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Lil Wayne leads Grammy pack

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 03, 2008, 9:40 PM

SAED HINDASH/THE STARLEDGERLil Wayne performing at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, in October

Eccentric rapper Lil Wayne has earned the most nominations for the 2009 Grammys, with eight. Alt-rock band Coldplay has seven, and Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West have six each.

Octogenarian folk icon Pete Seeger will compete in the traditional folk category, with his "At 89" album. His sister Peggy is also nominated in this category, with her "Bring Me Home."

B.B. King and John Mayer ended the CBS telecast where some of the nominations were announced, trading guitar licks and vocals on "Let the Good Times Roll."

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Grammys get hip with album-of-the-year nominees

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 03, 2008, 9:19 PM

MARK HUMPHREY/APAlison Krauss and Robert Plant, in October 2007

Grammy voters are often accused of being behind the times. But it's hard to argue with the new batch of album-of-the-year nominees: Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III," Radiohead's "In Rainbows," Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' "Raising Sand" and Ne-Yo's "Year of the Gentleman."

No embarrassments there: All have received good to glowing reviews, and the category, overall, has a good mix of the old and the new.

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Wayne Shorter celebrates next 75 years

by Zan Stewart/The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 03, 2008, 4:22 PM

ANGELA JIMENEZ/FOR THE STAR-LEDGERSaxophonist Wayne Shorter, left, performs with John Patitucci on bass at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday.

NEW YORK -- Displaying his bountiful artistic gifts at full tilt, saxophonist, composer and arranger Wayne Shorter gave a gem of a performance Tuesday at Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall.

The evening -- billed as "The 75th Birthday Concert"; the Newark native was born Aug. 25, 1933 -- featured Shorter's quartet and the classical-based Imani Winds, which has been performing various pieces with Shorter since 2006.

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Grammy nominations on the way

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 03, 2008, 2:42 PM

The Grammys will try a new approach for announcing the nominees for its '09 awards, with a live, hour-long television special, scheduled for tonight at 9 on Channel 2. The nominees in some of the major categories will be announced between performances by artists like Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, B.B. King, Christina Aguilera, Foo Fighters, Taylor Swift (who will also co-host, with L.L. Cool J) and John Mayer.

We will have live blogging about the nominations, beginning at 9 or shortly thereafter, here.

The event will take place at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, while the actual awards show is scheduled for Feb. 8 at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

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Elvis Costello creates a Spectacle

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

Wednesday December 03, 2008, 9:53 AM

ZACH CORDNER/THE WORD MAGAZINEElvis Costello's new, weekly music-and-talk show debuts Dec. 3 on television's Sundance Channel

It has the potential to be one of the most fascinating music shows on television, ever. "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ..." is a series of hour-long shows, featuring the eloquent Costello talking with -- and performing with -- some bona-fide A-list guests.

The debut, featuring Elton John (the show's executive producer), airs Dec. 3 at 9 p.m. on the Sundance Channel. Future guests include:

Dec. 10: Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel

Dec. 17: Bill Clinton

Dec. 24: James Taylor

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