It is said that when two koalas find themselves occupying the same tree, they will hide from each other to avoid being noticed. Some say this happens because koalas are viciously territorial, but I’d like to think they do this out of a sense of decorum, or polite comportment, or respect for the other occupant of the tree. All of which has only a little to do with the 61st Grammy Awards ceremony, where colorful plumage draws notice – plumage in the form of sequins, silver lamé, and fine silk. Oh, and music.
For Grammy neophytes, here’s a tip: there are two awards ceremonies. The first, known as the Premiere Ceremony, offers recognition to non-prime-time categories such as Best Spoken Word Album (Jimmy Carter’s Faith – A Journey for All won) and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package (“Weird Al” Yankovic won). It takes place in a right-sized Microsoft Theater auditorium with comfortable seats and two massive jumbotrons showing crisp details of everything happening on stage.
Many winners were not present, making those non-winners present feel just a little queasy about their misguided optimism. We were there to cheer on the very present Spektral Quartet and jazz saxophonist Miguel Zenón, whose collaborative CD, Yo Soy la Tradición, was nominated in the Best Latin Jazz Album category.
About 30 minutes after we took our seats, the word went up and down our row that a famous Strad-carrying member of violin aristocracy, Joshua Bell, had taken a seat directly behind us. And that’s when the koala behavior set in. No one in our row would openly acknowledge his presence, much less turn around to say hello. True, I may have imagined it, but there was a vaguely discernible sense of classical string musicians slinking down in their seats, as if to avoid notice by a fellow musician. Stay cool, friends, was the mood in our midst, though I personally cheered loudly when Joshua was announced as a contender for the Best Classical Instrumental Solo (violinist James Ehnes, who happened to be grocery shopping in Florida at the time, was pronounced the winner).
Programs like this are best when they showcase lesser-known musicians to audiences interested in their work. A few performers stood out in this way: the larger-than-life Hawaiian singer Kalani Pe’a – sporting a glittering purple sequined jacket – served as a presenter and also took home a Grammy; Seun Kuti and guitarist Fatoumata Diawara, who dazzled us by channeling her inner Santana; and 15-year-old vocalist Ángela Aguilar, who took solo and trio spotlights with Aida Cuevas and Natalia Lafourcade. If someone knows Aguilar’s dress designer, could you please pass me that name?
The “big” awards ceremony was held in the Staples Center, and this was clearly a made-for-TV event. There were no jumbotrons, and the audience was, in effect, one large, living prop. For example, those watching the show at home might’ve wondered why it took the audience so long to realize that yes, it really was Michelle Obama making a surprise appearance on stage. Only a few people could actually see her clearly, and no one wanted to cheer without being absolutely sure it was the former First Lady. Once we were convinced, the crowd went wild – as they did when the other stars, whose names were announced, stepped onto the stage. Nonetheless, it was worth being packed into stadium seating just to say we saw performances by Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, and Lady Gaga – all in the same night.
Other notables inside the Staples Center included H.E.R.’s performance of “Hard Place,” which bore melodious echoes of an old song called “Perfection” by Badfinger; Brandi Carlyle’s “The Joke,” which some felt was the most moving piece of the evening, and, of course, Lady Gaga’s nuclear production of “Shallow.” One of my favorite Gaga moments had happened earlier, when she made a shout-out to her Little Monsters, causing cheers to erupt. It made me wonder why more stars don’t create a special name for their fan base, because a name like “Little Monsters” offers the type of tribal identity that humans – even if we don’t want to admit it – crave.
For their nomination earlier that afternoon, Miguel Zenón and Spektral were up against household names such as Eddie Daniels and a few lesser-knowns, but the 16-man Dafnis Prieto Big Band took home the Grammy. Will Spektral be in the hunt for Grammys 2020? There’s no telling, but Spektral’s next collaborative CD, with composer/performer Nathalie Joachim, will be released this coming September.