The GRAMMY Museum kicked off 2024 GRAMMY Week with a feelgood ribbon-cutting celebration at its newly renamed Ray Charles Terrace on Jan. 29.
The uncharacteristically temperate evening added to the welcoming vibe of the gathering, which was further enhanced by on-point selections from GRAMMY winner DJ Khalil. Attendees were all smiles, reconnecting with each other in this congenial setting, generating a positive party tone for the slew of events GRAMMY Week brings.
Former Recording Academy Chairman Jimmy Jam proved to be a gracious and natural host. In his signature shades and slick suit, the multiple GRAMMY-winning producer brought attention to the Ray Charles Foundation’s and the GRAMMY Museum Foundation’s joint focus on empowering young people through education. A generous $2 million donation from the Ray Charles Foundation will further enable the Museum's educational focus.
GRAMMY Museum’s President and CEO Michael Sticka took to the podium and quantified Jam’s introduction with some solid statistics. These included 500,000 students served over the course of the museum’s 15 years and $500,000 donated to school music programs in the last 11 years.
"We’re committed to ensuring that every student who walks through our doors, or participates in one of our nationwide programs has an opportunity to discover music, and perhaps a career in music, in a new way," Sticka said.
The Ray Charles Foundation President Valerie Ervin — arriving fresh from a proclamation from the City of Los Angeles for the foundation — added, "It’s our great honor to invest in a shared vision of fostering the next generation of musical talent."
(L-R) Rita George, John Burk, Yakub Hazzard, Clarence Daniels, Wes Coleman, Michael Sticka, Valerie Erviin, Jimmy Jam, Tammy Hurt, Harvey Mason Jr, and Tim Bucher ┃Timothy Norris/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
"A museum is a 'look and don’t touch' type of thing. That isn’t what this place is," Jam told GRAMMY.com. "I remember the day we did the ribbon cutting on the actual museum, I was chairman of the Recording Academy at that time. The first thing we did was let 300 kids in. The docents who talked to the kids were Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris.
"To me, it’s really about the other 364 days of the year besides the one day of the show. That’s what this museum is all about," Jimmy Jam continued.
Up-and-coming Darkchild artist Jac Ross performed Charles’ "You Don’t Know Me." A gifted vocalist with innate stage presence, he prefaced the song — and instantly won over the crowd by asking, "Please give me another round of applause to make me feel good." Ross’ heart wrenching rendition ended with a well-deserved standing ovation and hoots and hollers from the crowd.
"It’s more of [Charles’] country side," Ross told GRAMMY.com of his song choice. "I wanted to show and display that because I’m a country and soul artist and it’s a perfect leeway to that side of Ray Charles."
GRAMMY nominee Aloe Blacc described Ross as "a generational voice," then put a distinctly sassy and languorous spin on Charles’ hit, "Georgia." He had the crowd accompanying him with claps and snaps during "I Got a Woman."
Speaking of Charles’ influence on him, Blacc told GRAMMY.com, "As a businessman, I loved how Ray Charles worked. When I talked to Quincy Jones, he said he and Ray Charles only had a handshake. They never wrote a contract. That, to me, is inspiring about how to do business with your friends and make art and navigate such a difficult industry. As a songwriter, energy and melody, that’s what Ray Charles gave to me."
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