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B.B. King Tours Internationally
Due to his stellar success at the Blue Note in New York, both artistically and by selling out his week long engagement, B.B. King has been booked to play the three Blue Note clubs in Japan in May with week long stints in Fukuoka (May 6-11), Tokyo (May 13-18), and Osaka (May 20-25). "The feedback was enormous in the intimate club," says Sidney Seidenberg, King's longtime manager. "The week at the blue note was a recognition of B.B.'s inspiration and a reinforcement of what his touring is all about. We therefore decided to play the three Blue Note Clubs in Japan for a week each rather than our normal schedule of one-nighters, which usually last two to three weeks."
Prior to touring Japan, B.B. King will be performing in Canada for most of April, from Ontario west to British Columbia. And after touring Japan, King will once again play at many of the European Jazz Festivals from June 29-July 31 with stops in France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, and possibly some other countries. Seidenberg is currently sifting through offers from Israel, Greece, Turkey, Finland, and Norway. "We also have two separate offers from two different promoters in South Africa," states Seidenberg, "and we would like to play there in either November or December. B.B. has never played in South Africa." To date, B.B. King has performed in 57 countries.
And in late August to mid-October, B.B. King will once again headline his Blues Music Festival for the fifth year, playing in amphitheatres across the United States.
B.B. King,
Winner of Seven Grammy Awards, Receives 19th Nomination with John
Henry
Alreay the winner of seven Grammy Awards, B.B. King has
received his 19th nomination for John Henry in the Best Spoken
World Album for Children. (The Grammy is awarded to the album
producers). B.B. King and Doris Wilhousky produced the Rabbit
Ears release. John Henry was narrated by Denzel Washington with
music by King. The other nominated spoken word children's albums
include Follow the Drinking Gourd, narrated by Morgan Freeman
with music by Taj Mahal; Why the Dog Chases the Cat: Great Animal
Stories, by David Holt and Bill Mooney, The Diary of a Young Girl
(Anne Frank), narrated by Winona Ryder, and Prokofiev: Peter and
the Wolf, narrated by Peter Stewart.
B.B. King's previous seven Grammy Awards were for "The Thrill is Gone" (Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance, Male, 1970); There Must be a Better World Somewhere (Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording, 1981), Blues & Jazz (Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1983), "My Guitar Sings the Blues", a track from Six Silver Strings (Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1985), Live at San Quentin (Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1990), Live at the Apollo (Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1991), and Blues Summit (Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1993). Additionally, in 1970, B.B. King's Indianola Mississippi Seeds received the Grammy for Best Album Cover for designer Robert Lockart and photographer Ivan Nagy.
B.B. King wins
Orville M. Gibson Guitar Award for Best Blues
Guitarist&emdashMale
B.B. King has won the 1996 Orville M. Gibson Guitar Award for
Best Blues Guitarist, Male by the editors of the leading guitar
magazines, including Guitar Magazine, Guitar World, Guitar
Player, Bass Player, and Musician Magazine. The other finalists
included Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker.
The Orville M. Gibson Guitar Awards were designed as a fundraising event for the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Foundation and their clinics working with autistic and severly handicapped children through the use of improvisational music.
Last November, at the 8th annual Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef Dinner and Auction, a B.B. King Gibson guitar was auctioned and sold for $35,000 in an unusual bidding. Eric Clapton and Bill Curbishedly, manager or Page/Plant were in a bidding war. It was decided that Clapton, the Silver Clef honoree of the evening would get the guitar for $17,000, while Curbishedly would donate $18,000 to Nordoff-Robbins, adding up to $35,000.
B.B. King
Voted into Performance Magazine's Touring Hall of Fame
B.B. King was voted into the Performance Magazine's Touring Hall
of Fame this past January by the readers of the leading
international touring weekly, a trade publication. Also included
were the Eagles. Previous talent inductees include the Beach
Boys, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Bob
Dylan, Roy Orbison, Elton John, Pink Floyd, The Who, David Bowie,
Neil Diamond, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Eric
Clapton, Rod Stewart, Queen, The Allman Brothers Band, and
Crosby, Stills, & Nash.
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Last update on 6/9/96 ...
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