The Blues Foundation enters its 45th year by saluting the 2026 Keeping The Blues Alive (KBA) honorees during International Blues Challenge week, Tuesday, January 13 through Saturday, January 17, 2026.
This year’s KBA recipients are Cognac Blues Passions; John Anderson; Jeff Davis; Michael Gray; Jazz Alley; Nola Blue; Jim Hartzell; Robert Terrell; and Mark Jacobson.
The KBA Awards are chosen annually by a select panel of blues professionals, saluting those who have played crucial roles in advancing the art and commerce of blues. This year’s esteemed honorees will be recognized for their achievements at the Keeping the Blues Alive Awards brunch, taking place on Friday, January 16, 2026 at 10:30 AM at the Hyatt Centric in Memphis. Tickets link:blues.org/np/clients/blues/event.jspforwardedFromSecureDomain=1&event=152.
The KBA ceremony is part of the Blues Foundation’s 40th Annual International Blues Challenge. This year’s IBC Week kicks off Tuesday, January 13, with International Showcase performances on historic Beale Street, and concludes with the Finals at Memphis’ Orpheum Theatre on Saturday, January 17 at 12 Noon. Over a thousand musicians will arrive in Memphis from all across the globe to compete with their blues peers onstage for the honor of winning — along with prizes and bookings — the International Blues Challenge, the world’s largest and most renowned blues music competition. Showcases, jams, panels, workshops, and master classes will take place all along Beale Street, with the music continuing into the early-morning hours after the IBC challenger performances conclude each evening.
Recipients of the 2026 Keeping The Blues Alive Awards are:
COGNAC BLUES PASSIONS
Since its founding in 1994, the Cognac Blues Passions Festival has stood as a powerful force for musical excellence, cultural pride, and genuine human connection. Set in the heart of Cognac, a city known for its deep heritage, artistic spirit, and the world famous drink that carries its name, the festival has grown into one of Europe’s most respected and soul stirring gatherings for blues and roots music.
For more than thirty years, Cognac Blues Passions has turned the entire city into a living,breathing stage. Music rises from the lush public gardens, echoes under the open night sky at the Theatre de la Nature, fills the vaulted stone chambers of the Chateau des Valois, and spills into the streets, squares, and bars where locals and travelers mingle shoulder to shoulder. The city becomes a place where blues stories are not only told, but lived.
The festival’s values are rooted in something real and deeply human. It celebrates authenticity, embraces diversity, and leads with generosity. It welcomes artists from every corner of the globe and audiences from every generation, creating a space where all are invited to feel, to listen, and to connect. With more than twelve hundred formations and nearly five thousand artists having taken the stage since its first edition, Cognac Blues Passions has become a true pilgrimage for blues lovers. Tens of thousands return each year to experience the raw emotion, shared joy, and honest storytelling that define the genre and keep its fire burning bright.
JOHN ANDERSON
Filmmaker John Anderson’s connection to the blues began more than fifty years ago when hehosted “Rough Cut,” a radio program on Northwestern University’s WNUR FM that featured his own live recordings of Chicago blues artists. Whether carrying his reel to reel tape recorder on the Chicago “El” train in the 1970s to capture performances by Chicago Slim, Hound Dog Taylor and The House Rockers, or Buddy Guy and Junior Wells at Theresa’s Lounge, or later directing and editing three acclaimed Chicago blues documentaries, John has consistently played an important role in preserving and celebrating blues music.
A Grammy-nominated and Emmy-winning producer, director, and editor, he has dedicated the past fifteen years to creating three landmark blues films: “Horn from the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story,” “Sam Lay in Bluesland,” and “Born in Chicago.” Each of these documentaries has been screened internationally, earned numerous awards, and is available for streaming worldwide. In 2023, John collaborated with former Chicago Blues Festival Director Barry Dolins to create a series of short films that were projected on the large screens between headline performances on the festival’s main stage at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
JEFF DAVIS
Jeff Davis often says that the first artist whose music captured his heart was Roy Orbison. “AfterRoy Orbison, you can go two ways, country or blues, and I went toward the blues,” he told me. Blues fans in Omaha are grateful he chose that path.
