What didn't happen at the Grammys last night

The Grammy awards last night had some great performances. Artists fell in either of two categories.

1. All about the show: the best performances of the night in this category were by Usher and by Lady Gaga, although her song reminded many people of Madonna's Express Yourself.
2. All about the music: those were simple performances that were great because the artists were in the music, instead of faking it: Mumford and Sons, Lady Antebellum, and a lovely version of "Jolene" by Norah Jones, John Mayer and Keith Urban.

I waited all night for a performance as memorable as last year's Pink. It came in a completely different genre, with Cee-Lo and Gwyneth Paltrow's performance of  "Forget You," which managed to brilliantly combine both the showmanship and the music in a really fun way, with a kick ass bird costume and a choir of Muppets. It was my absolute favorite of the night.

What was missed from the evening however, besides the sound that the producers annoyingly cut off to prevent viewers from hearing swear words, was a performance of the surprise winner of the New Artist category: Esperanza Spalding.

The fact that this wonderful singer-songwriter-bassist was in the same category as heavy commercial weights such as Justin Bieber was in itself quite a miracle, but for her to win sent a comforting message to all of us professional musicians out there: there is hope. Unfortunately, because she didn't perform during the evening, many people didn't know her and took her win the wrong way. Here is what should have happened.



On another note, it is Valentine's day today, so I am sending you all lots of love, particularly to all of you so dedicated to your art that you will spend the evening in rehearsal, in a practice room, or performing.

Happy Valentine's day!