And the Grammy goes to ... Herbie Hancock?

The biggest upset in Grammy history? Yes. The biggest blunder, too? Maybe.

For more than three hours Sunday, the 50th annual Grammy Awards was smart, entertaining and, lo and behold, hip. New stars merged with pop icons, the mood was fun and cool. And this anniversary edition of an oft-maligned event was one for the ages.

And then Herbie Hancock’s name was called for album of the year. Uh-oh.

Just like that, the Grammys, a peer-voted award criticized for clueless cronyism, fell back on old, crusty habits. No offense to the great jazz pianist. But his salute to Joni Mitchell, River: The Joni Letters, was decidedly not better than the major category’s two front-runners: Kanye West’s Graduation and Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black.

"The impossible can be made possible," said Hancock, 67, who was as shocked as anyone by this upset.

For most of the night, the Grammys were fresh with their choices. Two of pop music’s most mercurial stars, rapper West and new-school R&Ber Winehouse, were feted with major hardware in Los Angeles. West, with a tribute to his late mother shaved into his head, took home four awards, including best rap album. Among her five trophies, Winehouse, a tabloid star thanks to her drug use and related ne’er-do-wellness, won best new artist, plus song and record of the year for the neo-girl group groove Rehab. As for her spacey acceptance speech, um, well, someone named Ray-Ray is very happy.

Vince Gill took best country album for These Days and was given the award by Ringo Starr: "I just had an award handed to me by a Beatle," Gill said, adding the good-natured dig of the night: “Have you had that happen yet, Kanye?”

[AP photo]

But this anniversary edition wasn’t so much about shiny trophies as it was pairing up stars of yesterday and today and letting ’em rip it up. Beyonce and Tina Turner! Rihanna and the Time! Winehouse and her demons! And unlike the stiffness of the past, people were genuinely having fun. Maybe they opened the lobby bar early.

This was a good time for the Grammys to get a clue, too. They like to call this “music’s biggest night.” But these days, the show feels more like “music’s only hope.” The industry is in the toilet, album sales have never been worse, and layoffs at major labels are brutal. Unfortunately, Hancock’s victory isn’t going to restore people’s faith in new music.

But for one evening, the Recording Academy  pretended that the state of pop music is just dandy. Giving out all but a few awards before the telecast, the three-hour-plus event was almost entirely live, lively music.

So in the spirit of the night, here’s my Top Five Performances:

1) Morris Day and the Time! Jungle Love! When incandescent R&B star Rihanna joined the slick ’80s cats, it was the most senselessly fun Grammy moment in years. Oh wee oh wee oh!

2) Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles show, LOVE, is a tremendously trippy achievement . . . on a big Las Vegas stage. Without that sense of grandeur, it fell flat here. The better combination of visuals and music (Tron, anyone?) was Kanye’s Stronger. That guy’s incapable of being boring, especially backed by Daft Punk. Oh, and if you didn’t well up during his Hey Mama, you’re a cyborg. West can’t sing a lick, but he delivered on this tribute to his mother, Donda West, who died last year from complications related to plastic surgery.

3) Beyonce’s coconut-cracking gams were on tremendous display during a feisty duet of Proud Mary with Turner, who knows something about superheroic legs. By the way, Turner is 68 years old. We should all be so genetically blessed.

4) Just when you think rock is dead, Dave Grohl and his mighty Foo Fighters, with guest John Paul Jones, made you want to break something . . . in a good way.

5) Okay, so Winehouse’s via-satellite performances of You Know I’m No Good and Rehab weren’t perfect. A little shaky, a little mumbly, snotty phrasing. But you couldn’t look away, could you? Plus, Winehouse didn’t pass out. Bonus points!

Comments

[Marissa]

I just finished watching "Girls Next Door," and figured I'd drop in to see what you ferociosly worked on this evening.
My faves of the night: Rihanna with Morris Day and The Time and JASON BATEMAN, baby!!

[Sean Daly]

Ugh. Ferocious and frustrating. Kudos to Herbie for gumming up the works nice and good. I had to rewrite the first edition story, 'round midnight and with deadline minutes to spare, to accomodate this upset. Definite shades of Steely Dan topping Eminem a few years ago.

[Marissa]

No doubt none of us saw that one coming. It was like getting hit by a cross town bus.
Jane provided the link to Morris Day and the Time with Rihanna.
Maybe this will cheer you up.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M6473RFvhCo

[Marissa]

If that doesn't do it, here's 'hot legs' herself.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pwel6KWuFnE

[Jeff in Cuba]

It's not that Herbie didn't deserve a Grammy, he just didn't deserve that Grammy.

I wonder if his acceptance speech was more on-the-mark than he thought. Maybe it was belated recognition for Miles, Bird, and Trane. It would be just like the Grammys to be 30-40 years behind the times.

[Sherrie]

Wow, a moments from deadline re-write- did you get all dramatic and bellow "stop the presses" or anything like that? I have the paper on my desk at work, I'll dig into your article as soon as I can. (I have such a mental picture of you in a newsie hat, dancing and demanding that the presses cease immediately so your updated story can be added.)

[NickWithAnAxe]

Shocking, but only because I didn't expect true talent to win out. It was refreshing to see an actual musician win the big award. Winehouse has some chops, but it's buried under a blizzard of dope and delusion. Kanye?? If there was an award for shameless self-promotion he'd be a lock. (I must note for the record that I think "rap music" is an oxymoron.) The musical landscape is riddled with talentless, interchangeable, babbling heads. Congratulations, Herbie - keep on keepin' on.

[jane]

That's an excellent point, Jeff (as usual) and one I pondered myself driving the kiddo to school this morning. I read somewhere that the Hancock disc is the first instrumental jazz release to win Album of the Year honors since the iconic "Getz/Gilberto" in the early '60s.

