Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing 15th Annual GRAMMY Week Celebration

Returning to an in-person gathering, the Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing® presented its highly anticipated GRAMMY® Week celebration on Wed, Feb. 1. Held at The Village Studios in West Los Angeles, the event, now in its 15th year, marked the official start of GRAMMY Week, which culminated with the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards® at Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena on Sun, Feb. 5, broadcast live on the CBS Television Network and streamed live and on-demand on Paramount+.

This year's gathering featured the presentation of the Recording Academy's CEO Merit Award to innovative drummer, producer and three-time GRAMMY winner Terri Lyne Carrington and revered classical producer and 14-time GRAMMY winner Judith Sherman. Carrington and Sherman are now added to the decade-plus list of honorees chosen for their singular contributions to music production, including, among others: Dr. Dre, Quincy Jones, Alicia Keys, Willie Nelson, Nile Rodgers, Rick Rubin, Al Schmitt, Swizz Beatz, T Bone Burnett, Jack White, and Neil Young. The event also acknowledges the overall industry contributions of the members of the Producers & Engineers Wing.

Music industry luminaries and GRAMMY nominees and winners packed this star-studded evening, including Chuck Ainlay (P&E Wing co-chair), Peter Asher, Bob Clearmountain, Stewart Copeland, Jimmy Douglass, Robert Glasper, J. Ivy, Linden Jay, DJ Khalil, Lisa Loeb, Chris Lord-Alge, PJ Morton, Olivia Rodrigo, Rafa Sardina, and a host of others.

Attendees enjoyed cocktails and specialty foods while visiting the numerous studios at the Village, which were transformed for the evening and hosted by various music- and audio-related sponsors. For the evening's formal program, multiple GRAMMY-winning audio engineer/producers Leslie Ann Jones and Chuck Ainlay (the P&E Wing's current co-chairs) gave introductory remarks, with Jones noting that the event "really is all about the music and the positivity that it brings." P&E Wing Vice President Maureen Droney served as emcee, remarking with obvious joy that this event was returning in person for the first time since 2020.

The ceremonial aspect of the evening was split between two of the main rooms at The Village Studios. In the atmospheric Moroccan Ballroom, Judith Sherman was honored for her extraordinary contribution to the art of recording classical music. "I'm the luckiest woman in the world," she enthused during a video highlighting her collaborations with artists like Rudolf Serkin, Ursula Oppens and the Kronos Quartet. Invited onstage by Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, Sherman was particularly self-deprecating in her acceptance speech. "When I got the call about this honor, I thought it was a hoax," she said, eliciting chuckles from the audience. "I'd like to thank the composers and musicians, who are the point of all this," she added. "I always tell people that I have the best job in the world. I get to know music intimately, but I never have to practice. I'm honored to be honored by such a group of artists." Sherman then introduced the Kronos Quartet, the ensemble with which she recorded some legendary sessions. Visibly happy to honor their friend with live music, the members of the Quartet launched into an exuberant rendition of Mexican composer Severiano Briseño's "El Sinaloense," from the 2002 album Nuevo – co-produced by Sherman.

Across the hallway, inside the studio's spacious auditorium, Mason jr. introduced Terri Lyne Carrington as "a world changer, an advocate who gives back to the people during so much of the year." A drummer of remarkable verve and technical skill, Carrington has toured and recorded with a long list of iconic artists, including Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. "This is surreal," Carrington said upon receiving the award. She then recalled becoming a Recording Academy member in 1989, while she was the house drummer with The Arsenio Hall Show in Los Angeles. "I don't remember a lot about 1989," she quipped, "but I do recall being invited to join, and realizing that a lot of people in this community are interested in being of service." Carrington also made a case for genre diversity, praising the Academy for honoring artists in the fields of jazz and classical music. She then invited the members of her progressive jazz combo Social Science onstage to perform. Their extended mini-concert combined jazz harmony with fiery polyrhythms, passionate hip-hop, intriguing echoes of psychedelia in the spiraling Hammond lines of keyboardist Aaron Parks, and some outstanding bass work by Morgan Guerin, who also performed an impressive sax solo. Carrington's gutsy drumming was the focal point, together with the soaring vocalizing of virtuoso singer Debo Ray.

The event was sponsored by leading companies and organizations from the entertainment and music sector. Premier Sponsors included Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, Neumann, Qualcomm, and Shure. Supporting Sponsors included AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services (The Recording Studio Insurance Program), Audio Engineering Society, Audio-Technica, Fraunhofer, Genelec, Joe D'Ambrosio Management, Lurssen Mastering, Neve, Ocean Way Audio, Sound Credit, SoundExchange, Soundwide, Transparence, Ultimate Ears, and VEVA Sound. Additionally, A/V components for the event were provided by L-Acoustics, JBL and KALI Audio.