February 16. 2005
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Focus
Grammys Fitting Ray Charles Eulogy
'Genius Loves Company' wins eight awards
Great
ideas have
no racial
bounderies.
A tribute to th e late Ray
Charles a t th e 4 7th Annual
Gram m y Awards. (AP photo)
(AP) — On the night when all of
music bands together for one genre-
busting party, Ray Charles received
a fitting eulogy Sunday as his final
album, “Genius Loves Company,”
won a leading eight Grammys.
Much like his career, the album
C harles recorded in the final
months of his life spans soul,
rock ’n ’ roll, R&B, country, jazz
and blues. It won album o f the
year and best pop album; the song
“Here We Go A gain,” with Norah
Jones, won record of the year and
best pop collaboration with vo
cals.
“I’m going to cry, actually,”
Jones said as she accepted the tro
phy for record of the year. “I think
it just shows how wonderful music
can be.”
Other winners included Alicia
Keys and Usher, each nominated
foreight Grammys. Keys won four
while Usher had three. They shared
one award, for best R&B perfor
mance by a duo or group with vo
cals for their chart-topping duet,
“My Boo.”
U2 won three awards, including
best rock performance by a duo or
group. Green Day, the most nomi
nated rock act with six for their
politically charged punk opera
“American Idiot,” won best rock
album.
The most nominated artist o f the
year was perhaps the most multi
fa c e te d — K anye W est, the
songwriter-producer who made his
rap debut in 2004 with the cutting-
edge CD “The College Dropout.”
He was nominated for 1 OGrammys,
including album of the year, but
only took home three, including
best rap album and best rap song
for “Jesus W alks.”
He was upset in the best new
artist category, losing to Maroon 5
in a race that also included country
singer Gretchen Wilson, the Los
Lonely Boys and soul siren Joss
Stone.
West went on to deliver an eye
popping performance o f “Jesus
The son o f a former slave,
enlisted in the Navy at age 16 and served as a cabin boy aboard the U.S.S. Massasoit.
After the Civil War, he learned mechanical drawing while working in a patent attorney’s
Alicia Keys p o s e s with her four Gram m y Awards for b e s t R&B
album , b e s t R&B song, b e s t R&B fem a le vocal perform ance and
b e s t R&B p erform ance by a duo or group with vocals. (AP photo)
system for railroad cars. In 1882, his job with the United States Electrical Lighting
Pioneers. Latimer also supervised the installation o f electric lighting in New York
City, Philadelphia, and Montreal. His textbook, "Incandescent Electric Lighting:
A Practical Description o f the Edison System, ” was published in 1890.
U sher a n d J a m e s
Brown perform
"Caught Up" at
th e Gram m y
Awards on
S u n d a y a t th e
S ta p le s C enter in
Los A ngeles.
(AP photo)
♦ PACIFIC POWER
Salutes Black History Month
www.pacificpower.net
Walks” and an emotional accep
tance speech for best rap album.
Perhaps the ev en in g ’s most
exhilarating performance was from
M elissa Etheridge. The rocker,
who is battling breast cancer, took
to the stage for a Janis Joplin
tribute with a shaved head but
stro n g v o ice, and receiv ed a
standing ovation.
But ultim ately, the night b e
longed to Ray Charles. “Genius
Loves Com pany” sold more than
tw o m illion copies — the most of
his 60-plus album s. Besides the
four aw ards for best album and
song, “G enius Loves C om pany”
won for best instrum ental ar
rangem ent accom panying a vo
calist, best gospel perform ance,
best engineered album and best
surround sound album.
Charles was 73 when he died in
June, with a total of 12 Grammys in
his 50-plus year career. The most he
ever won in one night was four in
1960, including two for the classic
“Georgia On My Mind.”
That was the song performed
Sunday by Keys and the actor J amie
Foxx, considered an Oscar lock for
his portrayal of Charles in “Ray.”
Foxx, a more then decent musi
cian, sat at a piano opposite Keys
as Quincy Jones conducted the
orchestra.
“For an old friend,” Foxx said as
he began to play.
