First off, let’s be straight. I’m not a fan of the Grammy’s, the show is bloated and uninteresting, the nominees, well, puzzling, at times. Having said that, there is an implied importance to the awards and as such, they must be considered. For further research, google The Weeknd and the Grammy. Please check out as many as you can, some great musicians here, not to mention, producers and songwriters.
First the list, then a few videos of key nominees contributions.
Best Latin rock or alternative album: Lido Pimienta, Miss Colombia.
Best folk album: Leonard Cohen,Thanks for the Dance.
Best remixed recording: “Imaginary Friends (Morgan Page Remix),” Morgan Page, Deadmau5.
Best engineered album, non classical:
Shawn Everett, engineer, Black Hole Rainbow (Devon Gilfillian).
Shawn Everett, engineer, Hyperspace (Beck).
Shawn Everett, engineer, Jaime (Brittany Howard).
Best musical theatre album: Glen Ballard and Alanis Morissette, lyricists; original Broadway cast, Jagged Little Pill.
Best video: Future feat. Drake, “Life is Good.”
Best folk album: Leonard Cohen,Thanks for the Dance.
Best remixed recording: “Imaginary Friends (Morgan Page Remix),” Morgan Page, Deadmau5.
Best engineered album, non classical:
Shawn Everett, engineer, Black Hole Rainbow (Devon Gilfillian).
Shawn Everett, engineer, Hyperspace (Beck).
Shawn Everett, engineer, Jaime (Brittany Howard).
Best musical theatre album: Glen Ballard and Alanis Morissette, lyricists; original Broadway cast, Jagged Little Pill.
Best video: Future feat. Drake, “Life is Good.”
Best classical instrumental solo: Daniil Trifonov, Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Destination Rachmaninoff: Arrival.
Best classical compendium: Matt Haimovitz, Julian Wachner, Luna Pearl Woolf: Fire and Flood.
Best melodic rap performance: Drake feat. Lil Durk, “Laugh Now, Cry Later.”
Best rap song: Drake feat. Lil Durk, “Laugh Now, Cry Later.”
Best pop solo performance: Justin Bieber, “Yummy.”
Best pop duo: Justin Bieber feat. Quavo, “Intentions.”
Best traditional pop vocal album: Rufus Wainwright, Unfollow the Rules.
Best pop vocal album: Justin Bieber, Changes.
Best country song: Ingrid Andress (Sam Ellis, songwriter), “More Hearts Than Mine.”
Best country duo/group performance: Dan + Shay, Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours.”
Best dance recording:
Kaytranada feat. Kali Uchis, “10%”
Jayda G, “Both of Us.”
Best dance/electronic album: Kaytranada, Bubba.
Best spoken word album: Ken Jennings, Alex Trebek: The Answer Is….
Best new artist: Kaytranada
Song of the year: Julia Michaels, JP Saxe, “If the World was Ending.”
Record of the year:
Post Malone (Frank Dukes, producer), “Circles.”
Dua Lipa (Drew Jurecka, engineer), “Don’t Start Now.”
Album of the year: Post Malone (Frank Dukes, producer), Hollywood’s Bleeding.
The Civil Wars’ Barton Hollow cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Civil Wars song “Poison and Wine” is today’s selection. I have said many times in the past that, first, country is not my usual cup of tea, and second, it is all about the song. This song strikes a few chords. The lyrics, when taken with their personal history, are hauntingly cryptic. The tune amazing in its subtlety. Put both together and you have one heck of an emotional song. Beautifully crafted and worthy of something I seldom do. That would be listening to it several times in a row. This constitutes high praise from me for a song on a genre I don’t normally praise.
The Lumineers LIVE in Concert Presented By T-Mobile Rock4G and Walmart Soundcheck (Photo credit: Lunchbox LP)
I, like a heck of a lot of people, really enjoyed the first single off their self-titled debut. The Lumineers. Ho Hey is a great song, just as is their follow-up single “Stubborn Love“. The Denver based folk band exploded onto the scene in 2012 and gathered 4 Grammy nominations in 2013. Their style melds simple folk lines with a more recent root revival sound. These sounds could easily be heard in movies or TV as soundtrack, and are destined to have long lives as such. Enjoy Stubborn Love.
On July 26, Frank Foster, singer, composer, flautist and saxophonist passed away. Frank worked very closely with many Jazz and blues greats, including Count Basie, Thelonius Monk and George Benson. He received a Grammy in 1988 for Best Instrumental Arrangement, Jazz Category. This was for arranging “Basie’s Bag” for George Benson. In 1987 he won his first Grammy for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal, 1987. He made a big band arrangement of “Deedles’ Blues” to win this award.
