We watched the presentation for The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on PBS the other night.This was the first Gershwin Prize ever and it was awareded to Paul Simon. This award recognizes the profound and positive effect of popular music on the world’s culture. It will be awarded annually to a composer or performer whose lifetime contributions exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins.
I imagine Bob Dylan will get the award soon, if not next year.
It was a great concert - a lot of different artists performed Paul Simon songs during the 2 hour show:
- Yolanda Adams
- Marc Anthony
- Shawn Colvin
- The Dixie Hummingbirds
- Jessy Dixon and the Jessy Dixon Singers
- Jerry Douglas
- Art Garfunkel
- Philip Glass
- Alison Krauss
- Ladysmith Black Mambazo
- Lyle Lovett
- Stephen Marley
- Dianne Reeves
- James Taylor
- Stevie Wonder
- Buckwheat Zydeco
Paul Simon came out at the end and played for the last hour or so. His best performance was with Ladysmith Black Mambazo from the Graceland album.
The sound was perfect and the concert was shown in wide-screen high-definition - definitely worth watching.
I'm sure PBS will be showing it many more times and will probably release it on DVD too.
2 comments:
Sounds like something Katie and I would like to see.
If they give away one of these per year, won't they soon run out of worthy recipients and start giving them to bands like KISS? Look at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
I vote for BRUUUUUUUUUUCE!
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