“Beloved," which w asn't
a hit in theaters. In retro
spect, Winfrey said that
should have been on TV.
“ I thought I was done
with my acting days, but
I loved being a part of the
‘Desperate Housewives’
so much that I'mthinking
I might do something else
soon,” Winfrey told re
porters Sunday.
“You got any ideas?”
she asked. “I'm open.”
Oprah Winfrey
Jazz Pioneer Fused Sounds
( AP)— Jimmy Smith, an award-
winningjazz organist who was con
sidered a pioneer with the instru
ment, died Feb. 8 of natural causes
at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
He was 79.
“Jimmy Smith transform ed the
organ intoajazz. instrum ent. Jazz
has lost a pioneering talent, not
to m e n tio n a o n e -o f - a - k in d
personality,” N ational E ndow
ment for the Arts C hairm an Dana
G ioiasaid.
Bom in Norristown. Pa., in 1925,
Smith ruled the Hammond B-3 or
gan in the 1950s and 1960s, fusing
R&B. blues, and gospel influences
Boston law office. He later became a chief draftsman. In 1873 he invented a toilet
Co. led him to work with Thomas Edison and become one o f the famous Edison
Oprah Wants to Return to Acting
(AP) - Oprah W in
frey’s been bitten by the
acting bug again - and
you can thank the des
perate housewives.
Marc Cherry, creator
of the hit ABC show,
w ro te a “ D esp e ra te
H ousew ives” skit for
W infrey's daytime talk
show. She got to play
several of the roles.
Her last acting stint
was in the 1998 movie
Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928)
with bebop references.
Sm ith's sessions with record la
bel Blue Note from 1956 to 1963
in c lu d e d c o lla b o ra tio n s w ith
Kenny Burrell, Lee Morgan, Lou
Donaldson, Tina Brooks, Jackie
McLean, Ike Quebec and Stanley
Turrentine. He started playing the
Hammond organ in 1951.
“Jimmy was one of the greatest
and most innovative musicians of
ourtime,” said fellow Hammond B-
3 artist Joey DeFrancesco.
The two recently recorded an
album together called Legacy,
which is scheduled to be released
next week.
BLACK H ISTO RY
MONTH 2 0 0 5
Reed College celebrates with an art
exhibition & special lectures
CORNEL WEST
LECTURE & BOOK SIGNING
7:30 p.m . February 18
Raul A uditorium
TIM
SE1BLES
POETRY READING
Author of
Buffalo H ead Solos
8 p.m . February 24
Vollum Lounge
Photographs by Ruth-Marion
Baruch & I’ irkle Jones
EXHIBITION
T hrough February 20
D ou glas F. C ooley
M em orial Art G allery
A ll event® are fr e e IS o p en to th e
public; s e a tin g i® lim ite d . V isit
w eb .reed .ed u /b la ck h isto ry m o n th /
or c a ll th e R eed event® lin e at
503 /7 7 7 -7 7 5 5 .
I
fee
C o rn e l W est is th e C lass o f 1943 U niv ersity
P ro fesso r o f R eligion a t P rin c e to n
U n iv ersity . W est's sc h o la rsh ip w eav es
to g e th e r th e A m e ric a n tra d itio n s o f
th e B aptist c h u rc h , tra n s c e n d e n ta lis m ,
socialism , a n d p ra g m a tism . H is b est-sellin g
book, Race M atters, c h a n g e d th e c o u rse
o f A m e ric a ’s dialo g u e o n race, ju stic e , a n d
d e m o c ra c y ; th e follow -up, D em ocracy
M atters, h a s re c e n tly b e e n p u b lish e d . West
re c e iv e d h is b a c h e lo r o f a rts fro m H arv ard
a n d h is I’h.D . from P rin c e to n .
BLACK PANTHERS 1968:
Jimmy Smith
A
JAMES
GIBSON
LECTI Rl,
“C an 'ITuth R econcile a
D ivided N a tio n ? ”
7 p.m . February 28
Y'ollum L ecture H all
reed
R e e d C o lle g e
3 2 0 3 SE W o o d s to c k B ird
P o r tla n d , O r e g o n