Well, the Grammys went down as expected. Sarah fell asleep halfway through, and I can't say I blame her-- there was something even more bland about the show than usual this year, although I thought some of the performances were alright (Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, a reunited Beach Boys, and Civil Wars). It was interesting... you could almost feel the audience, made up of members of the music business, wanted something different too. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters gave a speech, after winning the first of several awards for the band, about the value of showing the human element in making music-- of not trying to sound "perfect." I would agree with him, although I don't think Foo Fighters comes anywhere near the unique excitement of his previous band, Nirvana.
Singer Adele shined through all the silly pop and hip-hop fluff last night, proving that a powerful voice, stripped down production, and smart songwriting can still make for a winning combination. I'm not saying her album 21 is perfect, but it certainly raises the bar compared to what passes for pop music these days.
It really is funny that what sounds the most fresh these days is a "retro sound." I guess it is like the late 1980s, when everyone tired of overproduced, synth-driven pop, and went back to acoustic... then, of course, Nirvana and the whole grunge scene came around and changed everything (for a while). I guess these things go in cycles... I just hope for the sake of popular music that we get more Adeles than Lady Gagas... and soon.
On the note of timeless music, here's a video clip I produced a few years back with another Grammy Award-winner, bassist Ron Carter. There is no questioning the musicality here. I'm not an expert on jazz, but it does seem to breathe (a welcome contrast to the "canned" style of much of today's music). I think it has a lot to do with the improvisational style... and I can speak improv!
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