So, last time I posted a blog was 4 months ago, back in the year 2010. Much has happened, so we're gonna recap:
By far, my favorite moment this year, so far, came on February 13th. That night, against my better judgement, I was watching the 2011 Grammy's. The catagory was Best New Artist, and the nominees were as the following:
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence and the Machine
Mumford and Sons
and Esperanza Spalding
Most people in mainstream culture were familiar with most of these acts, especially Justin Bieber and Drake. Common sense would have told any of us that Bieber was the guaranteed winner. The Grammy's tend to be a popularity contest anyway, and while I HOPED that Esperanza would win, I wasn't really holding my breath. Then this happened:
For those of you that don't know who Esperanza is (and there was MANY who didn't, so don't feel bad.) Esperanza Spalding is a jazz bass player from Portland, Oregon. Her and her brother were raised by their mother, who was a single parent. She got her GED at 16 to be able to attend Portland State College early. Although the youngest student in the her bass studio, her teachers nurtured her skills and she was encouraged to apply to Berklee College of Music in Boston (where she got a full scholarship.) Since the age of 15, she's been perfroming regularly, and at the age of 20, was hired by Berklee as a teacher.
So, after she won Best New Artist, every tween came out of the wood work to complain and claim Justin Bieber was somehow robbed of the award. Esperanza's wiki page was vandalized 30 MINUTES after she won. Wikipedia had to put her page on lockdown. Then my buddy Greg (aka E.E. Delrey, check him out!) told me about this video:
At first, we all thought this was fake. No one is that stupid, right? Riiiight?
Thanks Charlie, I was wrong. That girl was dead serious. Her arguement is pretty pathetic and resonates the ignorace of some people. Just because you don't know about this artist, that's not a reflection on that artist, it's a reflection on you. Esperanza Spalding has played for the President of the United States, not once but TWICE. She's also played with giants like Stanley Clark, Pat Metheny, and countless others.
Still, some people think that a 3D movie is more of an accomplishment than being an accomplished musician. Many people were offended with Esperanzas' win:
She who laughs last, laughs best!
On a much more somber note, recently a video has gone viral and has drawn the ire of about every songwriter I know. I won't trouble you by posting Rebecca Black's "Friday," I'm sure you've heard it. I will, however, post her interview with GMA:
What bothers me is that she's totally cool with being mediocre. They ask the mom how she feels about all the negative comments, she expresses how mad it made her, but, you have to forsee this happening. You put a song on the INTERNET, it's open to criticism. Don't put yourself on Front Street if you can't handle it.
In my research, I found that this song is not original and that it was actually written by a legend back in the 60's:
All joking aside, those have been my a) favorite musical event of the last 4 months and b) my least favorite musical event on the last 4 months. Send me your thoughts on anything I've written to Music/Eclectic (Facebook) and/or follow me on twitter @MarcoRLamas.
P.s. Soon I'll have music and dates up on gigs with one of the three bands I'll be working on this summer (and beyond!)
Peace, Marco!
