Donna in LA for the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Day 2 (MusiCares Person of the Year)

Los Angeles Convention CenterI made it back to the hotel with enough time to change for the MusiCares Person of the Year event. Approximately 30 minutes later, I shared a ride with country music blogger @lameesa over to the Los Angeles Convention Center where the gala would be held in a couple of hours.

We joined @MissMusicNerd who was already there. First thing to do was to get media credentials so that the hardcore security people knew that we had a right to be hovering around the red carpet.

Click to read more ...

Donna M's Unlikely Journey to the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards

If someone would have told me five years ago that I would (1) love jazz music (2) be interviewed by NPR's A Blog Supreme, (3) create an increasingly popular jazz blog and (4) attend the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards show in Los Angeles in 2011, I would have laughed heartily in disbelief for at least five minutes. :P

Here I am, though, about to leave mid-week to attend four days of GRAMMY events in Los Angeles. It's all quite amazing to me.

I grew up with the classic Soul and R&B sounds of the 70s. I was exposed to a heavy dose of doo-wop and Motown by both my mother and maternal grandfather. The first album that was purchased for me (after I begged and pleaded for it) as a young child was "ABC" by the Jackson 5. The first 12 inch single that I bought for myself with saved lunch money was Parliament's "Flash Light".

Click to read more ...