Boston, MA—The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated 22 Berklee alumni and faculty for a total of 25 Grammy Awards. The nominees were recognized for their outstanding contributions across the spectrum of music, including pop, rock, hip-hop, electronic/dance, alternative, jazz, and Latin. Producers, engineers, arrangers, and video directors were also nominated. To date, Berklee alumni have won a total of 192 Grammy Awards. The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 13, 2011, and will be broadcast on CBS at 8:00 p.m.
Faculty members Danilo Perez, artistic director for the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, and Eugene Friesen, associate string professor, are each nominated for an award. Perez' new album, Providencia, is nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. If he wins, this will be his second Grammy Award. Perez is also a Berklee alumnus; he graduated in 1988. Friesen, cellist in the Paul Winter Consort, is nominated for Best New Age Album for Miho: Journey to the Mountain. If Friesen wins, this will be his fourth Grammy.
Esperanza Spalding '04, a high profile jazz bassist and recording artist, is nominated for Best New Artist. She's competing against newcomer heavyweights Justin Beiber, Drake, Florence & The Machine, and Mumford & Sons. Spalding has been a Berklee faculty member, and she stays in touch with students by making campus visits.
Hit songwriter and producer Makeba Riddick '99 is nominated for two awards. Riddick is nominated for Record of the Year for her work on Eminem's “Love the Way You Lie." She's also nominated for Album of the Year for her work on Eminem's Recovery. Riddick is competing against two other alumni for Album of the Year—Lewis (Luke) Tozour '03 and Miles Walker '04 were engineers on Katy Perry's album Teenage Dream. Since graduating, Riddick has been back on campus to share with students her experiences in the business of hip-hop and pop music.
Other nominees include John Mayer for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance; BT (Brian Transeau) '89 for Best Electronic/Dance Album; Clay Cook, member of the Zac Brown Band, for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals; and Jeff Lorber for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
A complete list for the Berklee alumni and faculty nominees for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards follows.
Category 1—Record of the Year
Category 13—Best Electronic/Dance Album
Category 28—Best r&b Song
Category 40—Best Country Instrumental Performance
Category 43—Best New Age Album
Category 46—Best Improvised Jazz Solo
Category 48—Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Category 59—Best Tropical Latin Album
Category 85—Best Instrumental Arrangement
Category 86—Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
About Berklee College of Music:
Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over 65 years, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art music and the music business. With over a dozen performances and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing over 70 countries, and a music industry “who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today—and tomorrow.
Faculty members Danilo Perez, artistic director for the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, and Eugene Friesen, associate string professor, are each nominated for an award. Perez' new album, Providencia, is nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. If he wins, this will be his second Grammy Award. Perez is also a Berklee alumnus; he graduated in 1988. Friesen, cellist in the Paul Winter Consort, is nominated for Best New Age Album for Miho: Journey to the Mountain. If Friesen wins, this will be his fourth Grammy.
Esperanza Spalding '04, a high profile jazz bassist and recording artist, is nominated for Best New Artist. She's competing against newcomer heavyweights Justin Beiber, Drake, Florence & The Machine, and Mumford & Sons. Spalding has been a Berklee faculty member, and she stays in touch with students by making campus visits.
Hit songwriter and producer Makeba Riddick '99 is nominated for two awards. Riddick is nominated for Record of the Year for her work on Eminem's “Love the Way You Lie." She's also nominated for Album of the Year for her work on Eminem's Recovery. Riddick is competing against two other alumni for Album of the Year—Lewis (Luke) Tozour '03 and Miles Walker '04 were engineers on Katy Perry's album Teenage Dream. Since graduating, Riddick has been back on campus to share with students her experiences in the business of hip-hop and pop music.
Other nominees include John Mayer for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance; BT (Brian Transeau) '89 for Best Electronic/Dance Album; Clay Cook, member of the Zac Brown Band, for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals; and Jeff Lorber for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
A complete list for the Berklee alumni and faculty nominees for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards follows.
Category 1—Record of the Year
- “Love the way you Lie" Eminem Makeba Riddick '99, producer [Aftermath/Shady Records/Interscope]
Category 2—Album of the Year - Recovery
- Teenage Dream Katy Perry Lewis (Luke) Tozour '03, engineer, Miles Walker '04, engineer [Capitol Records]
Category 4—Best New Artist - Esperanza Spalding '04
- “Half of my Heart" John Mayer '98 [Columbia Records]
Category 11—Best Pop Vocal Album - Battle Studies
Category 13—Best Electronic/Dance Album
- These Hopeful Machines BT (Brian Transeau) '89 [Nettwerk Records]
Category 15—Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance - “Crossroads"
Category 28—Best r&b Song
- “Bittersweet" Fantasia Claude Kelly '02, songwriter [J Records/19 Recordings/S Records; Publishers: Chuck Harmony's House/Normaharris Music Publishing/Strauss Co./EMI April Music, Studio Beat Music/Warner Tamerlane Publishing, 3M Holdings]
Category 39—Best Country Collaboration with Vocals - “As She's Walking Away"
Category 40—Best Country Instrumental Performance
- “Magic #9" Chris Pandolfi '03 (member of The Infamous Stringdusters) [Sugar Hill Records]
- “Magic #9"
Category 43—Best New Age Album
- Miho: Journey to the Mountain Eugene Friesen, Berklee Faculty (member of the Paul Winter Consort) [Living Music]
Category 44—Best Contemporary Jazz Album - Now is the Time
Category 46—Best Improvised Jazz Solo
- “Solar" Alan Broadbent '69 [Chilly Bin Records]
Category 47—Best Jazz Instrumental Album - Providencia
Category 48—Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
- 54 John Scofield '73 [Emarcy/Universal]
Category 50—Best Gospel Performance - “He's Been Just That Good"
Category 59—Best Tropical Latin Album
- Asondeguerra Juan Luis Guerra '82 (Juan Luis Guerra 4.40) [Capitol Latin]
Category 76—Best Musical Album for Children - Here Comes Science
Category 85—Best Instrumental Arrangement
- “Itsbynne Reel" Dave Eggar Gil Goldstein, arranger [Domo Records]
- “Skip to my Lou"
Category 86—Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
- “Don't Explain" Denise Donatelli Geoffrey Keezer '89 [Savant Records]
Category 109—Best Long Form Music Video - The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story
About Berklee College of Music:
Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over 65 years, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art music and the music business. With over a dozen performances and nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing over 70 countries, and a music industry “who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today—and tomorrow.
