David Ritz, steps away
David Ritz and most of humanity are within 6 degrees of each other. This matrix combines the small-world principle behind this seemingly magical fact with inter-artist recommendations-in-series in order to make all artists potential curators and discoverable within a handful (or two) of steps from everywhere on the planet. It works like this:
I RECOMMEND people (do you?)David Ritz & degrees of proximity
Why again is David Ritz mere steps away from other artists in here, and by extension, most everybody on the planet?
WHO CURATES "I RECOMMEND" ABOVE?
- Vertex/Edges Out by: The Matrix
Artist & Where
- Name: David Ritz
- City/Place: Los Angeles
- Country: United States
Life & Work
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Bio:
As a professional writer for the past 40 years, my main focus has been the collaborative autobiography. I've written thirty-six such books. Willie Nelson’s It’s a Long Story, a NY Times bestseller, is the most recent.
I've written three independent biographies of which Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin is the most recent.
As a novelist, my books include Search for Happiness, Sanctified Blues, The Man Who Brought the Dodgers Back to Brooklyn and Blue Notes Under a Green Felt Hat.
As a lyricist, my songs include "Sexual Healing," co-written with Marvin Gaye. In addition, I've collaborated on songs with Janet Jackson, Smokey Robinson and Narada Michael Walden.
My articles have appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Essence, People, US, Art Connoisseur and TV Guide.
As an essayist, I've written some seventy sets of liner notes for albums and discs, ranging from Sammy Davis, Jr. to Donny Hathaway to Michael Jackson.
I've been honored with a Grammy (Best Liner Notes) and, on four occasions, the Ralph Gleason Music Book Award (for collaborations with BB King, Etta James, the Neville Brothers and producer Jerry Wexler). I received the 2013 ASCAP Timothy White Award for outstanding musical biography for When I Left Home, the story of Buddy Guy.
I live in Los Angeles with Roberta, a wonderful writer and my wife of 51 years.
Contact Information
- Email: davidritzwrites@gmail.com
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Management/Booking:
David Vigliano, literary agent
vig@viglianoassociates.com
Media & Markets
- ▶ Book Purchases: http://www.ritzwrites.com/books.html
- ▶ Website: http://www.ritzwrites.com
- ▶ Articles: http://www.ritzwrites.com/magazine.html
More
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Quotes, Notes & Etc.
AWARDS
Grammy Nomination
"Sexual Healing," Best Rhythm & Blues Song, 1982
Grammy Award
Best Album Notes, "Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul," 1992
Grammy Nomination
Best Album Notes, "Ray Charles, Genius & Soul," 1997
Grammy Nomination
Best Historical Album (as coproducer), "Ray Charles, Genius & Soul," 1997
Grammy Nomination
Best Liner Notes, "The Complete Ray Charles on Atlantic," 2005
Grammy Nomination
Best Liner Notes, "Rare and Unreleased Recordings of the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul--Aretha Franklin," 2008
The Blues Foundation Music Book of the Year
Rhythm and the Blues, with Jerry Wexler, 1994
The Blues Foundation Music Book of the Year
Blues All Around Me, with BB King, 1997
The Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award
Rhythm and the Blues, with Jerry Wexler, First Place, 1993
The Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award
Rage To Survive, with Etta James, Second Place, 1995
The Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award
Blues All Around Me, with BB King, Second Place, 1996
The Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award
The Brothers, with the Neville Brothers, Third Place, 2000
ASCAP Deems Taylor Award
Liner Notes, Johnny Guitar Watson Funk Anthology, 2006
ASCAP Timothy White Award for Outstanding Musical Biography
When I Left Home, with Buddy Guy, 2013
ABOUT THE MATRIX
This matrix is dedicated to creative artists and non-algorithmic discovery.
It was described (to some degree) and can be accessed via this article in British journal The Guardian (which named our radio of matrixed artists as one of ten best in the world):
www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/apr/17/10-best-music-radio-station-around-world
While the Brazilian musicians I work with now you may not know, I formerly worked (chasing unpaid royalties!) on behalf of Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Led Zeppelin, Jim Hall, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Philip Glass, The Cadillacs (Earl Carroll), The Flamingos (Zeke and Jake Carey), and others, including Oscar-winning world-class great-guy Robb Royer. I was interviewed by David Dye for broadcast on U.S. National Public Radio several years ago ... about the Brazilians:
- Randy "Pardal/Sparrow" Roberts
All is more connected than we know.
w/ David Dye for U.S. National Public Radio
The matrix was inspired in (the kabbalah-inspired fiction of) Borges' El Aleph, that in the pillar in Cairo's Mosque of Amr, where the universe in its entirety throughout all time is perceivable as an infinite hum from deep within the stone...
Our logo, per the "spirit" above, is a cortador de cana, a cane cutter. It was designed by Walter Mariano, professor of design at the Federal University of Bahia to reflect the origins of the music the shop specialized in. The Brazilian "aleph" doesn't hum... it dances and sings.
