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Jerry, who is one of the most successful and musically adept producers to emerge from the hip-hop era since 1994, treated bourgeoning singer/songwriters and fans to anecdotal stories on creating hits for The Fugees (The Score), Whitney Houston (“My Love Is Your Love”), and Shakira (“Hips Don’t Lie”). In addition, Jerry ensnared the audience’s attention by demonstrating his musicianship skills by playing chords on his bass that lead to the foundation of many of his hits. Highlights include songwriter Mary Brown joining Jerry to recall the songwriting process of creating songs for Wyclef Jean (“911”), and Destiny’s Child (“No, No, No”).

BMI also sponsored the summit, held Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9 at the Hyatt Regency Century City. On Thursday, BMI presented the “How I Wrote That Song” panel, moderated by BMI’s Delia Orjuela, and featuring a collection of Latin music’s elite songwriters including Javier San Roman, Horacio Palencia, Gloria España, Erika Vidrio, Luis Carlos Monroy and Gabriel Flores, who discussed issues of composition, including hit songwriting strategy and technique.

However, what makes him most proud is his composer project Plataforma, a music service that not only distributes his own compositions but also organizes workshops to teach aspiring composers the composition method he developed through his career, which began in the mid-70s as he participated in music festivals in Mexico and abroad. “The professional composition course is based on a methodology that summarizes rules one should follow when writing a song,” he explains over a telephone interview.

Campos suffers from a degenerative disease that has damaged both his hearing and sight since his mid-twenties. Today, he is unable to tune his own guitar, but somehow he knows when the instrument is out of tune. “What happens is that this deficiency developed over the years,” he says. “There is some kind of internal mechanism in my memory that helps me compose today. This partial deafness has made it difficult to identify certain tones, so I cannot tune my guitar because I cannot distinguish between certain notes, but I can tell if the guitar is tuned from its vibration.”

“Because of this disease I have learned to compose by memory,” he says. “Using a pre-tuned guitar I can structure the melody in the way that I have envisioned it – when it comes to singing it or recording, it is not difficult to do so. Once I hear the vibration, I can coordinate it with my voice.”

In addition to the Composition Workshops, he has kept busy with various other recording projects, including his new album No Canto... Digo  (I Don't Sing, I Say) and another with Mexican diva Manoella Torres, which he is also co-producing.

“I always tell my students that they have to find a theme,” he notes. “The first thing one has to think about is what genre he or she is working with. Once that is established, you should think of how to tell a story in a few words in the clearest way possible.”

Scheduled to perform:

La Santa Cecilia

Cesar Brizuela

Hermanos Herrera

Santos Diablito

Oliver Ochoa

Larry Hernandez

De Francisco's life as a musician and songwriter began when she recorded “Cafe Con Aroma de Mujer” (“Coffee with the Scent of a Woman”), a romantic bolero with subtle touches of a slow cumbia that was the main theme the much-acclaimed 1994 telenovela of the same name, in which she also appeared as the central romantic character. In 1997, she recorded her first solo disc, and has since been regularly performing, recording and contributing to numerous TV soundtracks while actively maintaining her acting career. 2007 saw the release of her latest solo effort on Azteca Music, a self-titled album of original material which she also produced.

De Francisco's compositions are stubbornly eclectic: “As de Corazones” (“Ace of Hearts”) has elements of Mariachi music without sounding campy, while “Mientras Haya Vida” (“While There Is Life”) utilizes more of a modern Flamenco vibe that includes a Paco de Lucia-like rambling guitar throughout. The sultry “Acusa Me” (“Accuse Me), a blues-tinged jazz tune recorded with piano, upright bass and drums, is reminiscent of smoky 1950s jazz clubs.

Undoubtedly, de Francisco will continue to excel in both the world of thespians and the realm of musicians, as both of her roles shape her richly complex artistic identity.

“Aquí Estoy Yo”
Producer Sebastian Krys

“En Cambio No”
Engineer/mixer Steve Lyon

ALBUM DEL AÑO
Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo
Calle 13

Ciclos
Producer Sergio George

Cantora 1
Engineers/mixers Gustavo Celis and Anibal Kerpel

CANCION DEL AÑO
“Yo No Sé Mañana”
Co-written by Jorge Villamizar

MEJOR NUEVO ARTISTA
Luz Ríos

MEJOR ALBUM VOCAL POP FEMENINO
Día Azul
Jimena Ángel

Aire
Luz Ríos

MEJOR ALBUM DE MUSICA URBANA
Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo
Calle 13

Idon
Don Omar

La Revolucion
Wisin & Yandel

MEJOR CANCION URBANA
“Abusadora”
Co-written by Marcos Masis "Tainy", with Wisin & Yandel

"Llamado de Emergencia"
Co-written by Eduardo Luis Lopez and Eliezer Garcia

"Mujeres in the Club"
Co-written by Ernesto F. Padilla "Nesty La Mente Maestra", with Wisin & Yandel

"Sexy Robótica"
Written by Don Omar

MEJOR ALBUM DE ROCK VOCAL
Teatro
Draco Rosa

MEJOR ALBUM DE ROCK VOCAL DUO O GRUPO
Hogar
Volovan

MEJOR ALBUM DE MUSICA ALTERNATIVA
Barracuda
Kinky

Coba Coba
Novalima

MEJOR CANCION ALTERNATIVA
"Más Fuerte"
Co-written by Cucu Diamantes

"No Hay Nadie Como Tú"
Co-written by Rubén Albarran Ortega, Eduardo Cabral, Emmanuel Del Real Díaz, Enrique Rangel Arroyo and Jose Alfredo Rangel Arroyo

MEJOR ALBUM DE SALSA
Tranquilamente…Tranquilo
Oscar D'León

MEJOR CANCION TROPICAL
"Esa Muchachita"
Co-written by Juan Vicente Zambrano

"No Vale la Pena"
Co-written by Alberto Gaitán and Ricardo Gaitán

"Yo No Sé Mañana"
Co-written by Jorge Villamizar

MEJOR ALBUM CANTAUTOR
Zii E Zie
Caetano Veloso

MEJOR ALBUM DE MUSICA RANCHERA
Compañeras
Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles

Mexicano Hasta Las Pampas
Diego Verdaguer

MEJOR ALBUM DE MUSICA TEJANA
The Legend Continues…La Continuacion
Jimmy González y Grupo Mazz

Generations
Grupo Vida

Conjuntazzo
Joel Guzman and Sarah Fox

All the Way Live!
Jay Pérez

MEJOR ALBUM DE MUSICA NORTEÑA
Siempre
Costumbre

Sólo Contigo
Grupo Pesado

Mi Complemento
Los Huracanes del Norte

Amor Aventurero
Los Invasores de Nuevo León

Pese a Quien le Pese
Los Rieleros del Norte

MEJOR CANCION REGIONAL MEXICANA
"Almas Gemelas"
Co-written by Santa Benith

"Espero"
Co-written by Espinoza Paz

"Se Fue Mi Amor"
Co-written by Mario Quintero Lara

MEJOR ALBUM INSTRUMENTAL
Duets
Carlos Franzetti & Eddie Gómez

Live at Caramoor
Jovino Santos Neto

Across the Divide
Omar Sosa

Moving Forward
Bernie Williams

MEJOR ALBUM DE JAZZ LATINO
Kenya Revisited Live!!!
Bobby Sanabria

Sepulveda Boulevard
Charlie Sepúlveda & the Turnaround

Nouveau Latino
Néstor Torres

Juntos Para Siempre
Bebo Valdés

MEJOR ALBUM CRISTIANO EN ESPAÑOL
Esperando Tu Voz
Paulina Aguirre

Poquito a Poco
Promissa

MEJOR CANCION BRASILEÑA
"A Cor Amarela"
Written by Caetano Veloso

MEJOR ALBUM DE MUSICA LATINA PARA NIÑOS
Pombo Musical
Featuring Carlos Vives, Juanes, Santiago Cruz, Adriana Lucia, Ivan Benavides and Cabas

PRODUCTOR DEL AÑO
Sergio George
Cachorro López

MEJOR VIDEO MUSICAL VERSION CORTA
“La Perla”
Calle 13

MEJOR VIDEO MUSICAL VERSION LARGA
“E a Música de Tom Jobim”
Caetano Veloso

“Teatro”
Draco Rosa