For many years, Davis was a devoted supporter of live music, spending countless nights at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar and Omaha’s Howard Street Tavern, where he recalled, “I saw Luther Allison so many times we became friends.” At the same time, he was building a successful career as the owner and manager of Davis Erection Company, a business that helped shape the skyline of Omaha and several other cities in the region. His achievements in business eventually allowed him to retire and inspired a new idea that connected his work ethic with his passion: he would bring some of the finest blues musicians in the world to Omaha and create a free festival for his hometown.
In 2004, the first Playing with Fire Festival debuted with an impressive lineup that included Bernard Allison, Joe Bonamassa, Savoy Brown, Walter Trout, and Coco Montoya. Since then, Jeff has continued to recruit top-tier artists from around the globe such as When Rivers Meet, King and Cardinal Black, in addition to nationally- acclaimed performers like Sharon Jones and the Dap Tones, Tab Benoit, and Curtis Salgado. Jeff has also provided opportunities for local talent, including young musicians from the Omaha BluesEd program. Bands such as Hector Anchondo, Josh Hoyer, and Soul Colossal first performed at Playing with Fire before achieving success at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
Jeff Davis is not only recognized for his exceptional ability to identify and support talent, often with the assistance of his partner and Playing with Fire associate producer Vanessa Marie, but also for the compassion, honesty, and generosity he extends to everyone involved with the festival. Artists, managers, and the many volunteers who help run the event each year frequently speak of Jeff’s kindness and integrity. Many musicians credit him with giving them their first major opportunity, helping them travel to the United States, or offering crucial assistance during times of personal hardship. He is a man who keeps his promises, works with purpose, and brings the gift of live music to his community with sincerity and joy.
Recently, Jeff reflected on a frightening moment when he was hospitalized after accidentally stepping into the path of a car, an experience that reminded him, as he put it, “I am not going to live forever.” Determined to ensure that his life’s mission of bringing music to Omaha will continue, he established the Catalyst Foundation. This organization will support The Omaha Music House and its artist in residence program, which Jeff began in 2020, ensuring that musicians will have a place to grow and create for generations to come.
MICHAEL GRAY
As a journalist, music historian, advocate, and the current Vice President of Museum Services at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Michael Gray has brought wide internationalattention to the blues. For more than thirty years, he has worked with great dedication to keep the blues vibrant by creating and curating significant exhibitions, publishing autobiographies of influential figures in the development of blues and rhythm and blues in Nashville and beyond, and contributing writing to numerous publications and institutions on key artists. His exhibition “Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm and Blues, 1945 to 1970” revitalized interest in Nashville’s historic and highly influential rhythm and blues scene and helped revive the careers of artists such as Earl Gaines, Roscoe Shelton, Charles “Wigg” Walker, and many others.
Gray’s work on the exhibit included organizing and moderating educational programs, conducting oral history interviews, and presenting concerts and special events featuring Gene Allison, Billy Cox, Clifford Curry, the Fairfield Four, Frank Howard, Marion James, Johnny Jones, and others. Michael received a Grammy Award for producing the companion two-disc “Night Train” compilation album. To mark the twentieth anniversary of the “Night Train” exhibit, Gray developed a permanent online exhibition for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
His most recent exhibition, “Muscle Shoals: Low Rhythm Rising,” premiered in November 2025 and explores the profound legacy of the Muscle Shoals blues and rhythm and blues recording scene represented by artists such as Bettye LaVette, Arthur Alexander, and James and Bobby Purify. As a journalist, Michael has further illuminated Nashville’s role in bringing rhythm and blues into the mainstream with an eight-thousand-word essay for the National Museum of African American Music titled “The Significant Role Rhythm and Blues Played in Nashville Becoming Music City.” He has also written landmark interviews with artists such as Ruth Brown and Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater for daily and weekly newspapers. Most recently, Michael co-produced an upcoming PBS documentary that features interviews with B. B. King, Solomon Burke, and other major artists. The film, tentatively titled “Nashville’s Soul: Civil Rights and Magic Guitars,” is scheduled to premiere in 2026.
