A performance at Roanoke’s Jefferson Center is a Grammy winner. Lalah Hathaway’s “Something,” performed alongside prominent jazz collaborative Snarky Puppy, took home the Grammy for Best R&B Performance last night.
See the video shot at the Jefferson Center
NEWS RELEASE FROM JEFFERSON CENTER
ROANOKE, VA – Lalah Hathaway’s “Something”, performed alongside prominent jazz collaborative Snarky Puppy took home the Grammy for Best R&B Performance this evening.
The Grammy win was the result of a performance at Jefferson Center, Roanoke’s non-profit community center, last spring and is a first for the Star City.
Hathaway’s performance was one piece of a larger project Jefferson Center filmed, recorded and produced in March of 2013 with Snarky Puppy. The end result was Snarky Puppy’s new album Family Dinner Volume 1. The album captures a series of unbelievable live performances on Jefferson Center’s historic Shaftman Performance Hall stage and includes special guest artists from around the world alongside a number of Music Lab at Jefferson Center students.
Family Dinner is on sale now and available around the world. Partial proceeds from every sale of the album benefit Jefferson Center’s education initiatives in this community. In addition to the positive focus and proceeds this album brings to Jefferson Center’s mission, millions of views on YouTube spotlight the Star City and highlight the unique music experiences taking place in Roanoke.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Lalah and Snarky Puppy’s win tonight,” said Cyrus Pace, Jefferson Center Executive Director. “Snarky Puppy has a long history with Jefferson Center and in particular with our education programs. Their continued desire to bring life changing music experiences to our Music Lab is a testament to their dedication to the next generation of artists and the positive impact that music can play in any teenager’s life. This Grammy could not have been awarded to a more deserving group of musicians.”
The Grammy win comes just five days before Snarky Puppy returns to Jefferson Center for their performance on its Jazz Series Friday, January 31st. In keeping with their commitment to Music Lab’s young musicians, the band will arrive early to record a number of original tracks inside Music Lab’s Studio-A with Jayna Brown, a gifted 12-year-old singer and Music Lab student who appears on the Family Dinner album.
It’s not just Jayna that Snarky Puppy will reunite with on their return Friday. During the concert Friday, all of the Music Lab students who appeared on the Family Dinner album will be brought back on stage to perform with Snarky Puppy. In addition to Judi Jackson, Gabe Morales, and Jayna Brown, Snarky Puppy will also welcome Music Lab student Bukuru Celestin of Burundi to the stage to perform a number of his original songs from a collaborative album Bukuru and Snarky Puppy recorded last year, Amkeni.
On behalf of Jefferson Center, its supporters, and community partners we say congratulations to Lalah Hathaway and Snarky Puppy for the Grammy win and thank you for their continued support of music education at Jefferson Center.
