New Blog & 50th Annual Grammy awards
Hello friends, family, fellow musicians, students, and everyone else out there! Welcome to my new blog! I'll be using this space to let everyone know what's going on in my musical career and comment on what's going on in music. There's usually a lot going on and I'll be sure to keep you all posted with every little detail!
Well, tonight was the 50th Grammy awards ceremony. I am really glad and proud of Herbie Hancock winning the Album of the Year award. For those of you who don't know, this marks the first time in 43 years that a jazz artist has ever won that prestigious award. There were many jazz legends that probably should have won or been nominated for that award, and they were definitely in Herbie's thoughts. I have always been a big fan of Herbie Hancock's musical ability. His solos are well developed and his coming is amazing! I have never heard chords sound so good. I did have the pleasure in meeting Herbie a few years ago when he was on tour with Wayne Shorter in 1998. The two of them were very friendly and outgoing. They both were kind enough to sign my Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff book. That was truly and honor to meet the two jazz legends.
I was also glad to see that Michael Brecker win a couple of Grammies as well. Michael passed away last year, way before his time, due to a bout with MDS and leukemia. He was an amazing tenor saxophonist. An artist who carried the torch for the new era of jazz saxophonists. I recommend all of his recordings to my students or any jazz fan. One of my favorite albums is a live recording of a concert he did with, none other than the 2008 Grammy award winner Herbie Hancock. Listen to the track Naima. This is an acapella recording of him playing the Coltrane classic. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to see him play this live, before the recording was released, and my jaw hit the ground and stayed open through the whole performance. This is a must have recording!
I was happy to see the Grammy awards incorporate so many different artists and genres into their show. This was a big celebration of the history of recorded music and I felt they honored every genre really well. From the tribute to Luciano Pavarotti, to the Rock n' Roll performance of Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Don Henley (I think that was Henley). Jazz was represented with a performance by vocalist Keeley Smith, Kid Rock (who surprised me by singing Louie Prima) and saxophonist Dave Koz. Overall, I think this was a very good Grammy award ceremony (even with Kanye's speech).
On the performance front, I have another National Anthem performance coming up this Thursday before the Sharks vs. Edmonton game at the HP Pavilion. I'm looking forward to this performance, as I will be performing "O, Canada" as well, which is a beautiful anthem. In a few weeks I'll be back at the HP Pavilion to perform for the SAP Open. One performance will be on 2/21 (a solo performance) and on 2/24 (w/ sax quartet). It should be an exciting couple of weeks!
Hello friends, family, fellow musicians, students, and everyone else out there! Welcome to my new blog! I'll be using this space to let everyone know what's going on in my musical career and comment on what's going on in music. There's usually a lot going on and I'll be sure to keep you all posted with every little detail!
Well, tonight was the 50th Grammy awards ceremony. I am really glad and proud of Herbie Hancock winning the Album of the Year award. For those of you who don't know, this marks the first time in 43 years that a jazz artist has ever won that prestigious award. There were many jazz legends that probably should have won or been nominated for that award, and they were definitely in Herbie's thoughts. I have always been a big fan of Herbie Hancock's musical ability. His solos are well developed and his coming is amazing! I have never heard chords sound so good. I did have the pleasure in meeting Herbie a few years ago when he was on tour with Wayne Shorter in 1998. The two of them were very friendly and outgoing. They both were kind enough to sign my Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff book. That was truly and honor to meet the two jazz legends.
I was also glad to see that Michael Brecker win a couple of Grammies as well. Michael passed away last year, way before his time, due to a bout with MDS and leukemia. He was an amazing tenor saxophonist. An artist who carried the torch for the new era of jazz saxophonists. I recommend all of his recordings to my students or any jazz fan. One of my favorite albums is a live recording of a concert he did with, none other than the 2008 Grammy award winner Herbie Hancock. Listen to the track Naima. This is an acapella recording of him playing the Coltrane classic. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to see him play this live, before the recording was released, and my jaw hit the ground and stayed open through the whole performance. This is a must have recording!
I was happy to see the Grammy awards incorporate so many different artists and genres into their show. This was a big celebration of the history of recorded music and I felt they honored every genre really well. From the tribute to Luciano Pavarotti, to the Rock n' Roll performance of Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Don Henley (I think that was Henley). Jazz was represented with a performance by vocalist Keeley Smith, Kid Rock (who surprised me by singing Louie Prima) and saxophonist Dave Koz. Overall, I think this was a very good Grammy award ceremony (even with Kanye's speech).
On the performance front, I have another National Anthem performance coming up this Thursday before the Sharks vs. Edmonton game at the HP Pavilion. I'm looking forward to this performance, as I will be performing "O, Canada" as well, which is a beautiful anthem. In a few weeks I'll be back at the HP Pavilion to perform for the SAP Open. One performance will be on 2/21 (a solo performance) and on 2/24 (w/ sax quartet). It should be an exciting couple of weeks!
posted by Mike Mendoza at
12:38 AM
