Por Vida Joins Line-Up of Charitable CDs

Por Vida Joins Line-Up of Charitable CDs NEW YORK, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- BMG Music Service is now offering Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo to its line-up of charitable CDs. It is an outstanding two-CD collection of Escovedo's songs performed by acclaimed artists such as Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Calexico, Los Lonely Boys, Jayhawks and Charlie Sexton. In all, 32 artists collaborated on this remarkable CD to help raise funds for the Alejandro Escovedo Medical and Living Expense Fund which benefits musicians afflicted with hepatitis C, including Escovedo who fell ill with the disease in 2002. The Escovedo tribute CD was recently described in the Wall Street Journal as "... a rich and diverse collection of music that is both an artistic and humanitarian triumph." This month, BMG Music Service is bringing members an exclusive offer to purchase the Por Vida CD along with one of three other Escovedo CDs at a special discounted price. Other CDs available that benefit charities: Jazz Alliance International's Hear and Now series brings jazz greats together for two different collections. Jazz Hear and Now features tracks by some of the biggest names on the jazz scene including Diana Krall, Bela Fleck, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick, Jr. and Cassandra Wilson. The Smooth Jazz Hear and Now CD is a collection of more R&B-driven jazz musicians such as Norman Brown, Chris Botti, Norah Jones, Four Play, Dave Koz with Luther Vandross and Boney James. A portion of the proceeds benefits JAI, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support and encourage jazz musicians and foster better working relationships within the international jazz community. In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa unites 13 of today's most innovative and popular Christian artists, bringing fresh interpretation to hits previously made popular by U2. The album features artists such as Audio Adrenaline, Delirious?, Jars Of Clay, Nichole Nordeman, Pillar, Sanctus Real, Toby Mac and many others. The Christian music club Sound & Spirit is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the CD to World Vision to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa About BMG Music Service: BMG Music Service is one of the world's largest direct-to-customer distributors of music. In addition to the BMG Music Service brand, the company operates four different specialty clubs - the BMG Classical Music Club, the BMG Jazz Club, Sound & Spirit (Christian and Gospel music), and Ritmo y Pasion (Latin music). Members of all clubs are offered a selection of over 15,000 titles provided by the five major music groups and over 100 independent record labels. Members can shop for music directly from club catalogs or conveniently online at http://www.bmgmusic.com/. Based in New York City, BMG Music Service and online music retailer CDnow form BMG Direct which is a unit of DirectGroup Bertelsmann. Contact: Melinda Meals 212-930-4418 Melinda.meals@bmgdirect.com Source: BMG Music Service CONTACT: Melinda Meals of BMG Music Service, +1-212-930-4418, or Melinda.meals@bmgdirect.com Web site: http://www.bmg.com/ http://www.bmgmusic.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment