I'm always amazed at how the GRAMMYs find so many things to nominate. There are 108 different categories and some of which I would never have known existed if they had not been nominated, like “Lost Sounds: Blacks And The Birth Of The Recording Industry 1891-1922 on Archeophone Records. Of course with 108 categories it’s doubtful that category will make it to the telecast. But it is great that it and other important but overlooked genres at least get some kind of recognition. It's sort of like the Oscars when they nominate films you've never heard of and you end up going to check them out after you hear about them. Another thing that is interesting is how the categories are broken down, I had no idea there were so many types of Rock.
The big difference is the way the two events are marketed. You most likely won’t be seeing an advertisement on television saying "Branford Marsalis, nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo raves Jazz Times magazine" buy it today! I don’t think you’re going to see a performance of Hope from his Braggtown CD either.
But isn’t just Jazz that you won’t see on television, Blues which is the root of most American music has just two categories and it and Gospel probably won’t make it on the telecast either. Perhaps exposing these three true great American art forms would shine too bright a light on the current condition of American popular music. But I doubt that it's even that deep. It's about ratings and revenue and popular music is what gets the most people in the desired demographic watching and hopefully buying the products they push during the telecast. At this moment in time Hip Hop and its derivatives appear to be King.
In the mean time we can hope that one day the telecast will be more balanced and inclusive, but I can't imagine sitting there watching a classical performance any more than a metal lover would be interested in watching Jeff "Tain" Watts improvise.
What will be happening this year is an event that is taking place on Tuesday February 6, 2007 at The Music Box in The Fonda Theatre. It's The GRAMMY salute to Jazz honoring NEA Jazz Masters James Moody and Phil Woods. Both men will receive The Presidents Merit Award for Outstanding achievement for their "lasting" contributions to jazz and the music community. The event will feature live performances by both honoree's and the Gibson/Baldwin Jazz Ensembles. XM 200 will feature this event on our GRAMMY Radio channel and that is something to celebrate.
In additional to this ceremony several important artists and their recordings are being added to the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. A 1930 Victor recording of Blue Yodel #9 by Jimmy Rodgers featuring Louis Armstrong, A 1934 Victor recording of Cocktails For Two by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, 1961's Jazzland recording of Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane and the 1960 Riverside recording of Portrait In Jazz by The Bill Evans Trio.
Finally besides the very "muscular" Branford Marsalis Quartet Braggtown CD on Marsalis Music, here is a list of some of my favorite GRAMMY nominees you can hear on XM 70 Real Jazz.
Karrin Allyson - Footprints - Concord
Roy Haynes - Whereas - Dreyfus Jazz
Sonny Rollins - Sonny, Please - Doxy
The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project - Simpatico - ArtistShare
Mingus Big Band – Live In Tokyo At The Blue Note – Sunnyside/Sue Mingus Music
Congratulations to all the nominees, be sure to tune in to GRAMMY Radio on XM 200 and watch the telecast February 11th on CBS.
Maxx Myrick
Real Jazz/ XM 70
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment