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Ten Alumni Land Grammy Nominations
Aimee Mann's songwriting for "Magnolia" earns three nominations.
(January 5, 2001)
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Grammy nominees Joe Lovano (left) and Gary Burton. |
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Photo by Kim Grant |
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There's always a lot of talent on the Berklee campus, but 1980 clearly was a high point. That was the year that Aimee Mann, Melissa Etheridge, and Branford Marsalis all wrapped up their Berklee studies and headed out to try to make it in the music industry.
And now, two decades later, those same three musicians are among the list of Berklee alumni who have been nominated for Grammy Awards. Mann received three nominations for songs she wrote and recorded for the film "Magnolia." Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson was so taken with Mann's songs that he has said that they inspired him to write dialogue and develop characters based on them.
The singer's work on "Magnolia" is proving to be a breakthrough moment in her career, which skyrocketed in the mid-1980s when she led Til Tuesday, a new wave band that recorded the hit single "Voices Carry." After the band broke up, Mann forged a successful solo career and had recorded two critically acclaimed albums before "Magnolia" hit cinemas in 1999. One song from the "Magnolia" soundtrack, "Save Me," received an Oscar nomination for Song of the Year. Last year Mann released her third solo record, "Bachelor No. 2," on SuperEgo Records.
Etheridge and Marsalis have both won two Grammys for previous records, and each received one nomination each this year.
Three out of five nominees in the Best Latin Jazz Album category are former Berklee students. Berklee's Executive Vice President Gary Burton '62, — a five-time Grammy winner — earned a nomination for "Libertango." Also nominated were Danilo Perez '88 for "Motherland" and Bobby Sanabria '79 for "Afro-Cuban Dream… Live & In Clave." A fourth nominee in the Latin Jazz category, David Sanchez, did not attend Berklee, but five of his band members did. His band includes drummer Antonio Sanchez '97, pianist Edsel Gomez '85, bassist Hans Glawischnig '92, alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon '98, and percussionist Pernell Saturnino '95.
Grammy Award winners will be announced in the Grammy telecast, on Feb. 21.
A full list of Berklee alumni and faculty involved with Grammy-nominated projects follows:
Gary Burton '62
"Libertango"
• Best Latin Jazz Album
Michael O. Drexler '96
"The Rubinstein Collection"
• Best Historical Album
Drexler served as a mastering engineer.
Melissa Etheridge '80
"Enough of Me" (from the album "Breakdown")
• Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
Donald Fagen '66 (of Steely Dan)
"Two Against Nature"
• Album of the Year
• Best Pop Vocal Album
"Cousin Dupree" (from the album "Two Against Nature")
• Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
Joe Lovano '72
"52nd Street Themes"
• Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Natalie Maines '95 (of Dixie Chicks)
"Strong Enough" (from the album "Live from Central Park)
The Dixie Chicks and Sheryl Crow
• Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
"Walk Softly" (from the album "Big Mon - The Songs of Bill Monroe")
The Dixie Chicks and Ricky Skaggs
• Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
Aimee Mann '80 (3)
"Save Me"(from the soundtrack album for "Magnolia")
• Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and
• Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media
"Magnolia"
• Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media.
Branford Marsalis '80
"Contemporary Jazz"
• Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
Danilo Perez '88
"Motherland"
• Best Latin Jazz Album
Bobby Sanabria '79
"Afro-Cuban Dream… Live & In Clave."
• Best Latin Jazz Album
Pitching In
Several faculty members and alumni contributed to Grammy-nominated recordings. Their contributions bolstered projects in genres ranging from world music to children's spoken word:
Terry Becker Associate Professor, Music Production and Engineering
Engineer for Taj Mahal and The Phantum Blues Band
"Shoutin' in Key"
• Best Contemporary Blues Album
Eugene Friesen Associate Professor, String Department
Plays cello with the group, Paul Winter & The Earth Band
"Journey with the Sun"
• Best World Music Album
Michael Moss Assistant Professor, Music Production and Engineering
Carl Beatty Associate Professor, Music Production and Engineering
Richard Grudzinski Associate Professor, Contemporary Writing and Production
Nathan Tharp student
These four men all worked on two recordings nominated in the Best Spoken Word Album for Children category. Moss was the composer and producer, Beatty was the engineer, Grudzinski wrote the orchestration, and Tharp was the studio assistant.
Voiceovers for "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey," featuring James Earl Jones, and "The Polar Express," featuring Liam Neeson, were recorded in New York. The orchestrations were recorded at the Studio in Roslindale, and the project was assembled at Michael Moss's studio in Boston, Soundscape.
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