New Orleans’ Grammy nominees boast the sounds of the city

25th November 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

It’s almost as if you can hear the rhythms and soul of New Orleans when looking over the list of local artists who have been nominated for the 2020 Grammy awards. Jazz, rhythm and blues, funk, hip hop, brass band music, a touch of gospel and the blues are represented by musicians of various ages and eras.

Perhaps the biggest news was the recognition of Tank and the Bangas in the Best New Artist category. Led by the always joyful and dramatically attired Tarriona “Tank” Ball, it’s easy to understand the group’s infectious appeal. Having won the National Public Radio’s 2017 Tiny Desk Contest and in 2019 releasing Green Balloon on the nationally distributed Verve Forecast Records, blasted Tank and the Bangas into a wider orbit. The group stands as a next generation of New Orleans music as it mixes up funk, soul, hip hop, spoken word and rock enthusiastically delivered and often with a touch of humor that remains true to this city’s spirit.

This year keyboardist, vocalist and composer PJ Morton, who has received multiple nominations in the last three years and as a member of the group Maroon 5 has gone away with top honors, makes another strong showing. His excellent 2019 release, Paul, is in contention for Best R&B Album with two tunes from the recording also receiving nominations. His soulful duet with vocalist Jazmine Sullivan on “Built for Love,” an album highlight, is up for Best Traditional R&B Performance and the Morton composed “Say So,” a love song featuring JoJo is nominated for Best R&B Song. Morton too brings a lot of his hometown style, including a gospel feel, to his music.

New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz and the genre and this city’s musical families are well represented in this year’s nominations. The Branford Marsalis Quartet, featuring saxophonist Marsalis, pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner, was recognized in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album category for its superb release The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul. The leader’s blowing on Keith Jarrett’s “The Windup” got the nod for Best Improvised Jazz Solo. On this energetic number, Branford got in some funky honkin’ that was reminiscent of some old school New Orleans rhythm and blues saxophonists.

Trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, another son of the renowned pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis and younger brother of Branford, is named in collaboration with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Panamanian superstar, vocalist Ruben Blades in the Best Latin Jazz Album for the 2019 release Una Noche con Ruben Blades. Maybe it’s a stretch of the New Orleans theme to this article however Jelly Roll Morton did recognize and explore the Latin tinge in this city’s music.

Wynton is also nominated in the Best Contemporary Classical Compositions for his Marsalis Violin Concerto in D Major.

Trumpeter and composer Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, who came up under the mentorship of his uncle, saxophone great Donald Harrison Jr., was recognized in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his 2019 release Ancestral Recall. Through his compositions and various use of instrumentation, he marries in many complex forms the music of the past, present and future as it relates to jazz. Drummer Joe Dyson, a New Orleans native, appears on this album that gets the call in the category that matches up a rather eclectic selection of artists and bands.

The Rebirth Brass Band, which won a Grammy in 2012 for its release Rebirth for Life on the local Basin Street Records label, is back in the running in the Best Regional Roots Music Album division for its Recorded Live at the 2019 Jazz & Heritage Festival. Nobody has to explain that Rebirth is one of the heroes in the modern brass band explosion. This recording is a rather odd duck in that it is not widely available. Nonetheless, all hail Rebirth.

Yes, we claim vocalist, harmonica player, guitarist and composer Bobby Rush, who was born in Homer, Louisiana on November 10, 1933, as our own even though he moved on to Arkansas, Chicago and Mississippi. He remembered his birthplace on his 2014 Grammy nominated album Down in Louisiana and in 2017 took home a Grammy for the release Porcupine Meat. At 86, Rush still has what it takes and is in contention for the Best Traditional Blues Album hitting hard with 2019’s Sitting on Top of the Blues. Go Bobby…

New Orleans native Lucky Daye, born David Debrandon Brown, moved to Atlanta to further pursue his career as a singer and songwriter. He’ll go up against PJ Morton in the Best R&B Song division for his tune “Roll Some Mo.”

Vocalist Cyrille Aimee, who was born in France and arrived in New Orleans via New York, is competing in the Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocal category in collaboration with Diego Figueiredo for their work on “Marry Me a Little.”

Last, but not least, comedian, actress and television host Ellen DeGeneres, a native of Metairie, Louisiana, is competing in the Best Comedy Album division for her release “Relatable.” That title describes why folks love her and it’s a trait that is shared by many friendly, good-humored, down to earth Louisianians.

There’s a lot for us to cheer for at the 62nd Grammy Awards show that will be aired on CBS on Sunday, January 26, 2020. In the meantime, we’ve got two of our own Grammy nominated artists playing right here next weekend. PJ Morton will perform at the House of Blues on Friday, November 29. Tank and the Bangas take over Tipitina’s on Saturday, November 30 with the band’s next stop being, no kidding, Carnegie Hall.

This article originally published in the November 25, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.