Brian Lynch
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Feb. 13, 2007
I've just returned from Los Angeles and the 49th Grammy Awards this morning and I'm really happy to announce that "Simpatico" has received the ultimate accolade of being voted Best Latin Jazz Album by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) in their 2007 Grammy Awards presentation.
What a day it was! I had flown into LA from Texas early that morning and was met by my wife's cousin Kathy at the airport. We picked up Marissa, who was having her hair done downtown, swung by Kathy's USC office to change into out formal duds, and then off to the LA Convention Center for the pre telecast ceremony in which our category would be presented. Marissa, Kathy, and I were joined by friends and Simpatico collaborators Tom Dambly (assistant producer) and Gary Stager (video and new media consultant), along with their spouses Debra and Sylvia, respectively.
While walking to our seats we ran into some jazz friends like Joe Lovano, Larry Goldings and Judi Silvano among others, and also fellow Latin Jazz nominees Edsel Gomez (who participated in "Simpatico") and Ignacio Berroa. You know, there were no slouches in this year's Latin Jazz nominees; Edsel, Ignacio, Diego Urcola, and Dafnis Prieto (who also played on "Simpatico") - and I was steeling myself mentally for the moment if things didn’t go our way.
97 out of 109 categories at the Grammies are announced at the pre-telecast ceremony, and the Latin Jazz category was #68 down the list, so there was a lot of time to get more nervous as the winners were announced. You could also see how gracious the other nominees were, and I admired their support of the winners in their category. I hoped I would be as upbeat if another nominee's name was called.
As the Jazz category winners (Latin Jazz was the last in this category) started to be announced, I started to go out of body. I was happy to see that dear departed Michael Brecker had won, as well as my main man, his brother Randy. Then we were there, "and the winner is, "Simpatico..." I was up out of my chair like a cannonball! It was kind of a trance as I got on the stage, thanked my peeps, and accepted the award. Then I was whisked off for a round of photos, press and radio interviews. I ain't gonna lie to you, it was a cool feeling.
Now I'm back home, but I'm still basking in the glow of seeing this CD achieve so much. Thank you EVERYBODY - maestro Palmieri, my wife Marissa, all the musicians, Dave Darlington, Tom Carr, Roger Townsend, Tom, Gary, Nick Ruechel, all my Gold, Silver, and Bronze Participants, Brian Camelio and ArtistShare, and everyone who has taken part in this beautiful journey by buying the CD.
I ain't gonna lie to you, it's a cool feeling.
Happy New Year!
The beginning of the new year is a good time to look back on 2006, make plans for 2007, and relax before the coming onslaught. In this month’s newsletter, I’d like to share with you the years end wrap-up concerning “Simpåtico” (with a hope for the near future). and give you an idea of the beginning of my 2007 with how the rest of the year is shaping up so far.
“SIMPÁTICO” CELEBRATED AS ONE OF THE TOP RECORDINGS OF 2006 Grammy Nomination “cherry on top”
The 2006 “best of” and Top 10 lists have been rolling in, confirming “Simpático” as one of the most lauded releases of the past year. Some of the accolades:
Downbeat Magazine: 4 ½ Stars (Dec 2006); Top CDs of 2006 Radio: #1 JazzWeek World Music Chart (5 weeks!), #5 JazzWeek Jazz Chart JazzWeek Top 100 Radio Airplay 2006 Jazz Times: Top 50 CDs of 2006 All About Jazz Publisher’s Top 30 2006 Denver Post Top 10 Jazz 2006- Chicago Tribune Top 10 Jazz 2006
- Latin CD Newsday 2006 Boston Globe Top 10 2006 (Siddhartha Mitter) WNYC “Soundcheck” Top 10 Jazz 2006
Other Top 10 Lists: Arturo Gomez – KUVO (Denver) George Thomas (Virginia Public Radio) Mitchell Feldman (Georgia Public Broadcasting) Latin Jazz Network John Bouille (WSHA Raleigh NC) Neil Tesser (Listen Here – Syndicated Jazz Programming) Mark Ruffin (Listen Here – Syndicated Jazz Programming) Bob Protzmann (Down Beat, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Erie, PA Times-News) C. Andrew Hovan (All About Jazz, The Jazz Review, Down Beat, Cleveland Free Times) Gary Stager (JJA, Senior Editor: District Administration Magazine) James Hale (DownBeat, Coda, The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues) Marcela Breton (JJA) Willard Jenkins (Down Beat, Independent Ear, Village Voice Poll) Russ Musto (All About Jazz—New York, Village Voice Poll)
Of course, the Grammy nomination of “Simpático” for Best Latin Jazz Album 2007 is the jewel in the crown for this project. The rest of the field in this category (Category 10, Field 50) is a strong one (including two of the collaborators on “Simpático”, Dafnis Prieto and Edsel Gomez), but I’m hopeful that we may go all the way on February 11th. The votes will be all in by January 10th – if you have a NARAS vote still outstanding, please consider “Simpático”! You can listen for yourself before deciding by going to http://www.artistshare.com/grammy/brianlynch/index.htm
IAJE!
The event the jazz world starts off the year with is the huge tribal gathering of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) conference, this year taking place between Jan. 10th and 13th in NYC. The IAJE conference has become the real de facto jazz industry convention, with loads of great performances, interesting panels and presentations, and exhibits from all sorts of companies and schools. I’ll be a part of IAJE in a number of capacities. The group Conrad Herwig and I are involved with, presenting “The Latin Side Of Miles, Trane, and Wayne”, will be performing on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 8:30 p.m. in the NY Hilton Grand Ballroom. I’m also taking part in a panel discussion on “Jazz in My Space: Online Community-Building”. That will be on Friday, January 12, 2007, at 6:00 PM in the New York Ballroom West - Sheraton Hotel 3rd Floor. I’ll be hanging out at the ArtistShare booth (#330) on Saturday the 13th from 3:00 to 4:30, and stopping by the Yamaha exhibit and the NYU booth as well.
OTHER JANUARY EVENTS:
Jan. 15th to 19th – I’ll be doing my periodic teaching stint that week at the Prinz Klaus Conservatorium in Groningen, The Netherlands.
Jan 20th – with the Phil Woods Quintet at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, PA. We’ll be getting ready to go into the studio the next day to record Vol. 2 of “American Songbook” for Kind Of Blue Records.
Jan. 25th – with Eddie Palmieri in South Orange, NJ
I hope that you all have a healthy, prosperous, and swinging New Year!
Brian
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Good on ya, and congrats on the award. Now make more music damnit!! :)
Congrats...and thanks for sharing the experience....bask in it all you want!!! Sounds like a truly once in a lifetime type of day!!!
Congratulations! Nice to hear your Grammy story.