JAZZ ALLEY
Carla and John Dimitrou opened Dimitrou’s Jazz Alley in 1979 in the heart of Seattle’s University District. Six years later, the venue moved to a larger four hundred seat location in downtown Seattle, and in October of 2025, Jazz Alley celebrated its forty-third anniversary with a performance by Jon Cleary and The Absolute Monster Gentleman.
For more than four decades, Jazz Alley has been an essential destination for blues artists including John Mayall, Mark Hummel’s Harmonica Showcases, Janiva Magness, Trombone Shorty, James Cotton, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Lisa Mann, Bob Corritore and the Highway 99 All Stars, and Coco Montoya. The venue’s roster has featured not only a wide range of contemporary and traditional blues musicians, but also talented student performers from the Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center at Garfield High School, as well as bands from Edmonds Woodway and Mountlake Terrace High Schools.
Jazz Alley also welcomed Pinetop Perkins and the Willie “Big Eyes” Smith Band several times throughout the 2000s as part of the venue’s unique residency program, which allows performers to play multiple nights while staying in an apartment provided by the club. In 2005, Taj Mahal performed twelve shows over nine nights during his thirtieth Jazz Alley residency, a relationship that began when John Dimitrou first collaborated with Paul Goldman at the Monterey Artists agency in 1980.
The venue faced a major challenge during the COVID 19 pandemic, closing from March 2020 through June 2021. During this time, the Jazz Alley kitchen prepared more than one hundred thousand meals for Seattle’s first responders and social service organizations. The venue also invested more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars in upgraded ventilation, sanitation, and protective Plexiglas barriers. Jazz Alley was one of the first live music venues in the Pacific Northwest to reopen after restrictions were lifted, and most of the sixty-five staff members who were laid off during the closure returned for a grand reopening featuring vocalist Lisa Fischer in June of 2021.
Since reopening, Jazz Alley has presented Elvin Bishop and His Big Fun Trio, Mindi Abair and The Boneshakers, the Taj Mahal Quintet and Trio, the Highway 99 All Stars featuring Bob Corritore and Lisa Mann, Tower of Power, and Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra. Jazz Alley’s longstanding commitment to live blues music, its innovative residency program, exceptional dining, and on site lodging for musicians continue to distinguish this family-owned and operated venue from others across North America.
NOLA BLUE RECORDS
Since 2012, Sallie has used her business skills and training to promote the music she loves: the blues. She founded Nola Blue, Inc. in 2012, and in 2013 began working as Artist Manager for Benny Turner, the half brother of the late Freddie King. In 2014, the first album on the Nola Blue label, “Journey” by Benny Turner, was released. Turner had performed in major settings with his brother and others, but he had not stepped forward as a headlining artist until he began working with Sallie. She fully committed herself to promoting and encouraging him, supporting the release of four albums, an autobiography titled “Survivor: The Benny Turner Story,” and festival appearances that included The Chicago Blues Festival, the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, and several others. Turner was also a featured performerat one of her major projects, the 2019 Lone Star Blues and Heritage Festival in Texas, which included Turner, Trudy Lynn, Milton Hopkins, Annika Chambers, Keeshea Pratt, Sue Foley, Mathias Lattin, the Peterson Brothers, and more. Now 85 years old, Turner remains an exciting and dynamic bluesman.
