New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The live ceremony for the second annual Pensado Awards, an award show created by the producers of the acclaimed online video series Pensado's Place, took place on Sunday, August 30, 2015, at Sony
Pictures Studios in Culver City, CA. The event attendees read like a who's-who of the audio community, with over 700 in attendance, including prominent TV personality, producer and musician Randy Jackson (American Idol, Journey, etc.), producer Young Guru (Jay Z, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey), legendary producer
Quincy Jones, producer/recording artist Dave Stewart, legendary producer/engineer Al Schmitt, vocalist Patti Austin, songwriter and vocalist Siedah Garrett and more. A video production of the ceremony will be posted soon through Pensado's Place online channels.
At the ceremony, the following winners were announced:
Live / FOH: Fred Archambault, for Last Call with Carson Daly
Master of Mastering: Gavin Lurrsen
Outstanding Brand: Focusrite
Outstanding Achievement for Sound in a Visual Medium: Last Call with Carson Daly
Game Changer of the Year: Manny Marroquin
Best Non-English Song: "Ethnik Funk" - Gaurav Dayal
Break Thru Songwriter: DJ Frank E for "See You Again," and Noel Zancanella for "Maps"
Break Thru Mixer:
James Royo
Spin Doctor DJ: Above & Beyond
Tracking Engineer: Josh Gudwin
Unique Project Studio: Jam In The Van
AIR Award (Best Assistant, Intern or Runner): Jake Kiyokane
OMG! Mix of the Year: Dave Reitzas - "
Earned It" [mix for The Weeknd]
Pensado Giant Award: Bruce Swedien
Dave Pensado Educator Award: Berklee Colege Of
Music & New Look Foundation
Herb Trawick Visionary Award: Native Instruments
A full list of nominees can be found at https://pensadoawards.com/award_categories_2015.html.
An evening highlight was a taped message from
Barbra Streisand congratulating Dave Reitzas on his OMG! Mix of the Year award, where she stated, "I'm so happy you're [Dave] being recognized by the Pensado Awards this evening. For the past two decades, since 1993, Dave has been on the other side of the glass for so many of my recordings. He's always willing to go the extra mile with me on my recordings, because, as he said, on more than a few occasions, 'If it's gotta be right, it's gotta be righteous' … I mean, Reitzas!"
The evening's culmination was the presentation of the Pensado Giant Award to Bruce Swedien. Ed Cherney kicked off this segment, introducing a short video that chronicled Swedien's six-decade-plus career in music. Artists
Patti Austin and Siedah Garrett then hit the stage to give their personal Swedien tributes and introduce
Quincy Jones. Jones gave a heartfelt speech presenting the award to Swedien. Jones stated, "I am so thrilled to be here tonight to celebrate one of the greatest engineers to ever walk into a recording studio, my dear friend and brother Bruce 'Svensk' Swedien. I look at producing like working with a big band, you have to have the right players in all the chairs. And as the third leg of the stool that is the centerpiece of my musical mafia, my killer Q posse, along with Rod Temperton, I never worried about the sound because I knew Bruce always had us covered. Bruce is the guru of engineers. We've recorded more albums together than I can remember from Dinah and Basie in
Chicago in the 50's, to the Brothers Johnson, Michael, right up until today, and I can't imagine recording one of those albums without him. [Bruce] took the art of recording to a new level and has defined the sound of recorded music, and that is why every engineer and artist today, 30 years later, still go to our music as a reference. Bruce, I am so happy to be able to be here tonight to celebrate you personally and professionally. You deserve every honor and adulation that is bestowed upon you. Congratulations Bruce."
The Pensado Awards are a natural outgrowth of the ethos behind Pensado's Place. From the self-taught basement amateur to the seasoned industry producer, all manner of music professionals are discovering new methods of working and novel ways to reach fans and these awards are here to honor them. The awards highlight the brilliance and hard work of all those producers, songwriters, DJ's, engineers, mixers, live wizards and behind-the-scenes technicians in audio that often go unnoticed. The Pensado Awards unites the best pros, amateurs, brands and press to come together as one community to celebrate the uncelebrated.
Herb Trawick, Co-host/Executive Producer and Creator of Pensado's Place, as well as the Manager and Advisor to Co-host Dave Pensado, states, "We congratulate all our winners, as well as the rest of the talented nominee pool, at the second annual Pensado Awards. Thanks also to all who helped us put on the show, including our Pro Committee, sponsors, co-hosts and presenters. This year's ceremony was bigger and better than last year's, and next year's is set to be the biggest yet."
Joining Randy Jackson as co-hosts were producer-engineers Chris Lord-Alge (Muse, Pink, Foo Fighters, Avril Lavigne, Green Day, Daughtry, Paramore,
Black Eyed Peas), Sylvia Massy (Tool,
System of a Down, Johnny Cash, Red Hot
Chili Peppers), Young Guru (Jay Z, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey) and Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, Nine Inch Nails, others). Presenters included producer-engineer Ed Cherney, producer-engineer Tony Maserati, Capitol Studios executive Paula Salvatore, engineer Andrew Scheps, engineer and studio head John McBride, engineer Ann Mincieli, producer/engineer Ross Hogarth, studio executive Rose Mann-Cherney, engineer/producer Joe Barresi, songwriter Nina Woodford-Wells, mastering engineer Maor Appelbaum, Ableton Certified Trainer and electronic musician Yeuda Ben-Atar, EastWest studio manager Candace Stewart, Larrabee studio manager Amy Burr, songwriter/producer/engineer Kuk Harrell,
Bobby Lombardi (Market Development, G-Technology), AES Executive
Director Bob Moses, NAMM President Joe Lamond, The Recording Academy P&E Wing Managing
Director Maureen Droney, mix engineer Luca Pretolesi, producer/musician/engineer Greg Wells, Studio at the Palms manager Zoe Thrall, and electronic artist and producer DJ Ali.
Music was curated by acclaimed turntablist and
Beastie Boys collaborator Mix Master Mike, while social media host Cloie Wyatt Taylor tweeted messages to the world throughout the evening.
AfterMaster Audio Labs served as presenting sponsor for the upcoming ceremony. Title
Sponsors were Audio-Technica, AVID, Blackbird Academy, Hal Leonard, iZotope, Recording
Radio Film Connection (RRF), Studio 202 and Vintage King Audio. Premium sponsors were Augspurger, Barefoot Sound, Bedrock L.A., NAMM, SAE Institute, SUBPAC and 3DEXCITE.
