Berklee Alumni, Faculty Earn 33 Grammy Nominations

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated 28 Berklee alumni, faculty, and one current student for a total of 33 Grammy Awards. The nominees were recognized for their outstanding contributions across the spectrum of music, including pop, rock, hip-hop, electronica/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 '88, artistic director for the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, and Eugene Friesen, associate string professor, are each nominated for an award. Perez's new album, Providencia, is nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. If he wins, this will be his second Grammy Award. Current Berklee film scoring student Amparo Edo Biol joins Perez on Providencia, along with Berklee faculty members Margaret Phillips, Barbara LaFitte, and dean of professional performance Matt Marvuglio. 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 Bieber, Drake, Florence and the Machine, and Mumford and 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 '98 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 '98, member of the Zac Brown Band, for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals; and Jeff Lorber '71 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. In the category of Best Hawaiian Music Album, Music Production and Engineering alumnus Shawn Moseley '97 of Haleiwa, Hawaii, produced and engineered the nominated Amy Hanaiali'i and Slack Key Masters of Hawaii. Berklee alumni also worked on albums nominated for Best Contemporary World Music Album, Best Musical Album for Children, and Best Latin Pop Album. 

A complete list for the Berklee alumni and faculty nominees for the 53^rd 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
  Eminem
  Makeba Riddick '99, producer, Brent Kolatalo '03, engineer/mixer, Ken Lewis '91, engineer/mixer  [Aftermath/Shady Records/Interscope]

• Teenage Dream
  Katy Perry Lewis (Luke) Tozour '03, engineer, Miles Walker '04, engineer [Capitol Records]

Category 4—Best New Artist

• Esperanza Spalding '04

Category 6—Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

• "Half of My Heart"
  John Mayer '98 [Columbia Records]

Category 11—Best Pop Vocal Album

• Battle Studies
  John Mayer '98 [Columbia Records]

Category 13—Best Electronic/Dance Album

• These Hopeful Machines
  BT (Brian Transeau) '89 [Nettwerk Records]

Category 15—Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance

• "Crossroads"
  John Mayer '98 [Columbia Records]

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"
  Clay Cook '98 (Zac Brown Band) [Southern Ground/Atlantic]

Category 40—Best Country Instrumental Performance

• "Magic #9"
  Chris Pandolfi '03 and Andy Hall '97 (Infamous Stringdusters) [Sugar Hill Records]

Category 43—Best New Age Album

• Miho: Journey to the Mountain
  Eugene Friesen, Berklee faculty (Paul Winter Consort) [Living Music]

Category 44—Best Contemporary Jazz Album

• Now is the Time
  Jeff Lorber '71 (Jeff Lorber Fusion) [Heads Up International]

Category 46—Best Improvised Jazz Solo

• "Solar"
  Alan Broadbent '69 [Chilly Bin Records]

Category 47—Best Jazz Instrumental Album

• Providencia
  Danilo Perez '88, faculty; Margaret Phillips, faculty; Barbara LaFitte, faculty; Matt Marvuglio, dean of professional performance; and Amparo Edo Biol, current Berklee student [Mack Avenue Records]

Category 48—Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

• 54
  John Scofield '73 [Emarcy/Universal]

Category 50—Best Gospel Performance

• "He's Been Just That Good"
  Lalah Hathaway '90 [Rendezvous Music/Mack Avenue Records]

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
  Danny Weinkauf '84 (member of They Might Be Giants) [Disney Sound]

Category 85—Best Instrumental Arrangement

• "Itsbynne Reel"
  Dave Eggar
  Gil Goldstein, arranger [Domo Records]

• "Skip to my Lou"
  Frank Macchia
  Frank Macchia '80 [Cacophony]

Category 86—Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)

• "Don't Explain"
  Denise Donatelli
  Geoffrey Keezer '89 [Savant Records]

Category 96—Best Orchestral Performance

• "Dreamhouse," Steven Mackey
  Conducted by Gil Rose
  Margaret Phillips and Barbara LaFitte, both Berklee faculty members and members of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project [BMOP/Sound]

Category 109—Best Long Form Music Video

• The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story
  Joe Mardin '85, video director [Nunoise Records]