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A Legend Finally Gets His Due As Palm Pictures Proudly Announces A Grammy¨ Nomination For

TOM DOWD & THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC 

 

Mark Moormann Directed Film Documents The Life Of Pioneering Engineer/Producer Who Helped So Many Others Win Grammys

 

New York, NY (December 10, 2004) - Palm Pictures, Chris Blackwell's audio/visual entertainment company is pleased to announce that TOM DOWD & THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC has been nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Video. The award-winning, critically-acclaimed film is a compelling look at the life, times, and accomplishments of Dowd, a recording business pioneer who produced some of the most important R&B, rock, and jazz records ever made.  DowdÕs personal history and contributions shaped the evolution of modern music and recording technology.  TOM DOWD & THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC features appearances and music by Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Otis Redding, Les Paul, and countless other music giants, that Dowd engineered, produced, and inspired.

 

Appropriately, DowdÕs nomination comes in the same year that Ray Charles receives a posthumous nomination for Genius Loves Company, as Dowd worked so closely with Ray on many of his most important recordings. The NY Times wrote of Dowd, ÒIn a world of singers, an unsung Hero.Ó This Grammy nomination goes a long way toward garnering Dowd the public recognition he so richly deserves.

 

Hailed by Premiere Magazine as ÒInspired and inspiring,Ó the film was an Official Selection at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival, where it was also nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. TOM DOWD & THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC was released in theaters in August 2004 and is now available on DVD.  Other titles nominated in this category include, Coldplay Live 2003, Concert For George and Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues Ð A Musical Journey.

 

TOM DOWD & THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC is currently available on DVD for $19.99. Special features include over 80 minutes of bonus footage, which include deleted scenes, 5.1 mix and bonus interview clips with musical legends such as Eric Clapton, Ray Charles, The Allman Brothers Band, and Phil Ramone among others.

 

This marks Palm PicturesÕ third Grammy nomination - the quintessential documentary of BOB MARLEY, REBEL MUSIC and 1 GIANT LEAP were previously nominated in the long form video category.

 

Palm Pictures (www.palmpictures.com), Chris Blackwell's audio/visual entertainment company, produces, acquires and distributes independent film and music projects with a particular focus on the DVD format.  Palm Pictures was founded in 1998 by Blackwell, an innovator in the entertainment business who founded Island Records, Island Pictures and Island Outpost, and who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001.  Palm Pictures' entertainment properties include a theatrical division, a home video division, a music label, sputnik7.com, epitonic.com, Arthouse Films and RES Media Group.

 

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