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| Maria Schneider Nominated for Two Grammys  World-renowned New York-based composer/orchestra leader Maria Schneider has earned two 2007 Grammy nominations for her acclaimed CD Sky Blue, an album without in-store distribution. Released in July of 2007 through ArtistShare and available exclusively through her website, MariaSchneider.com, the CD has taken the international music world by storm. Sky Blue was nominated as in the category of “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album,” and Schneider's composition “Cerulean Skies” from the same album, performed by the Maria Schneider Orchestra, was nominated in the category of “Best Instrumental Composition.” The Grammy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 10, 2008, in Los Angeles. “These nominations belong to all the great musicians represented, engineer (Joe Ferla), assistants and co-producer (Ryan Truesdell), and of course all of my fans who have participated, thereby making all of this possible,” Schneider says. “I thank you!” Schneider's 2004 CD Concert in the Garden was the first recording ever to win a Grammy award without in-store distribution. When she won, Maria's fans started writing in to say how proud they felt. This was not surprising, as it was her fans that made the recording possible via her ArtistShare-powered website, where “the fans make it happen.” With Sky Blue Schneider expanded and deepened her relationship with her fans, finding that in addition to their help with funding her recordings, they also helped to fuel her creativity. Maria Schneider is a composer first and foremost, and one who constantly pushes the boundaries of jazz. Always in-demand as a bandleader, she tours the world conducting bands in full-length concerts of her music. But her first love is composing new music for her own band to perform because, when she composes, it is her musicians who she hears inside her head. More than half of her orchestra members have been with her since the Maria Schneider Orchestra was formed in 1993. Their mutual admiration, coupled with the intimacy that time brings, is evident throughout Sky Blue. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |