Jon Batiste speaks to GRAMMY Camp jazz students during 2018 GRAMMY Week

Jon Batiste

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

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Jon Batiste, Michael McDonald Offer Real Advice To GRAMMY Camp Musicians

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As part of their New York GRAMMY Week journey, GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session students received expert advice from two pros representing the creative and business sides of the music industry
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Jan 24, 2018 - 9:04 pm

Carnegie Hall. The Blue Note. Madison Square Garden. Radio City Music Hall. Broadway. New York is positively brimming with storied music history. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. For a young musician, it's certainly akin to being the proverbial kid in a candy store.

As a matter of fact, 18 young high school musicians are getting their opportunity to sample the sweets that form the rich music culture of the Big Apple as participants in this year's GRAMMY Museum's GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session program. Their week-long musical adventure is anchored by select appearances and performances at official GRAMMY Week events such as GRAMMY In The Schools Live!, the MusiCares Person of the Year after-party celebration and the GRAMMY Celebration, the Recording Academy's official after-party.

But before they hit the downbeat, the Jazz Session students participated in an exclusive Industry Insider Night centered around a question-and-answer dialog with Jon Batiste, "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" bandleader, and Michael McDonald, artist manager for Mick Management and MusiCares Board Chair.

Taking place at New York's impressive Hudson Yards complex, the purpose of the intimate setting was to provide the students with an opportunity to gain credible insight from two professionals representing different sides of the music industry: the creative side and the business side. And Batiste is technically part of the family in being a flesh-and-blood alumnus of the GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session program.

The dialog was compelling, the stories were interesting, the questions insightful, and the advice offered was candid. Here are seven tips that Batiste and McDonald passed on to the GRAMMY Camp musicians — principles that formulate solid advice for any young musician mulling a career in music.

1. Wherever You End Up, Find Your Tribe

New Orleans native Batiste picked up and moved to New York to attend the prestigious Juilliard School. While getting an education and furthering his music abilities were top of mind, the Stay Human bandleader drove home the point that his choice was also based on the potential to trade fours with like-minded musicians.

"College is a place to meet people, and New York is a hub of music," said Batiste. "There's so many opportunities. So I think that coming to New York was very important [for me] because it just exposes you to so many different things. And then going to Juilliard, I met so many people who I just considered to be part of my creative family. Wherever you end up: find your tribe."

2. Prepare For The Real World By Doing Things "Before It's Time"

As the saying goes, being school smart is one thing. But being real-world smart can be a totally different ball. And for music students, making that transition from music school phenom to is forged with potential obstacles. Batiste urged the students to keep an eye on the big picture by getting an early start on tackling the things they want to do in their careers.

"The biggest thing I learned from that whole transition [from school to the real world] is to be trying to do the thing before its time so that you're ready before the opportunity does come," said Batiste. "I wanted to lead a band so I was leading a band. I wanted to learn from musicians who I listened to on recordings so I sought them out. … When you get out of school, it will feel like more of a natural transition."

"I always say, 'There's always room for the real deal.'" — Michael McDonald

3. It's OK To Suck

Sometimes musicians can become obsessed with trying to play every note perfectly. While allotting countless hours to woodshed is no doubt part and parcel to honing one's instrumental prowess, Batiste turned the tables with a thought-provoking nugget of wisdom based on personal experience.

"I wished someone would have told me that it's OK for it to really suck at first. In fact, if it doesn't suck it probably means you're not trying hard enough," said Batiste, who regaled the students with tales of when he used to perform for NYC subway patrons. "Push it to the point where it's uncomfortable. We pushed ourselves to do stuff that we didn't see people doing and it wasn't comfortable, but I think that created an understanding of what we wanted to do and how to critique [ourselves] so the next time it will be better."

Michael McDonald, Jon Batiste, David Sears at a 2018 GRAMMY Week event in New York
2018 Industry Insider Night For GRAMMY Camp— Jazz Session

4. Focus On Finding Your Vision

While technology is considered a double-edged sword by some, the truth is that technological advances have afforded musicians more autonomy and flexibility. Starting a YouTube channel, social networking and recording album-ready music in a bedroom are just three examples of how young musicians can tap technology to their benefit. Technology and tools aside, McDonald stressed an aspiring musician should exhibit self-starter qualities and spend ample time to decide the direction they want to their career to head in.

"If you can't start something on your own, if you don't have a vision, if you don't know what you like, I can't do anything for you," said McDonald, whose client roster includes the likes of Batiste, Maggie Rogers, Ray LaMontagne, and Walk The Moon. "For me, to take on an artist, I want to see someone who has initiative, drive, and is resourceful, and can do a lot of things on their own."

"Wherever you end up: find your tribe." — Jon Batiste

5. Make A List And Let Creativity Flower

Lists are good for a number of things. Grocery lists. To-do lists. Shopping lists. Instruction lists. While formulating lists can help manage productivity, Batiste explained that he employed a certain kind of list to help spark connections and foster creativity.

"What I did at one point, because I really couldn't articulate it, I made a list of every single thing that I like," said Batiste. "It didn't even matter if it was music or not. There was random stuff on the list and I tried to make connections between them. The creative mind is mysterious. Stuff will emerge."

As it turns out, McDonald went through the exact same exercise on his own. Great minds really do think alike

6. Don't Chase Today's Trends

While keeping tabs on the Top 10 list can be enticing, McDonald recommended that the students shouldn't become consumed with altering their course to match the sounds of the artists landing billions of streams and YouTube views.

"Don't chase what's happening this year or what the trend is," said McDonald, who got his career start on the road with Dave Matthews Band in the '90s. "I always say, 'There's always room for the real deal.' Dave Matthews came out in the '90s. That was acoustic guitar, saxophone and violin. And it was coming out at the same time as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots. The trend was grunge but these guys just were who they are."

7. Heed Your Belief System

When asked about the age-old question concerning art versus commerce — or if a musician needs to "sell out" to make it — Batiste advised the students that the answer will come from within. Specifically, a young musician should be mindful of their values and beliefs and steer toward what moves them with passion and vigilance.

"The question is more about: What do you believe? Who are you? Why do you play?" said Batiste. "When you answer that, it's like, 'Well, that's why I play.  Let me figure out how to make money doing that and let the chips fall where they may.' Do the art because you love it. If you really love it, it's probably a part of who you are. I'm always singing. I'm always creating ideas. That's me. It's not my love for the art. It's who I am."

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Veronica Leahy performs at GRAMMY In The Schools Live! in New York

Baritone saxophonist Veronica Leahy

Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

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GRAMMY Jazz Band Plays Duke Ellington, Count Basie & More | 2018 GRAMMY Week

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The GRAMMY In The Schools Live! program showcased the formidable chops of this year's GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session band and celebrated music education in the Big Apple
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Jan 25, 2018 - 10:46 pm

After spending the first few days of GRAMMY Week getting acquainted, rehearsing and plotting their schedule, the members of GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session finally got to let the music do the talking at the GRAMMY In The Schools Live! concert in New York City on Jan. 25.

What Happened At 2018 GRAMMY In The Schools Live!

Taking place at The New School's John L. Tishman Auditorium, the GRAMMY Museum event proved to not only showcase this year's class of Jazz Session students and the many alumni of the program who were in attendance, but it also spotlighted the year-round initiatives of the Museum, which include a range of programs for youth musicians and music education.

The event also acknowledged the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum's 2018 Music Educator Award recipient Melissa Salguero, a music teacher at P.S. 48 in the South Bronx.

"This is one of the most epic moments of my life. My dream was to teach in a city that loved and cherished music," said Salguero. "To be honored in New York City as a New York teacher, this has been one of the most amazing experiences in my life."

But on this January evening, the spotlight shone brightly on the 18 young musicians in the Jazz Session band — comprising five saxophones, five trumpets, four trombones, bass, drums, guitar, and piano.

With direction from conductor Justin DiCioccio, the band performed a taught set list showcasing, in DiCioccio's words, the "different styles and moods of jazz." Out of the gate, the band swung through Neal Hefti's "Whirly Bird" with a brisk fervor, highlighted by the sax chairs trading solos.

Jon Batiste
2018 GRAMMY In The Schools Live!

They segued into "Cabeza De Carne," a Latin clave-based tune that put some pep in the audience's collective step, and Benny Golson's "Along Came Betty," which seemed to bottle the sounds one might hear at 2 a.m. at a late-night NYC jazz club.

"We've had one rehearsal, by the way," quipped DiCioccio in between songs.

Following a take on Randy Brecker's "Sponge," which featured cool riffing and angular walking bass lines courtesy of guitarist Jordan Reifkind and bassist Augustus "Gus" Allen, respectively, the Jazz Session members kicked into high gear.

The ensemble performed a spirited take of Buddy Rich's "West Side Story Suite." The multi-layered composition was chosen in honor of the centennials of composer Leonard Bernstein and famed drummer Rich. Appropriately, the sprawling tune was sparked by brassy punctuations and impressive stick work by drummer Varun Das.

Next, the musicians' showcased depth and range that belied their experience on "Red Hair, No Freckles," a complex piece composed by GRAMMY Museum Executive Education Director David Sears, who offered, "If we play it right, your body should move." Judging by the audience reaction, they indeed got it right. The collective navigated the multiple odd time signatures in the piece with aplomb while interpreting the tune's R&B, funk and progressive pop flavors that ably mixed elements of Earth, Wind & Fire, James Brown and Chicago.

For a special encore, the Jazz Session band was joined by one of their own, alumni Jon Batiste. The gregarious pianist/bandleader for "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" — who came straight from a show taping to play with the students — sat in for a performance of Duke Ellington's "Kiki" and Count Basie's "Splanky."

In the presence of the senior musician, the band upped their game and matched Batiste's fire, measure by measure. For his part, the smiling Batiste dazzled the ivories, with his playing light as a feather and forceful at the appropriate moments and improvised solos that were ripe with articulate calls and responses, motifs and linear flourishes. Jazz Session pianist Esteban Castro, who stepped aside for the final two songs, smiled for the duration as he witnessed the masterclass.

As for the Jazz Session members, the experience and education they amass during their GRAMMY Week crash course will certainly bode well for their future careers. And the time they are spending together in the Big Apple constitutes a form of networking, which one alumnus described as an integral part of the GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session experience.

"[I advise them to] keep in touch with each other," said David Grossman, a pianist/bassist who was a Jazz Session band member in the mid-'90s. "They might know this but their fellow bandmates, hopefully, they'll know [each other] for a long, long time."

"These are some of the finest young jazz players in the country and we are giving them a very unique lens of what it means to work in music," said Scott Goldman, Executive Director of the GRAMMY Museum. "The kind of challenges that they will face as a working musician, the kind of discipline that is required by a working musician — this is an experience that I don't think you are going to get in any conservatory setting."

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Neil Portnow, Mayor Bill de Blasio and John Poppo in New York

Neil Portnow, Mayor Bill de Blasio and John Poppo cut the ribbon on the Recording Academy's new headquarters in New York
Photo Cindy Ord/Getty Images

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2018 GRAMMY Week: The Recording Academy Hits The Ground In New York

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With Music's Biggest Night returning to the Big Apple for the first time in 15 years, the Academy kicked off GRAMMY Week in NYC style
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Jan 22, 2018 - 9:27 pm

The Recording Academy jolted the electricity in New York City up a few notches today. With Monday, Jan. 22 ushering in GRAMMY Week, the reality of the return of Music's Biggest Night to Madison Square Garden for the first time in 15 years beckons. And if the two official events that bookended the day are any indication, the excitement in the city is palpable.

Watch Spike Lee's Star-Studded 'NY Stories' Film

To start the proceedings, this morning Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow and Chair John Poppo participated in a special ribbon-cutting ceremony with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to christen the organization's new local headquarters: an impressive townhouse situated across East 37th Street from the J.P. Morgan Museum.

"This marks the first time the Academy will own our own offices and a real piece of the Big Apple," said Portnow.

During his remarks, de Blasio commented on how New York City will benefit by the powerful force that is GRAMMY Week.

"We're so happy to have the [60th GRAMMY Awards] back where, in our humble opinion, they belong," said de Blasio. "There will be real economic opportunity created by this wonderful week: It's projected to have an impact of [$200 million] on the city's economy, and we know that impact will go well beyond the seven exciting days ahead."

Speaking of impact, in the evening the Recording Academy hosted an official GRAMMY Week welcome reception convening local officials, dignitaries, and the organization's executive staff and elected leadership. The reception was nestled within Hudson Yards, an impressive real estate development that will ultimately become a massive nexus of culture, commerce and cuisine.

Spanning seven full city blocks and more than 18 million square feet, the sprawling project is touted as the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States, and the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center.

"[Hudson Yards] is really the new heart of New York," said Jay Cross, president of Related Hudson Yards. "It's where the city is going in the next five or 10 years."

But the focus for this week in New York is the 60th GRAMMY Awards, a milestone telecast for not only the organization but also for Portnow.

Peter Asher at the GRAMMY Week kickoff reception at Hudson Yards
2018 GRAMMY Week Kickoff Event & Welcome Reception

"[This year] is actually interesting for me," said Portnow, a native New Yorker. "It's full circle because my first year as President of the Academy was the year that we were here last [in 2003] and we were in Madison Square Garden. It's not only a homecoming but it's quite emotional. We're thrilled to be here."

"The GRAMMYs coming here, given New York being the cultural capital of the United States, is so important for the city," said Corey Johnson, speaker of the New York City Council.

The GRAMMYs' storied history includes previous telecasts hosted at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden and the Uris Theatre. As a melting pot of so many popular genres, New York is an appropriate home for Music's Biggest Night, which will honor music excellence in 84 categories.

"This is the music and cultural center of the world," said Poppo. "You can't think about music without thinking about the iconic [New York] venues and how many different kinds of music started here. Salsa started here. Hip-hop — no matter what anybody tells you — started here. You had the punk revolution. You had folk blowing up in Greenwich Village. The days of Studio 54 and disco and Broadway. It just goes on and on."

Fittingly, GRAMMY Week will feature a slate of events that are arguably as diverse as New York's cultural footprint.

The festivities will include the Producers & Engineers Wing's annual celebration honoring Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, the GRAMMY Salute to Classical Music celebrating the music of Leonard Bernstein, multiple performances by the GRAMMY Museum's GRAMMY Camp — Jazz Session students, and Clive Davis and the Recording Academy's Pre-GRAMMY Gala, which will honor one of this year's top GRAMMY nominee, Jay-Z.

"The key thing about [GRAMMY Week] this year, because it's in New York and we have a free pass, [is] we've had an opportunity to reinvent [our] events," said Poppo. "And that's what is exciting."

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Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry (1926–2017)

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Recording Academy Remembers Those We Lost In 2017 | GRAMMY In Memoriam

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Take a moment to reflect and salute the members of the music community who we lost in 2017–2018
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 28, 2018 - 7:48 pm

(The following is a list of artists and industry professionals the music community lost in 2017–2018. The 60th GRAMMY Awards telecast on CBS will feature an In Memoriam segment highlighting some of these individuals via a video tribute, and all of these individuals who died prior to Dec. 20, 2017 are included in the official 60th GRAMMY Awards program book. The Recording Academy salutes each individual for their respective talents and contributions to our culture and community.)

