiculous to give half of $130,887.00 award to a man 
that earns $75,000.00 a concert 265 days or more a year.  A Nice Plaque would 
certainly suffice and donate the money to a worth musical education association 
or an up and coming struggling young performer.  Finally: Money is the last 
thing that B.B. King needs.

The money could certainly be much better spent, and If I know B.B. He will 
accept it and donate it to a blues in the schools program himself for a tax 
write off.   He is a Class act and a wonderful Human Being as well.   A very 
interesting award amount as well, wonder what kind of Tax shelter that is for Stig 
Anderson?

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins

B.B. King Scared To Meet Swedish Royalty
Posted: Sat., May. 22, 2004 09:32:46 AM MST STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Critics 
and fans alike consider him blues royalty, but B.B. King said Friday that he 
gets nervous meeting a real monarch. 

"I never met a king before," the Itta Bena, Miss.-born bluesman said in the 
Swedish capital, where he'll receive the 2004 Polar Music Prize from King Carl 
XVI Gustaf next week. 

"I did meet the queen of England once and I shiver every time I think about 
it now," he added. "So I'm wondering what will happen now that I have a chance 
to meet the royal family. I'm grateful, but I'm still scared." 

The 78-year-old King and Hungarian-born composer Gyoergy Ligeti were selected 
for the annual prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music earlier this year. 
Both will receive the prize Monday, but the 80-year-old Ligeti, had to cancel 
his trip because of illness, his assistant said. 

Ligeti, who lived in Sweden during the 1960s, was "very unhappy that he's not 
able to be here," Louise Duchesneua said. "He was looking forward so much to 
be able to show off his Swedish." 

The $130,887 award, founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of the Swedish 
pop group ABBA, is typically split between pop artists and classical 
musicians. Previous winners include Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Isaac Stern, Bruce 
Springsteen, Pierre Boulez and Quincy Jones. 

The academy praised King for his "significant contributions to the blues" and 
a "total dedication to his music, a rich recording history and tireless 
touring lasting more than half a century (that has) made him one of the most 
prominent figures within the blues." 

Ligeti was cited for "stretching the boundaries of the musically conceivable 
from mind-expanding sounds to new astounding processes in a thoroughly 
personal style that embodies both inquisitiveness and imagination."