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The Grawemeyer Music Award is the most prestigious composition award in the world, and it carries the largest cash prize. The 2010 winner was recently announced, and AMG takes a look the Grawemeyer, its illustrious honorees, and their work.
R.I.P. "The First Knight of British Jazz," saxophonist/clarinetist/arranger John Dankworth, who died on Saturday at age 82. Dankworth studied at the Royal Academy of Music in the '40s and formed his first band, the Johnny Dankworth Seven, in 1950. Later that decade, Dankworth formed a big band and married jazz singer Cleo Laine. Along with UK chart success with 1956's "Experiments with Mice" and 1961's "African Waltz," Dankworth moved into film work in the '60s and became Laine's musical director in the '70s; during his career, he also worked as musical director for Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, and Nat King Cole. Dankworth was knighted in 2006; he and Laine had a son and a daughter, both jazz musicians as well. [Independent.co.uk]Along with the Who's halftime performance, the Super Bowl boasted plenty of other musical acts. Carrie Underwood and Queen Latifah sang the national anthem and "America the Beautiful" before kickoff, while performances by Steve Winwood and Daughtry warmed up fans before the game. [AOLNews.com]
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Arriving a year after the British Invasion kick-started and two years before the Summer of Love, 1965 sometimes gets overlooked among the great years of the '60s, but a convincing case could be made that it showcases how creatively fertile the decade was almost better than any other year. That's because 1965 isn't about one style or sound: every genre produced timeless music, whether it was Miles Davis settling into his second classic quintet, Motown's hit machine not slowing down, Bakersfield electrifying country music, B.B. King captivating at the Regal, or American rock & roll bands pounding out responses to the British Invasion from their own garages while the Who made their debut. And, of course, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds all released multiple classic albums, including Rubber Soul, Highway 61 Revisited, Out of Our Heads, Today!, and Mr. Tambourine Man -- records that defined just what rock & roll could do. If that doesn't make a contender for the greatest year of the '60s, then what does?
