A Grammy Milestone

On February 11, the day before the 52nd Grammy Awards telecast, Berklee alumni gathered at the Conga Room in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the high-water mark reached at last year’s Grammy festivities. As of the 2010 Grammy ceremony, Berklee alumni had collectively garnered 205 statuettes. To mark the achievement, President Roger Brown hosted the February gathering of past winners, this year’s nominees, and collaborators of Quincy Jones.

A partial list of past Grammy-winner attendees includes Quincy Jones ’51, Steve Vai ’79, Esperanza Spalding ’05, Albhy Galuten ’68, Benny Faccone ’78, Joe Lovano ’72, Gavin Lurssen ’91, Brian Vibberts ’91, and Paula Cole ’90. Among the number of this year’s hopeful nominees at the event were Terri Lyne Carrington ’83 and Jeff Bhasker ’99, both of whom took home statues the following night. After the most recent awards presentation, the new total for Grammys earned by members of the Berklee community reached 221.

In greeting the crowd, President Roger Brown described the inspiration for gathering. “I had a vision after Berklee alumni amassed more than 200 Grammys last year,” Brown said. “Our alumni have won prestigious awards like the Guggenheim Fellowships and MacArthur [Foundation] grants, but 200 Grammys was a milestone. After the Super Bowl, there is a parade for the winning team. This is our parade.” Brown also noted the musical diversity among this year’s nominees, who were recognized in the r&b, jazz, folk, metal, bluegrass, classical, and other categories.

After describing the construction of a new Berklee building at 160 Massachusetts Avenue, Brown also discussed a second purpose for the gathering. Among the many notable features of the 16-story structure will be state-of-the art recording facilities. Brown announced that one of the production rooms in the new building’s Music Technology Center will be named Room Q27, honoring Quincy Jones and the total number of Grammy Awards he has won. “His 27 represent more than 10 percent of all the Grammys Berklee alumni have won,” Brown said. “Arif Mardin is second, with 11 wins.”

Jones joined Brown on stage to accept a plaque commemorating the room dedication and addressed the audience. “Congratulations to all of you nominees,” Jones said. “It feels good doesn’t it?” Jones reminisced about how his coming to Berklee was prompted by Gladys Hampton, the wife of vibraphonist Lionel Hampton for whom Jones was working when he was just 15. “Gladys kicked me off the bus, saying I needed to get some education,” Jones recalled. “It hurt at the time, but she was right.” Jones would later rejoin the band after his studies at Berklee. He spoke of the importance of education and also encouraged the young alumni in the room to pursue their dreams and gain experience. As Jones said, “When it’s raining, make sure you get wet.”

Rounding out the event were performances by King, a soul trio consisting of pianist Paris Strother ’08 and vocalists Amber Strother (Paris’s twin sister), and Anita Bias ’07. Among the three songs they performed were “Supernatural” from their breakthrough EP The Story and “Tomorrow” from the Quincy Jones CD Back on the Block. Another offering was a special tribute to Quincy Jones by vocalist extraordinaire Lalah Hathaway ’90. Accompanied by Strother’s piano, she gave a heartfelt rendition of a tune made famous by her father, Donny Hathaway, “A Song for You.”

“It is almost impossible to overstate the impact that Quincy Jones has had on music and on the growth and success of Berklee,” Roger Brown noted. “His success is not only his own, he has generously shared it with all of us at Berklee. His work has touched those of us who are music educators, music therapists, composers, arrangers, performers, engineers and producers, those who play in bands in local communities and churches. He’s also affected those of us who have found careers that led us out of music, but who still apply the skills we learned as musicians in our daily work. Quincy stands for all of us.”