Blues Icon Taj Mahal and the late African American diva Carole Fredericks of France, the first musicians Honored at 2006 Northeast Conference in New York City

Date: Friday, March 31, 2006

Location: New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway, Broadway Ballroom, 6th Fl

Press Information: Media Schedule / Photo Opportunity
(Media pre-registration and sign-in required by March 27, 2006, call (413) 734-6444.)

10:30am, March 31, 2006 – Award Presentation during Opening General Session followed by Taj Mahal performance.

11:30am, March 31, 2006 – Photos with NY area dignitaries and interviews until – 1:30pm

New York, NY… In a departure from its traditional practice, the Award Committee of the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL) selected two international recording artists, blues iconTaj Mahal and the late African American diva Carole Fredericks, as recipients of the 2005 JAMES W. DODGE ADVOCACY AWARD. Fredericks is honored for her music career in France. Like the legendary entertainer Josephine Baker, she has emerged as one of France’s most admired African American performers. Mississippi-inspired Taj Mahal is recognized for his cross-cultural collaborations. Taj Mahal and Carole Fredericks are the first recording artists to receive the Dodge Advocacy Award as well as the first siblings to receive this distinction.

The Dodge Advocacy Award recognizes an outstanding advocate of language and culture study outside the foreign language teaching profession. The Award has been presented annually at the Northeast Conference since 1978 and usually given to business, political and academic leaders. The Award also recognizes their creation of multicultural music and their promotion of the advantages of knowing other cultures through the study of language. Taj Mahal will perform a short concert following the presentation of Awards during NECTFL’s Opening General Session, Friday, March 31 at10:30am in the Marriott’s Broadway Ballroom. Connie Fredericks-Malone, the sister of Mr. Mahal and Ms. Fredericks, will introduce the performance.

Carole Fredericks will also become the first person in the history of NECTFL’s Northeast Conference to receive the Award posthumously. With this landmark recognition, Carole Fredericks and Taj Mahal join previous distinguished recipients including former President Jimmy Carter, Sesame Street, Senator Paul Simon, Representative Rush Holt, and Fred Hechinger, among others.

HISTORY MAKING MOVE: Carole Denise Fredericks in France
When Carole Denise Fredericks emigrated from the United States to France in 1979, she added her name to a long list of African Americans who found refuge and personal expression in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and along the Seine. She, along with many African Americans, found new success in France. Since the 19th Century the road to Paris has been well worn by African America's crème de la crème: Frederick Douglas, Henry O. Tanner, Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, Paul Robeson, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Gordon Parks, Josephine Baker, Nina Simone and so many more.
Carole left the U.S. knowing no French. She immersed herself in the culture to learn the language. She was a gifted singer who willingly lent her talent to every project. As she mastered French her reputation and career soared. A member of Fredericks Goldman Jones, one of France’s best known music groups, she infused rhythm and blues as well as soul and gospel into mainstream French music. Carole Fredericks was a revered celebrity and a humanitarian in her adopted country. At the time of her death in 2001, Ms. Fredericks spoke fluent French, recorded solo albums in both languages and was a headliner act in Europe and Africa. She is counted among the few Americans laid to rest in historic Montmartre Cemetery in Paris with other French luminaries such as painter Edgar Degas and cinematographer François Truffaut.
Nancy Gadbois, Chairperson of the 2006 Northeast Conference said, “Foreign language teachers have always respected music as a powerful means to render cultures and languages to students. Music has been proven to be an effective tool for teaching language due to the way memory functions in conjunction with sound. But it is Carole’s journey in France which adds an inspirational element that is unique. Students see her as someone who was brave enough and curious enough about others to go to France and learn the language so she could live there as a musician and sing in French.”
The Dodge Advocacy Award recognizes Ms. Fredericks’ twenty-two year music career in France. Her musical legacy is being ensured through work by CDF Music Legacy and by teachers like Nancy Gadbois using her music in classrooms. The teaching materials developed for her songs are serving as a template for other musicians’ work
CROSS-CULTURAL COLLABORATOR: Taj Mahal

A two–time Grammy winner and recently designated the Official Blues Artist of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Taj Mahal has attracted a worldwide listening audience. With more than 40 albums to his credit, Taj Mahal is one of the recording industry’s most celebrated contemporary blues artists. A self-taught musician, Taj plays more than 20 instruments, including the National Steel and Dobro guitars. His remarkable voice, which ranges from gruff and gravelly to smooth and sultry, has been enrapturing audiences for more than 40 years. What ties it all together is Taj's abiding interest in musical discovery, particularly in tracing many American musical forms back to their roots in Africa and Europe. His cross-cultural musical collaborations are characterized by a distinctive blend of French, Caribbean, Latin and African rhythms with country blues.

Taj Mahal aka Henry St. Claire Fredericks and Carole Fredericks were raised in Springfield, MA by parents who instilled in their children a love of music from every corner of the world. For a time Mahal lived in Hawaii. He developed a global perspective through travel to the Caribbean, Europe, the South Pacific, Australia, South America and West Africa. His experiences with griots in Africa are especially compelling. Taj Mahal brings American listeners another way of looking at the world with each new musical project he embarks upon. Although Mahal's music has yet to be used in a formal instructional manner, he has actively sought opportunities to integrate himself into other cultural worlds via music.

“Both Carole and Taj help foreign language teachers do the difficult work of showing Americans that their language and culture are not the archetypical “norm” against which all other languages and societies should be judged,” says Nancy Gadbois.


Press Information: Media Schedule / Photo Opportunity
(Media pre-registration and sign-in required by March 27, 2006, call (413) 734-6444.)

10:30am, March 31, 2006 – Award Presentation during Opening General Session followed by Taj Mahal performance.

11:30am, March 31, 2006 – Photos with NY area dignitaries and interviews until – 1:30pm
For Media interviews, registration of dignitaries and Event Confirmation please contact, Janine Fondon (413.734-6444 or send email to: jfondon@unityfirst.com ) by March 27, 2006.
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