The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) will give special honors to salsa star Victor Manuelle and Puerto Rican rockers Black: Guayaba at its 16th Annual Latin Music Awards, to be held May 16 at the Ritz Carlton in Miami Beach, Fla.
The gala honors the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP’s most performed songs in Latin Music in 2007. Key awards include songwriter of the year, publisher of the year, and song of the year, with awards given in pop, tropical, regional Mexican, rock, urban and television categories.
Victor Manuelle will be honored with ASCAP’s Golden Note award, presented to songwriters, composers and artists “who have achieved extraordinary career milestones.”
Manuelle is known for his velvety, signature voice, his capacity for improvisation and a vocal versatility that has allowed him to straddle pop and tropical music. His history of hits includes 2004’s “Travesía,” which reached No.1 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and 2007’s DVD “En Vivo Desde El Madison Square Garden,” taped at his sold-out show in that venue. Most recently, Manuelle released “Una Navidad a Mi Estilo,” a Christmas album, on his own label.
Black: Guayaba will receive ASCAP’s Vanguard Award, in recognition “of their impact, as new and developing musical artists, on shaping the future of their musical genre and the future of music.”
Fresh from winning a Grammy for best Latin rock/alternative album, the Puerto Rican quintet are the first Latin act to be recognized with the Vanguard award, joining the ranks of the Beastie Boys, Beck and Bjork, among others.
