Sammy Serendipity

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award
winner pays a posthumous tribute to Armond Magnarelli, politician (he’s
also a cousin to Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli) and entertainer.
Magnarelli served as the regional director of state parks and
recreation until his retirement in 1992. He was also the long-running
host of Music Italian Style on WFBL-AM 1390 (Oldies 1390) and
dabbled in many acting roles for various community theater troupes,
notably the Pompeian Players, although he was doing scene-stealing work
into the 21st century with his “Witch Doctor” routine in Cruizin’ Thru the 50’s. Magnarelli, a true renaissance man, passed away in February at age 83 after suffering from a stroke.

Hall of Fame recipients will include:
local blues icon Roosevelt Dean; Sandy Bigtree, who performed with her
sisters Norma and Jeanne on local television through the 1960s as part
of the girl group, the Bigtree Sisters; local guitar legend Mark
Hoffmann; current member of the Fab Five, Dave Novak, and drummer and
CNY Jazz Arts Foundation executive director Larry Luttinger. A Hall of
Fame award given annually to an esteemed local educator will go to jazz
saxophonist Jerry Santy.

Pianist Andrew Russo,
artist-in-residence at Le Moyne University, helped decide Sammy
nominees from artists who recorded albums, arranged by musical genre,
during 2007. Russo leads a committee of judges who evaluate LPs
submitted to the Sammys, an open process that ended in March. The 45
nominees eligible for awards were selected from a pool of roughly 100
albums sent in by local musicians to the Sammys mailbox.

This year’s award show will also include
an announcement of the Brian Bourke Award for Best New Artist, as well
as a People’s Choice Award for Best Band and Best Venue. Since last
year, the Sammys initiated an online vote for its People’s Choice
awards, a move that has resulted in more than 16,000 votes thus far
during this year’s contest. Those who would like to vote for their
favorite Syracuse bands and venues should visit
www.syracuseareamusic.com and click on the “People’s Choice” link at
the top of the page.

The award show will be preceded by
performances from several local acts: the Latin grooves of Grupo Pagan
(noon to 1 p.m.); Five to Life (1 to 2 p.m.); rappers Ox Burg (2 to 3
p.m.); blues champ Bobby Green (3 to 4 p.m.); country music from Lisa
Gentile (4 to 5 p.m.); Primetime (5 to 6 p.m.); and Dead Rose (6 to 7
p.m.). Awards will be announced from 7 to 9:30 p.m., then Simplelife
will headline from 9:30 p.m. to midnight. Big Mike Fiss from WZUN-FM
102.1 (Sunny 102) will emcee the show.  

Admission is free to the Sammys
ceremonies, which will be held on a stage near Clinton Square. For more
information, call 727-5693.

Syracuse New Times Syracuse Area Music Awards Nominees for 2008

Best Country: Branded, Gary W. Brockway, Thomas Jankowski/Flipside, The Wolf Mountain Band.

Best Folk or Bluegrass: Boots N’ Shorts, Cluidan, Dennis McGuire’s 1 Man Band, Merry Mischief, Charlie Orlando.

Best Jazz: Anthony Joseph
Swingtet, The Don Martin Trio, Hanna Richardson & Phil Flanigan,
The Sons of Syracuse, YMCA Center for the Creative Arts/Mission Driven.

Best Recording, Other Styles: Dufus, The February, Fritz’s Polka Band, Kh’Ml, Molly Shea.

Best Hip-Hop/Rap: C-Lite, Doowittle, Oxburg, $upa $atty, Syntone.

Best Rhythm’n’Blues: Thomas T.C. Carter, Electric Relaxation.

Best Pop: Anorexic Beauty Queen Presents Michael Watson, The Bells and Whistles, Emerald City, Caleb Micah, Leif Olsen.

Best Blues: Carolyn Kelly & The Roosevelt Dean Band, Los Blancos, Chris Terra & Blue Smoke, Jimmy Wolf.

Best Alternative or New Rock: Crankdaddy, Cry to the Blind, Perpetual Burn, Torment The Vein, Gregg Yeti & The Best Lights.

Best Rock: Grey Tide, October Nites, RUHA, Michael Ryan, Joe Whiting and Mark Doyle.

Walk the lineup: Syracuse New Times
Sammys honorees and performers for this year’s June 6 award show will
include (from top): Victor Pagan of Grupo Pagan, Mike
Frisina of Simplelife, blues man Roosevelt Dean, Larry Luttinger and Armond Magnarelli.