Ehrlich makes 'Grammy moments'
So happy together
Feb 7, 2006
During the 48th annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Staples Center on Wednesday evening, the Recording Academy will hand out trophies in just 11 of its 108 categories. (The other 97 awards will be presented at an afternoon event.) As usual during the CBS-televised awards show, the emphasis will be on the "show" component.
Grammys veteran Ken Ehrlich -- co-executive producer of the show with John Cossette -- estimates that at least 75% of the 3 1/2-hour broadcast will be devoted to live music. While some of the production numbers will focus on this year's nominees, the production team (which also includes longtime director Warren Miller) is charged with delivering what Recording Academy president Neil Portnow is fond of describing as "Grammy moments" -- unprecedented talent combinations that will excite chatter around the water cooler Thursday morning.
"I love doing them," Ehrlich said, "and I think it's what separates the Grammys from the other shows. During the previous (Recording Academy) administration, we didn't do as many as we've done the last three years that Neil has been there. In the first meeting, when I sat down with Neil, he said to me, 'I love those things that you do when you put people together. You know, we should do more of those.' I think it's become more of a signature show for the academy in the last several years because we have done more of those."
This year's highlights will include a show-opening pairing of Madonna and the animated group Gorillaz; the melding of R&B diva Mary J. Blige and Irish supergroup U2; a remembrance of New Orleans featuring Elvis Costello with Crescent City pianists Allen Toussaint and Dr. John; a homage to the late soul man Wilson Pickett by Bruce Springsteen and Sam Moore of Sam and Dave; and an all-star salute to Sly & the Family Stone. (Ehrlich said of the latter number, "If you're going to ask me if Sly's gonna be there, unfortunately our answer is, I don't know.")
These star-spangled bits of event programming are concocted within a very small production window. Just two months separate the announcement of nominations in December and the February ceremony. The process is kicked off by a meeting between the production team and the Recording Academy's television committee.
"That's extremely collaborative," Ehrlich said. "When the nominations are announced, we sit down in a room. I come in with our recommendations as to what we want to do, and the academy has its recommendations. Usually they're extremely close, and they collide or coincide. Then we hash it out, and at the end of that meeting we have a direction. It's not a complete road map, but it's the way we want to head."
No one is officially approached to appear on the show until after nominations are announced, but the producers will do some second-guessing and have preliminary discussions with some artists. Ehrlich said, "You can pretty much tell the landscape. We weren't shocked about Mariah Carey's year or Kanye West's year or John Legend's year, so you've got some givens that you might as well lay some tracks with."
However, he added, "The reality is, I do this quite slowly. I finalize the acts on the show a week or 10 days before, and sometimes later."
A 26-year Grammys producer, Ehrlich's experience putting together high-powered talent combos dates back to his early-'70s work in Chicago on the PBS performance series "Soundstage." But he maintains that the prestige of the Grammys gives the production an added edge in advancing the formulation of unusual musical moments.
"The Grammys have such meaning, and winning a Grammy has such meaning, (so) artists are more cooperative," Ehrlich said. "They're more understanding. I don't want to go too far with this, because they still think it's about them, but I think they're much more collaborative and open to what we would like to do with them on the show. And I think they have a higher level of expectation of what their performance will be and mean."
He added, "I've developed relationships with a lot of these artists over the years, to the point where I think there's a certain amount of trust involved. Beyond that, I have access to them that maybe some other producers don't have, and they'll listen to me. That doesn't mean that they'll agree all the time, but what will usually happen is that if they don't agree, they'll come up with an alternative idea."
Asked about his own favorite "Grammy moments," Ehrlich cited last year's duet by Melissa Etheridge (in her first appearance since her bout with cancer) and Joss Stone; a dynamic show opener by Prince and Beyonce; and tributes to the Clash (with Springsteen, Costello and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters) and Curtis Mayfield (with Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and the Impressions).
