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| Bridget Kearney Wins John Lennon Grand Prize Bridget Kearney, Jazz Composer and double bassist, wins John Lennon Songwriting Award. Her entry, an ironic exploration of ambivalent feelings about a potential lover, "Sometimes When I'm Drunk and You're Wearing My Favorite Shirt, " won for the best jazz song. She is one of 12 winners in as many categories and, along with a $5000 advance from EMI Music Publishing, she will receive a 1000-copy CD recording of her music. In earlier rounds, she won project studio equipment worth $5000 and a $500 gift certificate. She will now compete against the other 12 prize winners for the Maxell Song of the Year Award and a $20, 000 prize. While judging for the final 12 winners was done by ordinary listeners who voted via the Internet, a jury of celebrity musicians will decide who wins the Maxell Song of the Year. The panel this year includes: John Legend, Elton John, Carlos Santana, Enrique Iglesias, Tim McGraw, Black Eyed Peas, Carol Bayer Sager, CeCe and BeBe Wynan, and Amy Grant. The John Lennon Songwriting Context, now in its ninth year, is dedicated to providing opportunities to both professional and amateur songwriters. A native of Iowa City, IO, Kearney, 20, began school at New England Conservatory in Boston, where she studied with such jazz mo'fo's as Bob Moses, Danilo Perez, Cecil McBee, John Lockwood, Frank Carlberg, Michael Cain, John McNeil and Jamey Haddad. She also performed with Joe Lovano(!). (She simultaneously enrolled) at Tufts University, where she read lots of books and didn't do her math homework. Recently she has taken part in workshops with Steve Coleman, Henry Threadgill, Dave Holland and Django Bates. She did her first international performing at the Panama Jazz Festival in Panama City, Panama in January 2005. Later that year she spent six weeks in China playing with Jeremy Udden and a delightful array of local musicians! Her triumphant return to the states included gigs in California, New York, Boston and Iowa. She is currently spending a semester abroad in Morocco. She performed her prize-winning song with her group, Lake Street Dive, described as "a free country band, four musicians, four songwriters, four broken hearts." The musicians, besides Kearney, are Mike Calabrese '07, drums; Rachael Price '07, vocals; and Mike Olson, trumpet and guitar. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |