arts&life
music
Great
Grammy
Roundup
A who’s Jew in
the world of the
Grammy nominees.
NATE BLOOM CONTRIBUTING WRITER
t’s Grammy time!
Given it’s for excellence in music, it is an odd awards cere-
mony. Last year, only 10 of the more than 100 Grammy awards
were presented on TV. However, virtually all Grammy winners
are made known during the telecast via a brief announcement
or through a scrolled list of winners on the screen. Most of the
Grammys are given at the Premiere Ceremony, which is live-
streamed starting at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12, at grammy.com. It
can be viewed for months after the live event.
The main ceremony, hosted by James Corden, is on CBS Feb.
12, starting at 8 p.m. The stage performers include Adele and
rocker Adam Levine. The first part of this article lists Jewish
nominees nominated for a Grammy likely to be presented on TV.
The second part notes Jewish nominees in non-main ceremony
categories.
I
(non-classical) and for producing Purpose, a Bieber album up for
Album of the Year.
Bob Dylan, 75, is up for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
(Fallen Angels). He competes with Barbra Streisand, 74 (Encore:
Movie Partners Sing Broadway). They both vie with Willie Nelson,
who’s nominated for singing the songs of George Gershwin.
Pink, 37, whose mother is Jewish, is nominated for Best
Country Duo Performance (“Setting the World on Fire,” with
Kenny Chesney).
Nominated for Best Rock Performance is a new version of “The
Sound of Silence,” the Paul Simon classic. It was performed by
heavy metal band Disturbed, and featured its lead vocalist, David
Draiman, 43. While no longer practicing, Draiman grew up
Orthodox. His brother, a folk-rock musician, lives in Israel, as does
his grandmother.
THE MAIN EVENT NOMINEES
Drake (AKA Aubrey Drake Graham), 30, is nominated for eight
awards this year, second only to Beyonce’s nine. Appropriately,
one of the nominations is for “Work,” a Record of the Year nomi-
nee featuring Beyonce and Drake. His other nominations include:
Album of the Year (Views); Best Rap Performance (“Pop Style”);
Best Rap/Sung Performance (“Hotline Bling”); Best Rap Song
(“Hotline Bling”); Best Rap Album (Views); and Best R&B Song
(“Come and See Me”).
Competing for Record of the Year is Hello by Adele. It was
co-written and produced by (co-nominee) Greg Kurstin, 47.
Kurstin’s up for three more Grammys: Song of the Year (“Hello”);
Album of the Year (producing Adele’s 25); and — a biggie —
Producer of the Year (non-classical).
Mike Posner, 28, who was born in Detroit and raised in
Southfield, is also nominated for Song of the Year (“I Took a Pill
in Ibiza”). Posner, who’s secular, has a Jewish father, who recently
passed away, and a Catholic mother.
Also up for Song of the Year is “Love Yourself.” Sung by Justin
Bieber, it was co-written by Bieber, Benjamin Levin, 28, and Ed
Sheeran. Levin chose to use his real name for this songwriting
credit, but he’s better known as Benny Blanco and under that
name he has won a raft of awards — he’s produced and written
songs for huge acts like Sheeran, Rihanna and Maroon 5. This
year, he’s up for four Grammys, including Producer of the Year
GRAMMY NOMINEES/CATEGORIES OFF-SCREEN
Joshua Redman, 47, the son of an African American father and
Jewish mother and a summa cum laude Harvard grad, is nomi-
nated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (Nearness). Another
sax player, Bob Mintzer, 63, is the named nominee for the Best
Large Jazz Ensemble Album (All L.A. Band). Mintzer, a native New
Yorker, credits the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, which
gave him a scholarship to attend during his high-school senior
year, with “the inspiration and information” that has guided his
career.
Michael Spiro, 60ish, who isn’t Latino but does have a degree
in Latin American studies and is known as a conga virtuoso, is
nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album (Canto America). Over in
folk, there’s Ari Hest, 37, whose album (Silver Skies Blue) of duets
with Judy Collins is up for Best Folk Album. Hest’s father is a
music professor and his mother is a synagogue cantor.
The last musician is the legendary Herb Alpert, who is
still touring at 81. He’s nominated for Best Contemporary
Instrumental Album (Human Nature). Over in the Best Spoken
Word Album category, there’s Amy Schumer, 35. She’s nominated
for the CD of her memoir, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo.
Schumer’s also up for Best Comedy Album (Live at the Apollo),
and vies for that honor with David Cross, 52 (David Cross:
Making America Great Again). •
TOP TO BOTTOM: Adam Levine; Drake; Mike Posner; David Draiman; Joshua Redman; David Cross
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February 9 • 2017
jn