A Victory for Jazz, or Just Grammy Being Grammy?
When something newsworthy or popular or positive happens to a jazz musician — a big award, say — many in the jazz world feel astonished for about four seconds, then quickly act very smug. You know: We’ve been sitting here patiently, full of our aesthetic virtue, so used to being ignored, and the world has finally come around to our point of view. Are we happy about it? More to the point, what took you so long?
[Yes, it took over 40 years]
The Jazz Musician who won the Grammy is Herbie Hancock, one of the most gifted pianist, composer and arranger. An unnamed source who performed in the "Grammy" orchestra said that the crowd was "inscenced" that a "no-named" jazz
artist, an artist they never heard of could win such a coveted
award. Those sentiments were overheard from both the audience and
fellow orchestra musicians. I must point out that of 40 musician only SIX were not white. Oh, thankfully, the Black musicians DID know who Herbie is...And, in attempt to give the impression of "diversity" all of the black folks were put in
the same area of the stage where the cameras panned often.
So, I ask, has this Grammy win for Herbie helped Jazz at all? Shamefully, I must confess that I have not heard the CD but I plan on checking it out. I don't know how this one got away from me considering how much I love Joni Mitchell and have loved her since her 1969 "Clouds" album. With "Smooth Jazz" in NYC gone, will people gravitate to WBGO or other jazz stations like WKCR to find music that they want to hear? Another irony is that Herbie won the award performing the music of Joni Mitchell, a singer/songwriter who I grew up listening to, who has always been connected to Jazz musicians and the art form. Don Alias and Wayne Shorter are two who come to mind. Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams comprised one of Miles Davis greatest bands.
Another win that I like to mention is that of Barack Obama...how cool that he beat two ex-Presidents! But, if you ask me, it seems that Random House was the real winner here...!!
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling)
- The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream
Barack Obama
[Random House Audio]
- Celebrations
Maya Angelou
[Random House Audio]
- Giving: How Each Of Us Can Change The World
Bill Clinton
[Random House Audio]
- Sunday Mornings In Plains: Bringing Peace To A Changing World
Jimmy Carter
[Simon & Schuster Audio]
- Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself
Alan Alda
[Random House Audio]
Last, but not least, congrats to John Clayton and Paquito D'Rivera. John who won his first Grammy!! To get the complete list of winners click on this link.
Tell me, do any of you care about the Grammy's? Will you now purchase some of the music that has won? How many of you NEVER heard of Herbie Hancock or Joni Mitchell???
Hi Sheila, you forgot Michael Brecker's 2 awards. But I guess with all the Grammys he's won its redundant to mention. And this just shows what has become of the music industry when even WQCD can't stay on the air. What the nagging question is did Herbie win the Grammy or was it for Joni Mitchell?
Posted by: Tyrone Birkett | February 13, 2008 at 01:03 PM
Yes, you made a good point about Michael Brecker. I would not say that his winning is "redundant" Yes, he was a good musician and I don't want to take that away from him but I can't help but think that his winning might have been due to his untimely death. And, given that Grammy's are awarded based on the voting members, you may be right, the vote was for Joni, not Herbie....Hmmmm.
Posted by: Sheila Anderson | February 14, 2008 at 12:36 AM