International Songwriting Competition (ISC) Announces 2007 Jazz Winners

• Jim Tomlinson and Kazuo Ishiguro (London, England) for their song “The Ice Hotel" (First Place),
  
• Richard Underhill (Toronto, ON, Canada) for his song “Surfing" (Second Place),
  
• Luluk Purwanto and Rene van Helsdingen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) for their song “Stay With You" (Third Place).

Renowned for its prestigious celebrity judges, ISC received over 15,000 songs from amateur and professional songwriters from 100 countries worldwide, confirming ISC's status as the leading global songwriting event. In fact, for the first time in the competition's history, the majority of winners (59%) come from outside the USA. More than $150,000 in cash and prizes is shared among the 59 winners, including an overall Grand Prize of $25,000 (US) cash, the largest cash Grand Prize of any songwriting competition in the world, and $30,000 in merchandise and services.

Candace Avery, Founder and Director of ISC, says, “Over the years, the Jazz category has always proved to be extremely competitive, with an extremely high level of songwriting. So many of our entrants are highly accomplished songwriters and artists. This year, as always, ISC's jazz winners show so much creativity and innovation, displaying influences from diverse musical styles in the jazz idiom. ISC's recognition of their songwriting skill is a well-deserved honor, and ISC is thrilled to provide the platform to make this happen for them."

Jim Tomlinson and Kazuo Ishiguro from London, England, are awarded First Place in the Jazz category for their song “The Ice Hotel". Tomlinson has worked in a wide variety of groups, from Brian Ferry to the experimental big band composer, Michael Garrick. Most recently, he has toured worldwide exclusively with his wife, Blue Note recording artist Stacey Kent (who is the vocalist on the winning song). His latest CD, The Lyric (2005), won Album of the Year at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards. Most recently, he produced Stacey Kent's new album, Breakfast On The Morning Tram for which he wrote four songs. Kazuo Ishiguro, who penned the lyrics for “The Ice Hotel", was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954 and has lived in Britain since 1960. He is the author of six novels, including The Remains of the Day (1989), which won the Booker Prize and was adapted into an award-winning film, and most recently, Never Let Me Go. His work has been translated into forty languages. He has also written screenplays, most recently The White Countess (2006), directed by James Ivory. He has received many awards and honors, including the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature, and has been made Chevalier de l'Ordres des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

Second Place honors are awarded to Richard Underhill from Toronto, ON, Canada, for his song “Surfing". Underhill's wonderful warm alto sound, great writing and arranging skills, and powerful soloing make him one of Canada's most distinctive jazz performers. He won a 2003 Juno Award for his jazz debut, Tales from the Blue Loung,e and was nominated for the Prix du Jazz at the 2003 Montreal Jazz Festival. His latest album, Moment in Time, has garnered significant critical acclaim and was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award. His debut video, “The Old Guys," climbed to No.1 on the Bravo! video chart and won a 2004 SOCAN Number 1 award.

Luluk Purwanto and Rene van Helsdingen, from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, are awarded Third Place for their song “Stay With You". Luluk Purwanto and Rene van Helsdingen are part of the internationally recognized jazz ensemble Luluk Purwanto and the Helsdingen Trio. The group has toured worldwide and recently released their latest album Luluk, Aysha. The album is comprised of more than two hours of original jazz music and is meant for listeners who like long solos and are interested in the compositional aspects of jazz.

In addition to these winners, 12 other Jazz songs garnered an Honorable Mention in the category:

“Blow To The Head (Parts I and II)"
- Abram Wilson (Abram Wilson & The Delta Blues Project) - London, England

“Breath"
Ben Wendel (Kneebody) - New York, NY, USA

“Der Turm"
- Anke Helfrich - Weinheim, Germany

“Jazzin' Around"
- David Herzhaft - Burcin, France

“Louise"
- Felicia Carter - Baltimore, MD, USA

“Memories Of Istanbul"
- Egri Jnos - Budapest, Hungary

“Nothing To Kill Or Die For"
- Antonio Apuzzo (Ibrido Hot Five) - Liveri, Napoli, Italy

“Quidnunc Mo"
- John William Gordon - Oakland, CA, USA

“Rubber Band “
- Cory Combs - Mill Valley, CA, USA

“The Flipside"
- Jaleel Shaw - Philadelphia, PA, USA

“The Mad Hatter Rides Again"
- Jeff Coffin - Nashville, TN, USA

“The Struggle"
- Jeff Busch and the Jeff Busch Quintet - Seattle, WA, USA

Along with the Jazz category, winners in all 19 categories are represented by songwriters from all over the world. The 2007 Grand Prize is awarded to Eduard Glumov (Aktobe, Kazakhstan) and Z. Mulls (Swarthmore, PA, USA) for their song “I'm Not Your Friend." The song, entered in the Rock category, was written by Glumov with lyrics provided by Z. Mulls of Swarthmore, PA, USA. This collaboration - from Kazakhstan to the USA - from one side of the globe to the other - perfectly reflects ISC's mission of creating a competition that is inclusive of songwriters worldwide. Glumov, a singer/songwriter, and Z. Mulls, a lyricist, met each other on MusesMuse.com, a songwriting resource website, and their musical collaboration produced the winning song.

For a complete list of 2007 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners.htm

Applauded for its high caliber of judges, ISC compiled a stellar panel of judges for the 2007 competition, including: Loretta Lynn; Craig Morgan; Tom Waits; Julian Casablancas (The Strokes); Nelly Furtado; Ray Davies (The Kinks); Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Ornette Coleman; Youssou N'Dour; Sean Paul; Jerry Lee Lewis; “Weird Al" Yankovic; Black Francis (Pixies); Robert Smith (The Cure); Cassandra Wilson; David Cross; John Mayall; Joe Satriani; Toby Mac; Michael W. Smith; Chris Hillman (The Byrds); John Scofield; Hinder; Amy Ray (Indigo Girls); Cheech Marin (Cheech & Chong); Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Macy Gray; Peter Hook (New Order); Paulina Rubio; Tiesto; Charlie Walk (President, Epic Records); Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records); Mona Scott-Young (President, Violator Records); Cameron Strang (President, New West Records); Steve Lillywhite (Producer - credits include U2, The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Peter Gabriel, and more); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR Miami, pioneer of Latin radio); Angel Carrasco (President, 605 Discos and Sr. VP A&R, Sony BMG Latin America); Thomas Brooman (Co-Founder/Artistic Director, WOMAD); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo World Music); Nancy Wolpert (VP Home Entertainment and Nick Records, Nickelodeon/BMG); Leib Ostrow (CEO, Music For Little People); and Paul Majors (CEO/Founder Majors Music).

2007 Sponsors include: Electro-Voice, ASCAP, Berklee College Of Music, Cakewalk, Shure, D'Addario, Thayers, Sam Ash, Hear Technologies, Disc Makers, Sonicbids, Musician's Atlas, Sibelius, Karian Studios, OnlineGigs, The Music Business Registry, Mediaguide, ArtistMonitor, Platinum Blue Music Intelligence, Alphabet Arm Design, George Stein, Esq., SongU, Shari's Berries, The Indie Venue Bible, and Taxi.

ISC is now accepting entries for 2008. The 2008 competition will include many new judges and a new Music Video category. Go to www.songwritingcompetition.com for more information and an entry form.