I'm not sure I'd give the Grammy voters that much credit for using this as a way to honor the greats (Trane, Bird, Miles, Baker, etc.) but I'm hoping that it might just give jazz (the pure, straight-ahead stuff) a boost and introduce it to people who haven't ever listened to it for one reason or another.

[Marissa]

Nick, I haven't heard Herbie's new CD, but since I like Joni Mitchell , it's a must check out situation.

I do have to agree that it's nice to see an old horse take the major prize.
It was just so unexpected!

I think some of us (me) were ready to hear Kanye's continuation of his speech from earlier in the evening...only to be cut off by the music once again.

[Jeremy]

For being a MUSIC award, the Grammys has consistently proven itself a misguided institution. Each year it displays a proclivity to reward so-called “artists” for reasons that blur the most essential in any music-related award—musicianship. Yes, the Grammys are an industry award so many issues become associated with winners, like album sales, impact, even image. But what is and always should be the most important aspect is the actual friggin MUSIC.

I am tired of seeing untalented hacks dependent on teams of handlers to write their music, lyrics, choreography, etc. to make them into an image-totale blurring the line of true creativity (not to mention all of the sound engineering required to make themselves sound halfway presentable).

I find it refreshing the Grammys finally and fairly rewarded an artist for the right reason: making good music. It helps Herbie's album sold quite well for a jazz album and that he has consistently been a trend-setter in the jazz world.

Again, let's not forget what is most important in all of this, the MUSIC. His album, as is his career, is filled with good music-making. You call it cronyism, I call it common sense.

[Sean Daly]

No argument here: Herbie Hancock has had a tremendous ground-breaking career. But while "The Joni Letters" has some sublime moments (I reviewed it; I even recommended it), it's not his best work. So defending Herbie is one thing (does he deserve praise? absolutely); but defending this album is another.

Oh well. Maybe this is actually the best thing to happen to the Grammys. The next-day chatter about the show is usually dead by now.

[Sean Daly]

And another thing...for three hours Sunday, the Grammys went out of their way to celebrate Kanye, Winehouse, Rihanna, Beyonce. Hell, they didn't even have Herbie perform. Winehouse was 5-for-5 in awards, and I thought she might take the big one. (Great night for producer Mark Ronson, too, by the way.) And then the album of the year shocker.

Part of the reason that people ignore the Grammys is because they're considered clueless, out-of-touch. But maybe the problem is that they're spineless. Do they really believe in what they're selling? They take it upon themselves to save the music business, but all they really want to do is listen to old Weather Report albums.

[Sean Daly]

I stand corrected -- Herbie did perform. My bad.

[Dave]

My sentiments exactly, Jeremy.

So, for once, a jazz musician won the Album of the Year Grammy. That makes up for all of the no talent, recording-studio-doctored artists out there who have gotten way more recognition over the years than they deserve because these artists can pay someone else to write a simple 3 chord melody for them to sing and shake a move to.

I own Winehouse's record and enjoy it, but I will definitely celebrate Hancock's win happily.

[Angelo]

It was really great Herbie won. Being 18, its actually good to see someone who's playing good music (whether River is a truly great album or not). Sure its not Headhunters or Thrust, but damn Herbie Hancock always would deserve a grammy over Kanye west. He just puts so much more into it, and I think anyone could agree with that. Winehouse is doing some good stuff, but she needs to tone down the drama...no one cares to constantly hear your personal business- we just want to hear a new, sweet soulful record (and keep those Fender Rhodes comming!). Way to go Herbie.

And Daly, nice nod to Weather Report. I think they're a bit over the execs head though. Live in Tokyo is all you need to know. RIP Joe Zawinul, glad to see he from WR was represented. Also RIP Max Roach and Oscar Peterson. Not a bad grammys after all...

What happened to the rumored Michael Jackson - Thriller tribute? Weirdness and all, I would've much rather seen that than have to hear the god awful Umbrella song again.

[KARIon]

Love Herbie....love Joni....but please the grammys gave the Lifetime LIFEtime LIFETIME achievement award to "The Band" and then didn't even play one song... Perhaps the majority of screaming "fans" it front wouldn't recognize a Band song...I don't think I can listen to anymore casio crap...Let it be.

[KARIon]

Love Herbie....love Joni....but please the grammys gave the Lifetime LIFEtime LIFETIME achievement award to "The Band" and then didn't even play one song... Perhaps the majority of screaming "fans" in front wouldn't recognize a Band song...I don't think I can listen to anymore casio crap...Let it be.

[Dave]

The Grammys are like music critics, a sell out to the corporate music world. What is the point of watching the show? If you have a list of the best selling recordings, you know the winners in advance. What a stupid award and thorough waste of time.

[Dave]

They added a Zydeco Cajun category, I think it was the first year for it. What a joke! There were some deserving bands and recordings up for awards, and the award went to a recording by Terrance Simien that is full of tired old retreaded songs, reggae, the Star Spangled Banner?. Cajun and Zydeco music was better off being left out of the Grammy competition.

[Michael]

I think that the membership of the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences was absolutely right on in their choice of Herbie Hancock to receive the Record of the Year honors.
I hope this signals a change in attitudes towards musically literate offerings and the continued dumbing down of the music listening constituency.
If Kanye west wants future awards, maybe we could have a bad poetry with off-key singing bolstered by shameless self-promotion awards show. Likewise, miss Winehouse could compete for honors in the off-key singing category but would surely take top honors in the pathetically derivative category.

[dreaming]

25 yrs from now, you may still want to listen to herbie hancock do joni mitchell. do you really think you will want to hear, um, kanye west then? or amy winehouse? i doubt it.