The 55th Annual Grammy Awards will be held this weekend, and at least one Spartan is among the nominees.
Jonathan Ward, who is working on a master’s degree from the School of Library and Information Science, co-produced “Opika Pende: Africa at 78 RPM.”
Ward is modest about his chances of winning. The competition for Best Historical Album includes Paul McCartney, the Beach Boys and Woody Guthrie.
But he is honored to be in the mix, and will attend The 55th Annual Grammy Awards Pre-Telecast Ceremony, along with the other nominees in his category.
Ward’s entry grew out of his “hobby as a collector of 78s — but not just any 78s. His focus is on early recordings of African music,” wrote his hometown newspaper, The Martha’s Vineyard Times. “Mr. Ward assembled the collection of 100 African songs and wrote a 112-page book to describe the music that accompanies the CDs. He produced the CDs in conjunction with Dust-to-Digital, a producer and curator of projects, combining rare recordings with historical images and descriptive texts. Cuts from the album can be accessed at the Dust-to-Digital website, www.dust-digital.com.”
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards Pre-Telecast Ceremony begins 1 p.m. PST Feb. 10 and will be streamed live internationally at GRAMMY.com/live and CBS.com.