Sallie also revitalized the careers of Cash McCall and Frank Bey, two exceptional blues artists whose careers had slowed in their later years. Her efforts helped bring them well-deserved recognition during the final chapters of their lives, including an album featuring McCall and Turner together titled “Going Back Home.” Other artists on the Nola Blue label include John Nemeth, Meg Williams, Tiffany Pollack and Eric Johanson, Clarence Spady, Rodd Bland and The Members Only Band, Trudy Lynn, Anthony Sherrod and The Cornlickers, and Lil’ Jimmy Reed. The label also released “True Blues Brother: The Legacy of Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy,” which features Murphy’s final recordings along with material recorded by his band. Two remarkable albums by vocalist Candice Ivory are part of the Nola Blue catalog, as well as a project recorded by members of the renowned blues family of Eddie Taylor. Recent Nola Blue releases include Maria Muldaur’s heartfelt tribute to her mentor Victoria Spivey, titled “One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey,” an album from Muddy Waters’ son Mud Morganfield titled “Deep Mud,” and a career-relaunching project from the Alexis P. Suter Band titled “Just Stay High.” Sallie also co-managed the Blue Heart label with Betsie Brown of Blind Raccoon, issuing albums by outstanding artists such as Anthony Geraci, Rick Vito, Johnny Tucker, Tomislav Goluban, The Texas Horns, and others.
She is also the head of the Momojo label, which has released strong recordings by Chris Beard, Dave Keyes, Bev Conklin and The BC Combo, The Bob Lanza Blues Band, Lonnie Shields, Brandon Santini, the late Kip London, The Lucky Losers, Mitch Woods, and many more. Sallie remains a prolific and highly-productive force in the contemporary blues scene, motivated by her deep love for the music and her determination to ensure it reaches the widest possible audience of listeners today and in the future.
JIM HARTZELL
During his service in the U.S. Navy, Jim Hartzell first picked up a camera to capture slide photos of his travels around the Mediterranean. That early curiosity soon evolved—after upgrading his equipment, he turned his lens toward the vibrant California music scene of the early 1970s.
About two decades ago, while living along Florida’s Gulf Coast—then a booming musical hub—his passion for photography was fully reignited. Since that time, Hartzell, affectionately known as “The Captain,” has become a beloved presence at live music events. His dedication and craft have earned him the admiration of respected peers such as Joe Rosen, Marilyn Stringer, and Laura Carbone, all past KBA honorees. In addition to covering Florida’s bustling music circuit, he travels frequently to festivals across the United States and to international events like Denmark’s Blues Heaven Festival.
Jim’s work has appeared in Blues Music Magazine, Blues Blast Magazine, and numerous other music publications, and his images grace many album packages. Generous by nature, he has always offered his photographs to artists at no cost a heartfelt “thank you” for the joy their music brings him. The deep friendships he shares with musicians reflect the high regard they hold for him both personally and professionally. Outside of photography, Hartzell is also an accomplished architectural draftsman, a skill that helps support his equipment needs and travel expenses.
Hartzell’s love for both photography and music shines through every image he captures. A true gentleman and remarkable human being, he strives to preserve the spirit and story of the music with each shot. Thank you to The Blues Foundation for recognizing his outstanding contributions to the blues community.
MARK JACOBSON
Mark Jacobson has been carrying the blues across the airwaves for an extraordinary thirty-nine years at KSCU 103.3 FM. Over the past eight years, KSCU has grown from a traditional college radio station into a vibrant community based internet station housed on the campus of Santa Clara University.
In 1985, Mark arrived at Santa Clara University as an MBA student and soon began volunteering at KSCU. On November 1, 1986, he hosted his very first blues radio program. In the early years, his show aired on Saturday nights from ten in the evening until two in the morning. As time went on, the program shifted to Sunday mornings and became known as “Jakester’s Sunday Blues Brunch.” By around 2010, the show expanded to a four hour block from nine in the morning until one in the afternoon. Today, Jakester and two other dedicated blues hosts keep the blues alive every Sunday.
Throughout his career, Mark has conducted dozens of in depth artist interviews, speaking with legends such as Buddy Guy, John Nemeth, Son Seals, Mark Hummel, Albert Collins, Candye Kane, Koko Taylor, Chris Layton, Nick Moss, Gary Smith, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Andy Just, Carolyn Wonderland, Selwyn Birchwood, Chris Cain, and Roy Buchanan. His interviews reflect both his knowledge of the music and his genuine love for the artists who create it.
