After the disruptions and restrictions over the last couple of years, the Grammy Awards are back in Los Angeles with a full audience in attendance to witness the biggest night in music. Trevor Noah, back for a third time as host and first gig since leaving his post on "The Daily Show", was in understated comedic form and more about spreading positive vibes, teasing the celebrated musicians with light jokes and being an excited cheerleader for the live performances.
A nice touch on the show was having a round-table of ten dedicated fans passionately yet respectfully debating who should win the Album of the Year. Not only were they invited to attend the ceremony but then Noah had this group come on stage to present this award with him.
Bad Bunny, who became the first artist to have a Spanish-language album, "Un Verano Sin Ti" nominated for Album of the Year, opened the show, getting the crowd on their feet with a medley of "El Apagón" and "Después de la Playa" that featured a colorful, dance-filled celebration of his Puerto-Rican heritage. Out of the many live performances that followed, some of my favorites included the Stevie Wonder lead tribute to fellow Motown artist, Smokey Robinson and the label's founder, Berry Gordy, who were both honored as MusiCares Person of the Year, with Wonder, Robinson and country star, Chris Stapleton performing together some Motown classics; Lizzo, the winner of Record of the Year, did a brief interlude of the winning song, "About Damn Time" before moving into her album's title track, "Special", a powerful anthem on self-esteem; and a touching In Memoriam section that featured Kacey Musgraves paying tribute to Loretta Lynn with a version of "Coal Miner's Daughter"; Quavo of the hip hop group, Migos honored his late musical partner and nephew, Takeoff with "Without You" and Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Mick Fleetwood came together to pay respect to Christine McVie with a rendition of her 1977 Fleetwood Mac hit, "Songbird".
But the biggest highlight was the impressive celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Questlove helped curate a massive, multi-generational line-up of rap artists to musically run through the history of this genre with Run DMC, LL Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Ice-T, Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, Missy Elliot, Lil Baby, GloRilla, Chuck D and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy as just some of the performers appearing together on stage. Considering how many acts were involved over such a brief period of time, this was truly a dazzling, breath-taking event that I think was one of the best ever to have taken place in the history of the Grammys.
With a late arrival (no one can escape LA traffic), an ethereal Beyoncé finally emerged in time to receive four Grammys which made her become the most honored artist of all-time with a career total of thirty-two, surpassing a record previous held by conductor, Georg Solti. But her wins for "Renaissance" were not in the major categories with the loss of Album of the Year in particular setting off outrage amongst many fans and critics who felt the singer has been long overdue for this award, especially for this album which is considered by many to be one of her very best. It was Harry Styles who won the top prize for "Harry's Place", a stylish collection that also won Best Pop Vocal Album, a more deserving acknowledgment of the young British singer's solid pop-rock record.
And it was proven this evening that if you receive a nomination, any of the nominees truly has a real chance to win the award. One very unexpected winner was in Song of the Year with Bonnie Raitt taking the prize against some better known competition for "Just Like That", the title track from her eighteenth studio album and one of the rare songs that this veteran blues musician actually wrote. Samara Joy, the twenty-three year old jazz vocalist, was another surprise, selected as Best New Artist in a field that featured more higher profile musicians. Yet she did get her record deal by posting a performance online with it going viral and leading to Joy's debut, "Linger Awhile" which also won for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Here is a partial list of the winners from the 2023 Grammy Awards:Album of the Year: "Harry’s House" — Harry Styles
Record of the Year: "About Damn Time" — Lizzo
Song of the Year: "Just Like That" — Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)
Best New Artist: Samara Joy
Best Pop Vocal Album: "Harry’s House" — Harry Styles
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Higher" — Michael Bublé
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Easy On Me" — Adele
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Unholy" — Sam Smith & Kim Petras
Best Dance/Electronic Music Album: "Renaissance" — Beyoncé
Best Dance/Electronic Recording: "BREAK MY SOUL" — Beyoncé
Best R&B Album: "Black Radio III" — Robert Glasper
Best Progressive R&B Album: "Gemini Rights" — Steve Lacy
Best R&B Performance: "Hrs & Hrs" — Muni Long
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA" — Beyoncé
Best R&B Song: "CUFF IT" — Denisia "Blu June" Andrews, Beyoncé, Mary Christine Brockert, Brittany "Chi" Coney, Terius "The-Dream" Gesteelde-Diamant, Morten Ristorp, Nile Rodgers & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)
Best Rap Album: "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" — Kendrick Lamar
Best Rap Performance: "The Heart Part 5" — Kendrick Lamar
Best Rap Song: "The Heart Part 5" — Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar & Matt Schaeffer, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
Best Rock Album: "Patient Number 9" — Ozzy Osbourne
Best Rock Performance: "Broken Horses" — Brandi Carlile
Best Alternative Music Album: "Wet Leg" — Wet Leg
Best Música Urbana Album: "Un Verano Sin Ti" — Bad Bunny
Best Country Album: "A Beautiful Time" — Willie Nelson
Best Country Solo Performance: "Live Forever" — Willie Nelson
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Never Wanted To Be That Girl" — Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde
Best Country Song: "‘Til You Can’t" — Matt Rogers & Ben Stennis, songwriters (Cody Johnson)
Best Bluegrass Album: "Crooked Tree" — Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Best Americana Album: "In These Silent Days" — Brandi Carlile
Best Americana Performance: "Made Up Mind" — Bonnie Raitt
Best Folk Album: "Revealer" — Madison Cunningham
Best American Roots Performance: "Stompin’ Ground" — Aaron Neville With The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Best American Roots Song: "Just Like That" — Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)
Best Contemporary Blues Album: "Brother Johnny" — Edgar Winter
Best Traditional Blues Album: "Get On Board" — Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder
Best Jazz Vocal Album: "Linger Awhile" — Samara Joy
Best Reggae Album: "The Kalling" — Kabaka Pyramid
Best Latin Pop Album: "Pasieros" — Rubén Blades & Boca Livre
Best Latin Jazz Album: "Fandango At The Wall In New York" — Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Featuring The Congra Patria Son Jarocho Collective
Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording: "Finding Me" — Viola Davis
Best Spoken Word Poetry Album: "The Poet Who Sat By The Door" — J. Ivy
Best Comedy Album: "The Closer" — Dave Chappelle
Best Musical Theater Album: "Into The Woods (2022 Broadway Cast Recording)" — Stephen Sondheim, composer & lyricist (Sara Bareilles, Brian d'Arcy James, Patina Miller & Phillipa Soo, principal vocalists; Rob Berman & Sean Patrick Flahaven, producers))
Best Music Film: "Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story" — (Various Artists); Frank Marshall & Ryan Suffern, video directors; Frank Marshall, Sean Stuart & Ryan Suffern, video producers
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: "Encanto" — (Various Artists)
Best Song Written for Visual Media: "We Don’t Talk About Bruno" From "Encanto" — Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter (Carolina Gaitán - La Gaita, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & "Encanto" Cast)
Best Music Video: "All Too Well: The Short Film" — Taylor Swift, video director; Saul Germaine, video producer (Taylor Swift)
Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical): Tobias Jesso Jr.
Producer of the Year (Non-Classical): Jack Antonoff
No comments:
Post a Comment