Bob Donnelly Celebrates his 30th Year as a Music Attorney

3/11/2008

Contact:
Martin Keller, Media Savant Communications Co.
612-729-8585, mkeller@mediasavantcom.com

 


PROMINENT NEW YORK MUSIC INDUSTRY ATTORNEY BOB DONNELLY WILL CELEBRATE 30TH YEAR IN PRACTICE THAT INCLUDES DIVERSE FIELD OF JAZZ ARTISTS AND OTHER MUSICIANS FEB. 26 AT THE CANAL ROOM

NEW YORK/MINNEAPOLIS – February 22, 2008 – Bob Donnelly, a lifelong New York music attorney who has always championed musicians’ rights, will mark the 30th anniversary of his practice, which includes a diverse client pool of many established and emerging jazz musicians. Now with the firm of Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, P.A. (www.lommen.com) based in Minneapolis and New York, Donnelly will be joined at the Canal Room (285 West Broadway at Canal Street) from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. February 26 by family and friends, plus an array of guests from the film, television and music industries. Shanachie Records’ recording artist, jazz guitarist, composer and client, Chieli Minucci, will play for the occasion, with other well-known musicians such as Ronnie Spector dropping by to extol best wishes and to share in song.

Members of the media are welcomed to attend.

Donnelly is best known for having brought the case with then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, which resulted in the major record labels having to pay their artists $55 million dollars in back royalties. Today he is considered one of the premier artist’s rights lawyers in the country. He’s also been awarded 40 gold and platinum records over his 30 years of representing music clients world-wide. Donnelly started his career as the in-house attorney for legendary artist managers Steve Leber and David Krebs, who were responsible for launching the careers of Aerosmith, AC-DC, Def Leppard, Michael Bolton and many others.

"Bob Donnelly is one of the foremost protectors of artist’s rights in the entire music industry," says Krebs. "Every artist should be so lucky as to have an attorney who fights as hard for them and is as wonderfully dependable as Bob Donnelly has been in my career!" exclaims rock icon Ronnie Spector who led the Ronettes and is a recent Rock ‘n ‘ Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

"Bob Donnelly has proven he’s a champion of musicians rights, and has built one of the largest law practice among jazz musicians in the country," notes Ken Abdo, who leads the Lommen Abdo entertainment practice. Abdo is also currently the National Chair of the Grammy Foundation® Entertainment Law Initiative and the immediate past National Chair of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries. "Bob is a musician’s best friend not only for his insightful legal counsel but also for his deep appreciation of the role that musicians play in enhancing the quality of our lives."

"It’s a great honor to celebrate Bob’s substantial contributions to recording artists and the wider entertainment industry," adds Dan Satorius, a national independent film law leader at Lommen Abdo. "We join his family, friends and others to affirm his hard work ethic, winning personality and his many accomplishments over three decades."

About Bob Donnelly

Donnelly is a frequent commentator on the subject of artist royalties in legal and music trade publications and as a speaker at music business conferences. He has also helped to win some important victories for musicians by helping to settle several ground-breaking cases and with his work in Washington on matters such as the "work-for-hire" legislation. He was given a career service award by Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Donnelly’s list of clients reads like a "Who’s Who?" in many genres and includes Grammy-award winners and nominees in jazz (See "Bob’s List" below). The Lommen Abdo firm also represents many successful managers (e.g. Invasion Group) music publishers (e.g. Cherry Lane) composers (e.g. Riverdance’s Bill Whelan), producers ( Michael Beinhorn) and emerging artists (Matisyahu). He also represents other Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, Bootsy Collins and the Lovin’ Spoonful.