John Abercrombie
Paul James Abler
Muhal Richard Abrams
Ken Ackerman
Gustav Åhr aka Lil Peep
Martin Ain
Alan Aldridge
Alessandro Alessandroni
Geri Allen
Ronnie Allen
Gregg Allman
Tommy Allsup
Joey Alves
Kishori Amonkar
Herb Oscar Anderson
David Angel
Harry Anger
David Arben
Gary Arnold
Svend Asmussen
José Vicente Asuar
Xavier "X" Atencio
George Avakian
David Axelrod
Luis Enriquez Bacalov
Margie Balter
Junior Barber
Mike Barhorst
Chuck Barris
Mahi Beamer
Kenny Beard
Jimmy Beaumont
Walter Becker
Belchior
Émile Belcourt
Melissa Bell
Jiří Bělohlávek
Chester Bennington
Pierre Bergé
Shelley Berman
Ilene Berns
Chuck Berry
Chris Bevington
Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya
Hayward Sherman Bishop Jr.
John Blackwell Jr.
Kimble Blair
Lee Blakeley
William Blankenship
Edward Blau
Arthur Blythe
Black Bo
Andre "L.A. Dre" Bolton
Sheila Bond
Helen Borgers
Bimba Bosé
John Boudreaux Jr.
Géori Boué
Derek Bourgeois
Patrick Bourgeois
Jesse Boyce
Jack Boyle
Charles Bradley
José Bragato
Thomas Brandis
Loalwa Braz
Daniel Brewbaker
Fletcher Bright
William David Brohn
Lonnie Brooks
Mar Brown
Tammy Brown
Jason Browning
Colin Brumby
Eduard Brunner
Anshel Brusilow
Dave Bry
Bill Bryson
Paul Buckmaster
Sonny Burgess
Jim Burns
Charles "Chuckie" Bush II
Ronnie Butler
Joy Byers
Tony Calder
Eamonn Campbell
Glen Campbell
Jeffrey Campbell aka Educated Rapper
Ralph Carney
Barbara Carroll
Howard Carroll
Mel Carter
Valerie Carter
Erik Cartwright
Kathleen Cassello
David Cassidy
Roland Cazimero
Manno Charlemagne
Sheila Raye Charles
Jacques Charpentier
Rick Chavez
Elisabeth Chojnacka
Dave Christenson
Earl Clark
"Fast" Eddie Clarke
José Miguel Class
John Coates Jr.
Kurt Cochran
Wayne Cochran
Kelan Phil Cohran
Fred Cole
Bill Collings
Benny Collins
Dick Contino
Fiora Corradetti Contino
Barbara Cook
Eric Cook
John Byrne Cooke
Jimmy Copley
Kenny Cordray
Chris Cornell
Joey Corpus
Frank Corsaro
Jason Corsaro
Larry Coryell
James Cotton
Tom Coyne
John Critchinson
Dub Crouch
Willy Cruz
Salvador "Sal" Cuevas
Bob Cunningham
Clem Curtis
Holger Czukay
Steve Dahl
Bill Dana
Warrel Dane
Enzo Dara
Donna Darlene
Wilson das Neves
Michael "DikMik" Davies
CeDell Davis
Ronnie Davis
Tony Davis
Robert De Cormier
Henry-Louis de La Grange
Laudir de Oliveira
Gervase de Peyer
Gary DeCarlo
Alvin DeGuzman
Refugio "Cuco" Del Cid
Jonathan Demme
André Di Cesare
Magín Díaz
Rob "Apex" Dickeson
Philip Dikeman
Pat DiNizio
Richard Divall
Lorenzo Dixon aka Zoe Realla
Trish Doan
Richard Dobson
Fats Domino
Jimmy Dotson
