Congratulations to Ricky Riccardi for being nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Album Notes category for his notes on The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1945-1966 (Mosaic)!
Riccardi, a resident of Toms River, NJ, is Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum and author of two books about Armstrong: Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong (Oxford University Press: 2020) and What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years (Pantheon: 2011). Heart Full of Rhythm was named “Best Book of 2020” by JazzTimes Magazine.
The November/December 2020 issue of Jersey Jazz Magazine featured Riccardi’s book on the cover. Heart Full of Rhythm was reviewed by Contributing Editor Joe Lang, and Riccardi was interviewed by JJ Editor Sanford Josephson. “The scope of Riccardi’s research,” Lang wrote, “is impressive, as is his talent for fluently presenting the material in a manner that maintains the readers’ interest.”
Riccardi told Josephson he is delighted by “how many young musicians are listening to Louis and transcribing Louis. I would say the music of Louis Armstrong is probably hipper with young musicians than it has been for 70 years.”
The 2022 Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on January 31 at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/composer/bandleader Jon Batiste has received 11 Grammy nominations including Best Improvised Jazz Solo (“Bigger Than Us”) and Best Jazz Instrumental Album (Jazz Selections: Music From and Inspired By Soul, Walt Disney Records). Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga received five nominations for their Cole Porter tribute album, Love for Sale (Interscope).
Other multiple nominations for jazz artists went to: the late Chick Corea for Best Improvised Solo (“Humpty Dumpty Set 2”) and for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (Akoustic Band LIVE, Concord Jazz); and Arturo O’Farrill for Best Latin Jazz Album (Virtual Birdland, Zoho Music) and for Best Instrumental Composition for “Dreaming in Lions”.
Photo by Adriana Carillo