He added with a delighted chuckle, "There's one that nobody remembers but me. I think it might have been the 25th anniversary -- it was the first one where we went to three hours -- and I did this thing with four pianos. It was Count Basie, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. ... That was pretty amazing."
Grammys veteran Ken Ehrlich -- co-executive producer of the show with John Cossette -- estimates that at least 75% of the 3 1/2-hour broadcast will be devoted to live music. While some of the production numbers will focus on this year's nominees, the production team (which also includes longtime director Warren Miller) is charged with delivering what Recording Academy president Neil Portnow is fond of describing as "Grammy moments" -- unprecedented talent combinations that will excite chatter around the water cooler Thursday morning.
"I love doing them," Ehrlich said, "and I think it's what separates the Grammys from the other shows. During the previous (Recording Academy) administration, we didn't do as many as we've done the last three years that Neil has been there. In the first meeting, when I sat down with Neil, he said to me, 'I love those things that you do when you put people together. You know, we should do more of those.' I think it's become more of a signature show for the academy in the last several years because we have done more of those."
This year's highlights will include a show-opening pairing of Madonna and the animated group Gorillaz; the melding of R&B diva Mary J. Blige and Irish supergroup U2; a remembrance of New Orleans featuring Elvis Costello with Crescent City pianists Allen Toussaint and Dr. John; a homage to the late soul man Wilson Pickett by Bruce Springsteen and Sam Moore of Sam and Dave; and an all-star salute to Sly & the Family Stone. (Ehrlich said of the latter number, "If you're going to ask me if Sly's gonna be there, unfortunately our answer is, I don't know.")
These star-spangled bits of event programming are concocted within a very small production window. Just two months separate the announcement of nominations in December and the February ceremony. The process is kicked off by a meeting between the production team and the Recording Academy's television committee.
"That's extremely collaborative," Ehrlich said. "When the nominations are announced, we sit down in a room. I come in with our recommendations as to what we want to do, and the academy has its recommendations. Usually they're extremely close, and they collide or coincide. Then we hash it out, and at the end of that meeting we have a direction. It's not a complete road map, but it's the way we want to head."
No one is officially approached to appear on the show until after nominations are announced, but the producers will do some second-guessing and have preliminary discussions with some artists. Ehrlich said, "You can pretty much tell the landscape. We weren't shocked about Mariah Carey's year or Kanye West's year or John Legend's year, so you've got some givens that you might as well lay some tracks with."
However, he added, "The reality is, I do this quite slowly. I finalize the acts on the show a week or 10 days before, and sometimes later."
A 26-year Grammys producer, Ehrlich's experience putting together high-powered talent combos dates back to his early-'70s work in Chicago on the PBS performance series "Soundstage." But he maintains that the prestige of the Grammys gives the production an added edge in advancing the formulation of unusual musical moments.
"The Grammys have such meaning, and winning a Grammy has such meaning, (so) artists are more cooperative," Ehrlich said. "They're more understanding. I don't want to go too far with this, because they still think it's about them, but I think they're much more collaborative and open to what we would like to do with them on the show. And I think they have a higher level of expectation of what their performance will be and mean."
He added, "I've developed relationships with a lot of these artists over the years, to the point where I think there's a certain amount of trust involved. Beyond that, I have access to them that maybe some other producers don't have, and they'll listen to me. That doesn't mean that they'll agree all the time, but what will usually happen is that if they don't agree, they'll come up with an alternative idea."
Asked about his own favorite "Grammy moments," Ehrlich cited last year's duet by Melissa Etheridge (in her first appearance since her bout with cancer) and Joss Stone; a dynamic show opener by Prince and Beyonce; and tributes to the Clash (with Springsteen, Costello and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters) and Curtis Mayfield (with Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and the Impressions).
He added with a delighted chuckle, "There's one that nobody remembers but me. I think it might have been the 25th anniversary -- it was the first one where we went to three hours -- and I did this thing with four pianos. It was Count Basie, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. ... That was pretty amazing."
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