Studies of Blondie, Louis Armstrong & More Win 2023 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards (Full List)

Paul Grein
·3 min read
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Erin Osmon’s liner notes for Blondie — Against the Odds: 1974-1982 won an ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award on Tuesday (Oct. 31). The collection, which chronicled Blondie, which went from the underground New York punk scene to the pinnacle of the Billboard Hot 100, received a Grammy nomination for best historical album last year.

Two studies of jazz legend Louis Armstrong were honored. Director Sacha Jenkins was cited for his Apple TV+ documentary, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues. Keith Hatschek was honored for his book The Real Ambassadors: Dave and Iola Brubeck and Louis Armstrong Challenge Segregation, published by University Press of Mississippi.

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The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards, now in their 54th year, are presented to outstanding books, articles, liner notes and broadcast programs on the subject of music.

Established in 1967 to honor the memory of composer, critic, commentator and former ASCAP president Deems Taylor, The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards are made possible by the support of the Virgil Thomson Foundation. Virgil Thomson (1896 – 1989) was a leading American composer and critic, and a former member of the ASCAP board of directors.

The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards judging panel is comprised of ASCAP members Daniel Felsenfeld, Dom Flemons, Terry Radigan, and Dalit Hadass Warshaw.  Jim Steinblatt provided professional guidance and advice.

More information about The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards is available here.

The 2023 award recipients are as follows:

The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in pop music: Director Sacha Jenkins for his Apple TV+ documentary, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues.

The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award in concert music: Writer and director Harry Lynch for his documentary, Florence Price and the American Migration, which aired on Now Hear This, a mini-series hosted by Scott Yoo on Great Performances, PBS.

The ASCAP Foundation Paul Williams “Loved the Liner Notes” Award for pop music: Erin Osmon for Blondie – Against the Odds: 1974-1982 by Erin Osmon on Universal Music Enterprises (UMC) and The Numero Group. The “Loved the Liner Notes” Award was established in 2016 and is funded by Paul Williams, president of The ASCAP Foundation.

The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in pop: Dan Charnas for his book, Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm, published by MCD, a division of Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Keith Hatschek for his book The Real Ambassadors: Dave and Iola Brubeck and Louis Armstrong Challenge Segregation, published by University Press of Mississippi.

Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in the concert music field:

Amy C. Beal for Terrible Freedom: The Life and Work of Lucia Dlugoszewski, published by University of California Press.

Licia Carlson for Shared Musical Lives: Philosophy, Disability, and the Power of Sonification, published by Oxford University Press.

A Special Recognition Award is given to William Rothstein for The Musical Language of Italian Opera, 1813-1859, published by Oxford University Press.

The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award recipients for articles published in 2022:

The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the pop music field is presented to Ted Olson for his article “The Life of Blind Alfred Reed,” published on Music of Our Mountains.com.

The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for an article in the concert music field goes to Jacek Blaszkiewicz for his article “Verdi, Auber and the Aida-type,” published by Cambridge Opera Journal.

The Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism in the pop music field recognizes Ashley N. Kahn for his “The New Jazz Émigrés: Insights from noted artists living abroad,” published on WBGO.com.

The Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism in the concert music field is presented to Nathan Platte for his article, “Mixed Motives: Soviet Symphonies and Propagandistic Duplicity in The Iron Curtain (1948),” published by Music & Politics.

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