Singer Christine Occhino Pays Tribute to Michael McDonald at Berklee 5/6 7:30pm Commencent Concert

April 19, 2011 - PRLog -- Berklee College of Music in Boston has selected vocalist Christine Occhino of Stamford, Connecticut to be among the privileged handful of graduating artists that will perform at the 2011 Commencement Concert to be held at 7:30 pm on Friday, May 6, at the 7,000-seat Agganis Arena at Boston University. Christine will be singing the duet “You Belong to Me,” paying tribute to Michael McDonald, the American Grammy award-winning songwriter who co-wrote the song with Carly Simon. McDonald will receive an honorary doctor of music degree along with other celebrities. Berklee president Roger H. Brown will recognize McDonald, Chucho Valdés, Bebo Valdés, Kenny Garrett, and Mavis Staples for their achievements, their influence in music, and for their enduring contributions to American and international culture. The concert and ceremony are not open to the public but will be streamed live at www.concertwindow.com/berklee, along with a video that will be posted on the site the week after graduation.

The morning after the concert, on May 7th, Christine will receive a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Business and Management degree. Christine. ASCAP-affiliated and a member of The Grammy Recording Academy (NY Chapter), is currently working on singing and songwriting her original music. Her new single, “On My Own,” was just released in April and can be downloaded for free from a link on her website. Christine also works as a session vocalist on pop, R&B, hip-hop, rock, and country demos and writes lyrics, music, and vocal arrangements for artists. She has experience in dance, acting and modeling and has recently started her career as a music business entrepreneur by developing her start-up business, Fastlane Music Group, LLC.  Christine has performed with bands and dance troupes as well as appeared on TV, videos, film, print ads, and musicals in New York, Connecticut, Disney (Orlando), and Boston venues. During her time at Berklee, she was employed by the college as a Peer Advisor and Co-Editor and Director of Business Affairs & Promotions for the Berklee Groove publication. She has also worked in music business consulting, management, marketing, promotions, and event planning for Grammy seminars, conferences, fundraising/charity events, workshops, and festivals, including the successful Berklee SpringFest sponsored by Berklee and the Shops at the Prudential Center. Christine aspires to work in marketing and promotions and eventually start her own record label while pursuing her music career. Christine will be releasing more singles throughout 2011 and is anticipating the debut of her first EP to be released later this year.

Honoree Michael McDonald has brought his unique sound to soul, R&B, rock, and pop for 40 years. The song, “You Belong to Me,” was originally recorded by The Doobie Brothers, made the top ten of the 1978 Pop Singles with Carly Simon’s version, and was covered by artists like Anita Baker, Jennifer Lopez, and Chaka Khan. McDonald's signature rich baritone was first heard on Steely Dan's famed records of the mid-1970s, bringing an unmistakable soul to the band's jazz-pop experiments. From there, he joined the Doobie Brothers. His songwriting, keyboards, and vocal stylings – first featured on 1976's platinum-selling Takin' It to the Streets, with its McDonald-penned title track – reshaped the California rock band. The group's accomplishments grew with Minute by Minute, which won four Grammys in 1979, including Record of the Year. McDonald won his fifth Grammy in 1984 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Yah Mo B There" with James Ingram. As a composer, McDonald has collaborated with Jackie DeShannon, Diane Warren, Clint Black, and Brenda Lee, among others. His songs have been performed and covered by artists as diverse and successful as Rick Astley, Cheap Trick, Joe Cocker, Allison Krauss, the Oak Ridge Boys, Bonnie Raitt, and Van Halen. In the mid-'90s, McDonald began touring again with the Doobie Brothers, and over the last decade, he has focused most notably on the Motown repertoire, with the platinum-selling Motown in 2003, Motown Two the following year, and 2008's Soul Speak.

The multiple-Grammy nominee vocalist Mavis Staples, alongside her siblings and her father, catapulted gospel into the pop mainstream as the Staple Singers with No. 1 hits "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again." Staples has collaborated with a cross-genre who's who in the industry, including Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Prince, Nona Hendryx, Aretha Franklin, the Band, Booker T & the M.G.'s, Curtis Mayfield, and Natalie Merchant as well as hip-hop artists like Ice Cube, Ludacris, and Salt-N-Pepa. In addition to her Grammy nods, Staples is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement winner, and a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship Award recipient. She was named by VHI as one of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll and by Rolling Stone as among the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning, composer, arranger, and bandleader Chucho Valdés, known for melding diverse musical styles with virtuosic dexterity, plays a prolific role among the Cuban jazz community. Since beginning his professional career at 15 with the Havana-based Sabor de Cuba orchestra, directed by his father, Bebo Valdés, Valdés has enjoyed a successful career as both a soloist and group member. Valdés group Irakere, won a Grammy Award in 1979 for their self-titled album. Valdés has released more than 85 albums under his own name, and he has gone on to win four Grammy Awards for the albums Live at Newport, Havana, Live at the Village Vanguard, and Chucho's Steps. Valdés has performed internationally at world-renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Blue Note Jazz Club, often sharing the stage with jazz giants like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Lovano, George Benson, Max Roach, Jack DeJohnette, Ron Carter, Tito Puente, and many more. In addition to his musical achievements, in 2006, Valdés was named Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Born Ramón Emilio Valdés Amar in Havana, Cuba, in 1918, pianist, bandleader, composer, and arranger Bebo Valdés is often dubbed the most important Cuban musician of our time. Playing a leading role in the golden age of Cuban music, Valdés has been an unparalleled member of the Latin jazz community since the 1940s. He began working as a pianist and arranger for Ernesto Lecuona and Rita Montaner and went on to play an important role in the development of mambo before creating his own rhythm, batanga. Valdés earned a Grammy Award and a Latin Grammy Award for his work on the film, his 2000 documentary on Latin jazz, Calle 54, catapulting him to newfound stardom. Over the last decade, Valdés has released many more acclaimed albums, including Lágrimas Negras with Flamenco heavyweight El Cigala, and has worked on four more films, which have gained recognition by the prestigious Spanish Academy of Cinematic Arts and Sciences and by the BBC. Since his first Grammy in 2000, Valdés has won two additional Grammy Awards and five additional Latin Grammy Awards.

Grammy Award-winning saxophonist, flautist, arranger, composer, and bandleader Kenny Garrett has released 18 albums as a leader and appeared on more than 230 as a sideman, showcasing his versatility in jazz, blues, and R&B. He has performed with Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Christian McBride, Brian Blade, and Vinnie Colaiuta, Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Q-Tip, and Roy Haynes. In 1997, Garrett released Songbook, his first album entirely of his own compositions, which earned a Grammy Award nomination, as did 2006's Beyond the Wall.

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