Over the years, Mark has also trained twelve blues deejays. Three remain active at KSCU, and three others now host programs on different radio and internet stations. Since 1995, he has submitted a
monthly Hot 25 Blues Report to Living Blues magazine. For the past decade, he has compiled and shared a weekly listing of live blues performances happening throughout the Bay Area, which he posts on the KSCU Blues Facebook page. Mark also manages the station’s Blues account on X, where he shares timely updates on artists, events, and news from the blues community.
Mark’s involvement extends well beyond the studio. In 1994 and 1995, he organized and coordinated blues deejays from across the San Francisco Bay Area to co host JJ’s Blues Festival, introducing more than five thousand attendees to the local radio voices supporting the genre. From 1996 to 2009, he advised festival producer Ted Gehrke on artist bookings for the Fountain Blues Festival and hosted Ted in the studio each year to promote the festival lineup through music and interviews. From 2015 to 2020, Mark provided similar guidance to Jay Meduri, producer of the Poor House Bistro’s Little Easy Festival and a Keeping the Blues Alive Award recipient in 2021. He also hosted Jay on air to promote the festival’s annual lineup. In addition, Mark served as Master of Ceremonies for several years at the Blues Stage of the San Jose Jazz Summerfest.
Since 1986, Mark has consistently promoted major blues festivals through on air mentions and artist interviews, including the Fountain Blues Festival, the Russell City Blues Festival in Hayward, the San Jose Jazz Summerfest, the San Francisco Blues Festival, JJ’s Blues Festival, and the Little Easy Backyard Blues Party. Through his decades of dedication, mentorship, community engagement, and unwavering passion for the music, Mark Jacobson has become an essential force in keeping the blues alive throughout the Bay Area and far beyond.
ABOUT THE BLUES FOUNDATION
The Blues Foundation is a world-renowned Memphis-based organization whose mission is to preserve blues heritage, celebrate blues recording and performance, expand worldwide awareness of the blues, and ensure the future of this uniquely American art form. Founded in 1980, the Foundation has approximately 4,000 individual members and 180 affiliated blues societies representing another 50,000 fans and professionals worldwide.
The BF’s signature honors and events — the Blues Music Awards, Blues Hall of Fame Inductions, International Blues Challenge, and Keeping the Blues Alive Awards — make it the international hub of blues music. Its HART Fund provides the blues community with medical assistance for musicians in need, while Blues in the Schools programs and Generation Blues Scholarships expose new generations to blues music. The Blues Hall of Fame Museum, located in Downtown Memphis, adds the opportunity for blues lovers of all ages to interact with blues music and history.
Throughout the year, the Blues Foundation staff serves the global blues community with answers, information, and news. IBC week will not only see performances leading up to the January 20th finals, but the Blues Foundation has also programmed a variety of seminars, showcases, master classes, film screenings, book signings, exhibits, networking events, and receptions that musicians, blues professionals, and fans can attend. This year The Blues Foundation will again host health screenings for diabetes, screenings for cholesterol, PSA, Hepatitis C, and other conditions, free of charge to IBC musicians and attendees. Sponsored by the Blues Foundation’s HART (Handy Artist Relief Trust) Fund, screenings will be provided on Wednesday, January 17, and Thursday, January 18, from 12 PM – 2:30 PM on the second floor of Club 152 (152 Beale Street.)
The International Blues Challenge is sponsored this year by ArtsMemphis, the Tennessee Arts Commission, Memphis Tourism, the Memphis Airport Authority, BMI®, and broadcast partner Ditty TV. To purchase an International Blues Challenge Pass and final seating upgrades, along with tickets to the Keeping the Blues Alive Awards Brunch and Ceremony, please visit this link: https://secure.blues.org/np/clients/blues/eventRegistration.jsp?forwardedFromSecureDomain=1&event=92.
For more information about the International Blues Challenge, including the full schedule of events, IBC merchandise, and links to reserve discounted hotel rooms at The Doubletree Hotel, please visit Blues.org.