Three of Greater Cincinnati's best guitarists have been chosen to receive the 2001 Michael W. Bany Lifetime Achievement Awards.

        They are jazz master Cal Collins, jazz/R&B great Wilbert Longmire and prog-rock innovator Adrian Belew. They will be honored at the fifth annual Enquirer Cincinnati Area Pop Music Awards (the Cammys) March 11 at Jillian's Warehouse, Covington. The awards will be presented by one of the world's best-known guitarists, Peter Frampton.
       

Cal Collins

Cal Collins | ZOOM |

        No one better personifies the area's eclectic music traditions than Mr. Collins, an Indiana native, who got his start playing old-time country.

        He moved on to the styles of Django Reinhardt and electric guitar pioneer Charlie Christian. His long and ongoing career includes performing with such jazz luminaries as Benny Goodman and Rosemary Clooney.

        Mr. Collins continues to tour the world, with frequent appearances at local clubs, particularly the Blue Wisp.
       

Wilbert Longmire

Wilbert Longmire | ZOOM |

        Mr. Longmire's bluesy guitar lines and smooth chordal playing put him on the national scene while still a teen-ager, leading the bands of R&B singers Red Prysock and Jackie Wilson. His recordings for Prestige with saxophonist Rusty Bryant's Columbus, Ohio-based band have made him an icon of the “acid jazz” movement.

        Throughout his career he has nurtured young talent and is known for giving bassist Bootsy Collins, winner of 1997's Cammy lifetime award, one of his first club gigs.
       

Adrian Belew
        Mr. Belew got his start in the mid-'60s in Northern Kentucky as the singer/drummer with the Denems, the Tristate's leading Beatles cover band.

        Taking up guitar in the '70s, he quickly earned an international reputation for his rule-breaking style.

        He has been associated with such rock greats as Frank Zappa, Talking Heads and David Bowie, and his session work includes Paul Simon's Graceland. He has made several acclaimed solo albums and performed with the Cincinnati band the Bears, with whom he's recording a reunion album. He performs as a member of King Crimson and its various side projects.

        The lifetime awards segment of the Cammys will be Mr. Frampton's first official Cincinnati appearance since he and his wife, Tina Elfers, moved here last summer.

        The winners of the Michael W. Bany Lifetime Achievement Awards, named for the local musician slain in a 1995 robbery, are selected by special committee. Nominees are determined by Enquirer readers, with winners decided by an extended committee of area music professionals.

        The Cammys will begin at 4 p.m. Host will be comedian/singer Blair Shannon.

        Performers include Noah Hunt & the 420 All-Stars, the Simpletons, Tracy Walker, the Dallas Moore Band, P. Ann Everson Price & her All Star Band, Iswhat?!, the 17-piece CCM Jazz Ensemble and the Sonny Moorman Group, featuring Noah Wotherspoon, Tony Elfers and Scotty Bratcher.

        Tickets are $12.50 at Ticketmaster outlets, by phone (562-4949) and online (www.ticketmaster.com). Tickets will be $15 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Michael W. Bany Memorial Scholarship Fund, which aids local music students.

Lifetime Cammys go to three guitarists
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