NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 14, 2007) — Yamaha artists and instruments were well represented at this year's GRAMMY® Awards ceremony that took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 11. Yamaha artists dominated categories across many genres from pop to jazz to R&B. Those who took home the coveted golden trophies include
Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake,
John Legend,
Kirk Franklin,
Chick Corea,
Michael Tilson Thomas, Will.i.am,
Jeff Coffin,
Randy Brecker,
Brian Lynch,
Eddie Palmieri, David Herbert and Elliot Scheiner.
"We offer our sincerest congratulations to all of our artists on their GRAMMY® wins and nominations. We are very proud to be the musical manufacturer of choice for so many talented individuals and to be recognized for our quality instruments," comments Chris Gero, corporate director of Yamaha Corporate Artist Affairs.
Yamaha artists Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder took home the evening's first GRAMMY® for their duet of "For Once in My Life." The duo earned a standing ovation as they added to their long list of GRAMMY® wins. Bennett also earned the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for
Duets: An American Classic.
Justin Timberlake wowed the packed house with his electrifying performances. Playing an MPU1 upright piano, he sang his current single "What Goes Around… Comes Around." Timberlake later sang "Ain't No Sunshine," while playing his new hand-painted Yamaha
CPX900 acoustic guitar. In addition to performing, he took home GRAMMYs® for Best Dance Recording for "Sexy Back" and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "My Love."
Last year's Best New Artist and three-time GRAMMY® Award-winner John Legend added two more trophies to his collection, including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Heaven" and Best R&B Performance By a Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Family Affair." Legend played a Yamaha
MPC7 Grand MIDIPiano during a medley with Corinne Bailey Rae and John Mayer.
The Recording Academy was good to several other Yamaha artists who won multiple awards on GRAMMY® night. They included: Kirk Franklin with wins for Best Gospel Song for "Imagine Me" and Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album for
Hero; Chick Corea who won Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group for
The Ultimate Adventure and Best Instrumental Arrangement for "Three Ghouls;" and Michael Tilson Thomas who earned Best Classical Album and Best Orchestral Performance for "Mahler: Symphony No. 7."
The list of Yamaha artists wins continued with trophies for the following: Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas received Best Pop Performance By a Duo Or Group With Vocal for "My Humps;" saxophonist Jeff Coffin of Béla Fleck & The Flecktones won Best Contemporary Jazz Album for
The Hidden Land; trumpeter Randy Brecker earned Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for
Some Skunk Funk; Brian Lynch and Eddie Palmieri were awarded Best Latin Jazz Album for
Simpático; David Herbert with the San Francisco Symphony received Best Classical Album for
Mahler Symphony No. 7; and Elliot Scheiner won Best Surround Sound Album for
Morph The Cat.
Many other artists performed with world-class Yamaha instruments on music's biggest night. GRAMMY® nominee and Yamaha artist
James Blunt gave a note-perfect performance of his worldwide hit "You're Beautiful," while his piano accompanist played a
DGT7 Digital Grand Piano. Superstar Lionel Richie also played a DGT7 while singing his 80's favorite "Hello." The house band used an MPC7, which was featured in the Mary J. Blige performance of "Be Without You."
At a special ceremony prior to the 49th Annual GRAMMY® Awards,
Yamaha Corporation itself was honored by The Recording Academy® with the 2007 Technical GRAMMY® Award. The award, which is part of the Special Merit Awards category ceremony, is voted on by The Recording Academy's Board of Trustees and its Producers & Engineers Wing. It is presented to individuals and/or companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance in the recording field.
This year's Technical GRAMMY® Award presentation to Yamaha Corporation recognizes the company's long tradition of highly-successful recording products, including the REV series digital reverbs; the legendary NS-10M studio reference monitors and recently launched
HS monitors, as well the Yamaha DMP7,
DMC1000,
ProMix01,
02R and
DM2000 digital mixing consoles.