"Bob’s List" of jazz clients (with personal commentary) includes:

• John Scoffield: One of the premier jazz guitarists in the world today.
• Dave Holland: Everybody’s favorite bass player.
• Henry Threadgill: An inspirational leader in avant garde jazz.
• Eddie Daniels: One of the leading clarinetists for many decades.
• Dianne Reeves: Multiple winner of the Grammy for best jazz vocal.
• Ornette Coleman: Grammy lifetime achievement winner. Donnelly helped him recover a large portion of his music publishing catalog.
• Jason Moran: One of the most celebrated of the younger keyboard players in jazz today.
• Joe Lovano: On everyone’s "A" list as a sax player.
• Sonny Sharrock: Donnelly represented Sonny while he was alive and continues to represent the estate of one of jazz music guitar legends.
• Chieli Minucci: Along with his group, Special EFX, he is one of the best known guitar players in the smooth jazz field.
• Brad Mehldau: Considered as one of the greatest keyboard players in jazz.
• Simone: The daughter of legendary singer Nina Simone. She just recorded her first album for Koch Records.
•  Cyro Baptista: The great Brazilian percussionist who has played with Paul Simon et al.
•  Kurt Rosenwinkel: A jazz guitar virtuoso
   

Lommen Abdo’s clients range from popular young musicians such as Grammy® winner Jonny Lang and Anna Nalick to venerable recording artists such as recent Recording Academy® Lifetime achievement award winner Booker T. Jones, Johnny Rivers and Lake Wobegon’s Garrison Keillor. The firm’s film clients also include recent Spirit ® winner "Sweet Land", Emmy®, Peabody® and Oscar® winning films.

The present-day firm was established in 2005 when two long-standing Midwest-based law firms merged to create Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, P.A.. Today with almost 155 years of combined practice experience, the firm’s growing reputation for legal services embraces a wide range of practice areas, including complex litigation and appeals, business transactions and disputes, artist advocacy and entertainment law. The practice provides clients enhanced worldwide capacity for client service, more competitive resources and greater leverage in the marketplace with a wide array of legal services. Visit online at www.lommen.com.

For more information – or to interview Bob Donnelly – please contact Martin Keller at Media Savant Communications (612-729-8585, mekller@mediasavantcom.com)


Celtic musicians, jazz giants, a super literary agent and girl-group singer legends, alt and indie rockers, Top 40 hitmakers and Riverdancers were all part of the jubilant mix Tuesday night in New York’s Canal Room to honor artist’s rights advocate Bob Donnelly of the New York and Minneapolis law firm Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, P.A. Bob and more than 275 friends, family and music clients celebrated Bob’s 30 years in the legal profession, including his defining work with then-attorney General Spitzer to reclaim more than $55 million in back royalties for artists from major record labels.

Lommen Abdo’s other entertainment practice attorneys from Minneapolis, Ken Abdo, Paul Bezilla and Dan Satorius, paid tribute with a rousing parody of Ben E. King’s "Stand By Me" and later presented him with a new Fender guitar, signed by all the guests, including the legendary Ronnie Spector who had to scrub her song tribute after a day of tooth surgery. But there were plenty of others that took the stand and saluted Donnelly in song, including (unsigned) 17-year-old rock guitar prodigy, Kristin Capolino who blew away the room with her Flying V axe: "She shreds like Joe Satriano!" quipped Bob. "If we can’t get her signed, we’re in the wrong industry!"

The Who’s Who list also included:

• Literary Agent Judith Regan
• Jazz Legend Henry Threadgill
• Jazz composer Chieli Municci
• Pat DiNizio from The Smithereens
• Vienna Teng, "chamber folkie"
• Arista Recording Artists The Bogmen
• Alexis Glick, Fox Morning Business TV Anchor and Donnelly’s daughter
• Ian McDonald and Alan Greenwood, from Foreigner
• Members of Jefferson Starship
• Riverdance composer Bill Whelan
• Band Members from MATISYAHU
• Rock ‘n ‘roll Hall of Famer Joe Butler (Lovin’ Spoonful)
• Riverdance’s Eileen Ivers
• Joanie Madden from Cherish the Ladies
• Celtic musicians Jerry Crawley (bouzouki), Mick Moloney (folklorist and banjoist), Sean Grisman, Celtic celloist
• Italian-American musicians Mario Tacca and Mary Mancini
• Many Others