Bill Dowdy
Gord Downie
George Dreyfus
Carlo Driggs
Paul Lustig Dunkel
Errol Dyers
Tom Edwards
Pavel Egorov
Terry Elam
Halim El-Dabh
Larry Elgart
Martín Elías
Jan Elliott
Kitty Moon Emery
Calep Emphrey Jr.
Wendell Eugene
Dave Evans
Eric Eycke
Vincent Falcone
Huang Feili
Jordan Feldstein
Joe Fields
Seth Firkins
Mark Fisher aka k-punk
Robert Fisher
Roy Fisher
Pat "Fitzy" Fitzpatrick
Edi Fitzroy
Laura Flax
June Foray
Rev. Jim Forrester
Bob Forshee
Bruce Forsyth
Robert Fraker
Bobby Freeman
Evelyn Freeman Roberts
Kaleb Freitas
Louis Frémaux
Michael Friedman
Dominic Frontiere
Mikio Fujioka
Jim Fuller
Martin Funderud
Thomas Füri
France Gall
Brian Gallagher
Brian Galliford
Sandy Gallin
Vin Garbutt
Kevin Garcia
Landy Gardner
Phil Garland
Tibério Gaspar
Dick Gautier
Nicolai Gedda
John Maxwell Geddes
John Warren Geils Jr. aka J. Geils
Troy Gentry
Sonny Geraci
Caesar Giovannini
Pentti "Whitey" Glan
Harold Goad
Melly Gomez
Otoniel Gonzaga
Jack Good
Cuba Gooding Sr.
Philip Gossett
Scott Gould
Nigel Grainge
Kyla Greenbaum
Ed Greene
Dick Gregory
Don Grilley
Edward Grimes
Horacio Guarany
Robert Guillaume
Peter Hall
Rick Hall
Johnny Hallyday
Stuart Hamilton
Rosie Hamlin
Bruce Hampton
Chad Hanks
Gary Harris
Larry Harris
Grant Hart
Keith Harvey
John "Sib" Hashian
Walter Hautzig
Edwin Hawkins
Peggy Hayama
Skip Haynes
Bill Hearn
Bob Heatherly
Jon Hendricks
Karl Hendricks
Pierre Henry
Bob Higgins
Buck Hill
Dave Hlubek
Robbie Hoddinott
William M. Hoffman
Allan Holdsworth
Aubrey Holt
Matt Holt
Randy Hongo
Linda Hopkins
Virgil Howe
Mike Hudson
Don Hunstein
Al Hurricane Sr.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Benard Ighner
Madalena Iglésias
Richie Ingui
Glen "Cookie" Inman
Alan Jabbour
Jay "Icepick" Jackson
Al Jarreau
Anne Jeffreys
James J.J. Jenkins
Kristine Jepson
Shelby Jewell
Tzipora Jochsberger
Evan Johns
Blake Johnson
Michael Johnson
Robert "P-Nut" Johnson
Brenda Jones
Hedley Jones
Melvyn "Deacon" Jones
Shawn Jones
Warren "Rhubarb" Jones
Kim Jong-Hyun
Manfred Jung
Ikutaro Kakehashi
Hiroshi "Monsieur " Kamayatsu
David Kapralik
Marcus "Intalex " Kaye aka Trevino
Tommy Keene
Mike Kellie
Leonid Kharitonov
Maxx Kidd
Wilhelm Killmayer
Thandi Klaasen
Roberta Knie
Robert Knight
Tom Knox
Dmitri Kogan
Siegfried Köhler
Péter Komlós
Aloys Kontarsky
Leo Kristi
Joan Krueger
Rainer Kussmaul
Pete Kuykendall
Helen Kwalwasser
Vincent La Selva
Fredell Lack
Marty Lacker
Gerry Lacoursiere
Jimmy LaFave
Deborah Lamprell
Martin Landau
Rosemarie Lang
Steve Lang
Gordon Langford
Bruce Langhorne

Denise LaSalle
James Laurence
Reggie Lavong
June LeBell
Katie Lee
Mike Leech
Deke Leonard
Murray Lerner
John Lever
Walter Levin
Brenda Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Miggie Lewis
Ralph Lewis
David Lewiston
Daniel Licht
Harvey Lichtenstein
Nona Liddell
Ingvar Lidholm
Jaki Liebezeit
Earl "Wya" Lindo
Thor Lindsay
Malcolm Lipkin
Tommy LiPuma
Carol Lloyd
Chuck Loeb
Tony Lorenzo
Mundell Lowe
Jay S. Lowy
Nora Mae Lyng
Geoff Mack
Gabriel "Negru" Mafa
Mario Maglieri
Kevin Mahogany
Robbie Malinga
Mitch Margo
Rose Marie
William "Bill" Marín
Don Markham
Ric Marlow
Naomi Martin
Lionel Augustus Martin aka Saxa
Eddie Mascolo
Hugh Masekela
Yuushi Matsuyama
Ralphie May
William Mayer
Yung Mazi
Tom McClung
Goldy McJohn
Reggie Joseph "Mac" McLaughlin
Stuart McLean
Vernon McQueen
Thomas Meehan
Luiz Melodia
Thara Memory
D.L. Menard
Misha Mengelberg
Heather Menzies-Urich
Robert Miles
Eric Miller
Frank Miller
Phil Miller
Donald Mitchell
Keith Mitchell
Billy Mize
Ivan Mogull
Kurt Moll
Jonathan Moore
Pete Moore
Bennett Morgan
Jay R. Morgenstern
Alfred Morris III
Walter "Junie" Morrison
Margaret Moser
Chuck Mosley
Sylvia Moy
Ronald "Bingo" Mundy
David Murph
Sunny Murray
Chris Murrell
Melton Mustafa
Jim Nabors
Toshio Nakanishi
Jimmy Nalls
Carol Neblett
Vincent Nguini
Geoff Nicholls
Abby Nicole
Steve "Grizzly" Nisbett
Bern Nix
Dick Noel
Shea Norman
Corki Casey O'Dell
Lee O'Denat aka Q
Rory O'Donoghue
Paul O'Neill
Dolores O'Riordan
William Onyeabor
Reggie Ossé aka Combat Jack
Ernst Ottensamer
Bert Padell
Tommy Page
Ralph Paige
Tom Paley
Marlene Palmer
Judy Parker
Kirby Parker
Horace Parlan
Angel Parra
Frankie Paul
Skipp Pearson
David Peel
Dave Pell
Buddy Pendleton
Harry Pendleton
Jerry Perenchio
Maurice Peress
Carol Peters
Roberta Peters
Marilyn Petrone
Tom Petty
Eugene Phillips
Ray Phiri
Willie Pickens
David B. Pigg
Wally Pikal
Tulsa Pittaway
Kim Plainfield
Derek Poindexter
Robert "Pops" Popwell
Miles Porcaro
Rob Potts
Joey Powers
John Preston
Norma Procter
Prodigy
Skip Prokop
Michael Prophet
Scott Putesky aka Daisy Berkowitz
Janet Rains aka Jane Train
Elkin Ramírez
Joseph Rascoff
Gil Ray
Larry Ray
Sandra Reemer
Della Reese
Garnet Reid
George Reiff
Ludger Rémy
Cel Revuelta
Leon Rhodes
Fernando Riba
Belton Richard
Denis Richard
Keni Richards
Don Rickles
Paquita Rico
Ben Riley
Nic Ritter
Lyle Ritz
Kayton Roberts
Jimmy Robinson
Maggie Roche
Jim Rodford
Helmut Roehrig
Mickey Roker
Jim Rollins
Juan Romero
Louis Roney
Clotilde Rosa
Jerry Ross
Dave Rosser
Sidney Rothstein
Elliot "Dean" Rubinson
Roswell Rudd
David Rumsey
Zuzana Ruzickova
Chingiz Sadykhov
Eric Salzman
Harry Sandler
Johnny Sandlin
Ben Sandoval
Fredo Santana
Carles Santos
Tony "It" Särkkä
Josh Schwartz
Joey Scinta
David Sebring
Curly Seckler
Janet Seidel
Bob Seidemann
Mark Selby
María Martha Serra Lima
Jessy Serrata
Shadia
Natalia Shakhovskaya
Preston Shannon
Charles "Bobo" Shaw
Iain Shedden
Kenny Shields
John Shifflett
Pete Shotton
Walter "Bunny" Sigler
George Silfies
Noel "Scully" Simms
Ted Simons
Dudley Simpson
John Sippel
Peter Skellern
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Heather Slade-Lipkin
Joni Sledge
Tzvi Small
Barry "Frosty" Smith
Fenwick Smith
Keely Smith
Toby Smith
Barbara Smith Conrad
Dmitry Smolsky
Kelley Sallee Snead
Ann Sneed
Ted Sommer
Rosalie Sorrels
Zurab Sotkilava
Harry Sparnaay
Ben Speer
Rosa Nell Speer Powell
Jerome Spence
Thornton Spencer
Marc Spitz
Irwin Stambler
Kevin Stanton
Orrin Star
Howard Stark
Cameron Spencer Starnes
Larry Steinbachek
Elyse Steinman
Rick Stevens
Chuck Stewart
Buster Stiggs
Ken Stilts
Robert Strängen Dahlqvist
Jonathan Strasser
Clyde Stubblefield
Tammy Sullivan
Daisy Sweeney
Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini
Grady Tate
Jeffrey Tate
Bobby Taylor
Morriss Taylor
Tony Terran
Ammon Tharp
Wendy Thatcher
Banner Thomas
Marvell Thomas
Ray Thomas
Stuart Thompson
Francis Thorne
Mel Tillis
William Tolley
Richard Toop
Veljo Tormis
Fernando Toussaint
Doreen Tracey
Vlastimir Trajković
Gilles Tremblay
Greg Trooper
Butch Trucks
Chris Tsangarides
Hal Tulchin
Kerry Turman
Avo Uvezian
Mika Vainio
Dave Valentin
Marián Varga
Alexander Vedernikov
Marlene VerPlanck
Daniel Viglietti
Guy Villari
Bea Wain
Robert "Bilbo" Walker
Billy Joe Walker Jr.
Jo Walker-Meador
Evan Sewell Wallace aka E-Dubble
Don Warden
Leon Ware
Pam Warren aka Pam The Funkstress
A.D. Washington
James Watson
Elaine Hoffman Watts
Peter Overend Watts
Fred Weintraub
Leo "Bud" Welch
Barbara Weldens
Red West
John Wetton
Lari White
Chris Whorf
Hurshel Wiginton
Max Wilcox
Keith Wilder
Don Williams
Phil Williams
Betty Jane Willis
Norro Wilson
Keith Wissmar
Curtis Womack
Christopher Wong Won aka Fresh Kid Ice
Graham Wood
Ed Woods
Bob Wootton
Endrik Wottrich
Gil Wright
Steve Wright
Greg Yates
Rodney Yeargin aka Doughboy Roc
Ritchie York
George Young
Malcolm Young
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
David Zablidowksy aka David Z
Aamir Zaki
Jessi Zazu
Alberto Zedda
Luis Zett
Z'ev
Grigori Zhislin
Paul Zukofsky

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Seat placements at the 60th GRAMMY Awards

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

News

IBM's Watson To Bring Artificial Intelligence To The 2018 GRAMMYs

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IBM's Watson will provide for a more engaging fan experience on Music's Biggest Night; learn more at IBM.com/GRAMMYs
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Jan 27, 2018 - 12:00 pm

There will be a special guest at the GRAMMYs this year. And the stars won't even know it's there.

Watch Spike Lee's Star-Studded 'NY Stories' Film

For the milestone 60th GRAMMY Awards, the Recording Academy has partnered with IBM to bring its artificial intelligence platform, Watson, into the show's digital workflow to streamline the operations and production behind the GRAMM Awards red carpet.

Through the partnership, the production and curation of content on GRAMMY.com will flow more efficiently across TV, social media, and digital platforms and generate "more engaging fan features."

This marks the first time artificial intelligence will be used to automatically generate award show content.

Watson will be deployed to analyze videos and photos of nominees and attendees as they arrive at the ceremony in New York. The findings will be curated into photo galleries and uploaded to GRAMMY.com website for fans to see.

"We want to give fans a closer connection with the music and the artists and the stories that they love, and we want to do it in a way that’s more seamless, more real-time than ever before," said Recording Academy Chief Marketing Officer Evan Greene.

IBM.com/GRAMMYs