1990 Grammy Awards Database

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1990 Grammy Awards

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About The Show

This is truly the grand-daddy of all awards shows. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences recognizes outstanding musical achievements. The Grammys always prove to be a night of spectacle and performance that truly can't be missed.

Host: Garry Shandling
Date: February 21, 1990
City: Los Angeles

The Nominees

Album Of The Year

Best Album Notes

Best Album Of Original Instrumental Background Score Written For A Motion Picture Or Television

Best Album Package

Best Arrangement On An Instrumental

  • Winner:
    Dave Grusin     Suite from The Milagro Beanfield War
  • Mel Lewis Orchestra Three in One
  • Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Remembrance Suite
  • Les Hooper Anything Goes
  • Uptown String Quartet Extensions

Best Bluegrass Recording

  • Winner:
    Bruce Hornsby, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band     The Valley Road
  • Johnson Mountain Boys At the Old Schoolhouse
  • Eddie Adcock, Kenny Baker, Josh Graves, Jesse McReynolds The Masters
  • Doug Dillard Band Hearbreatk Hotel
  • Alison Krauss & Union Station Two Highways
  • Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys Live at the Opry

Best Chamber Music Performance - Instrumental Or Vocal

  • Winner:
    Emerson String Quartet     Bartok: 6 String Quartets
  • Emanuel Ax, piano; Isaac Stern, violin; Yo-Yo Ma, cello Shostakovich: Trio No. 2 for Violin, Cello and Piano in E Minor, Op. 67; and Sonata for Cello and Pi
  • Shlomo Mintz, violin; Yefim Bronfman, piano Prokofiev: Violin Sonatas No. 1 in F Minor and No. 2 in D
  • Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin; Mstislav Rostropovich, cello; Bruno Giuranna, viola Beethoven: String Trios (E Flat, Op. 3; Serenade in D, Op. 8; G, Op. 9, No. 1; D, Op. 9, No. 2; C, O
  • Guarneri Quartet Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B Blat; Grosse Fuge in B Flat

Best Choral Performance

  • Winner:
    Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; Atlanta Boys' Choir     Benjamin Britten: War Requiem
  • Stephen Darlington conducting the Christ Church Cathedral Choir Vaughan Williams: Choral Music (Oxford Elegy, Flos Campi, etc)
  • Trevor Pinnock conducting the English Concert Choir and English Concert Handel: Messiah
  • John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists Handel: Jephtha
  • Leonard Slatkin conducting the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra; Richard Cooke, choral Elgar: The Kingdom

Best Classical Album

  • Winner:
    Emerson String Quartet     Bartok: 6 String Quartets
  • James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (solos: Lake, Moll, Morris, Norman, Behrens, Ludwig) Wagner: Die Walkure
  • Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C Minor
  • Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony Hanson: Symphonies No. 1 in E Minor (Nordic) and No. 2 (Romantic); Elegy in Memory of Serge Koussevitsky
  • Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. Garrick Ohlsson, piano Busoni: Piano Concerto in C (with Male Chorus)

Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist(s) With Orchestra

  • Winner:
    Yo-Yo Ma, cello (David Zinman conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)     Barber: Cello Concerto, Op. 22; Britten: Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68
  • Robert McDuffie, violin (Leonard Slatkin conducting the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra) W. Schuman: Violin Concerto; Bernstein: Serenade for Violin, Strings and Percussion (After Plato's S
  • Viktoria Mullova, violin (Andre Previn conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1; Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
  • Gidon Kremer, violin (Charles Dutoit conducting the Boston Symphony) Gubaidulina: Offertorium
  • David Shifrin, clarinet (Gerard Schwarz conducting the New York Chamber Symphony) Copland: Clarinet Concerto

Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist(s) Without Orchestra

  • Winner:
    Andras Schiff, piano     Bach: English Suites, BWV 806-11
  • Janos Starker, cello (Chicgeo Neriki, accompanyist) Popper: Romantic Cello Favorites
  • Rudolf Firkusny, piano Martinu: Piano Sonata No. 1; Les Ritournelles; Fantasie et Toccata
  • Krystian Zimerman, piano Chopin: 4 Ballades (Opp. 23, 38, 47, 52); Barcarolle, Op. 60; Fantasie, Op. 49
  • Richard Goode, piano Beethoven: The Late Piano Sonatas (Opp. 101, 106, 109, 110, 111)

Best Classical Performance - Vocal Soloist

  • Winner:
    Dawn Upshaw, soprano (David Zinman conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's)     Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (music of Barber, Menotti, Harbison, Stravinsky)
  • William Sharp, baritone (Steven Blier, accompanist) William Sharp, Baritone
  • Kathleen Battle, soprano (James Levine, accompanist) Schubert: Lieder
  • Placido Domingo, tenor (Julius Rudel, accompanist) Puccini: The Unknown Puccini
  • Placido Domingo, tenor; Kathleen Battle, soprano (James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) Live in Tokyo 1988

Best Comedy Recording

  • Winner:
    Professor Peter Schickele, Greater Hoople Area Off-Season Philharmonic     P.D.Q Bach: 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults
  • Sandra Bernhard Without You I'm Nothing
  • Sam Kinison Wild Thing
  • Andrew Dice Clay Dice
  • Erma Bombeck Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession

Best Contemporary Blues Recording

Best Contemporary Composition

  • Winner:
    Gidon Kremer, violin; Charles Dutoit conducting the Boston Symphony     Different Trains
  • Passio (Paul Hillier conducting the Hilliard Ensemble and Western Wind Choir; solos: Michael George, John Potter) Passio
  • Paul Hillier conducting the Hilliard Ensemble and Western Wind Choir; solos: Michael George, John Potter Partita
  • Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin; Witold Lutoslawski conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra Offertorium
  • Kronos Quartet Chain 2

Best Contemporary Folk Recording

Best Country & Western Instrumental Performance

Best Country & Western Song

Best Country & Western Vocal Collaboration

  • Winner:
    Hank Williams Jr., Hank Williams Sr     There's a Tear in My Beer
  • Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
  • Nitty Ditty Dirt Band with Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, Ricky Skaggs, Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris Will the Circle Be Unbroken
  • Buck Owens, Ringo Starr Act Naturally
  • Dwight Yoakam, k.d. lang Sin City

Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Duo Or Group

Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female

Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Male

Best Engineered Recording

Best Engineered Recording - Classical

  • Winner:
    Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and Atlanta Boys' Choir     Britten: War Requiem
  • James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and soloist Wagner: Die Walkure
  • Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic; New York Choral Artists and Brooklyn Boys' Chorus; solo: Ludwig Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor
  • Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony Hanson: Symphonies No. 1 in E Minor (Nordic) and No. 2 (Romantic); Elegy in Memory of Serge Koussevi
  • Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

Best Gospel Performance - Duo, Group, Choir Or Chorus

Best Gospel Performance - Female

Best Gospel Performance - Male

Best Hard Rock Performance - Vocal Or Instrumental

Best Historical Album

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)

Best Instrumental Composition

Best Jazz Fusion Performance

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band

  • Winner: Miles Davis Aura
  • McCoy Tyner Big Band Uptown/Downtown
  • Count Basie Orchestra conducted by Frank Foster The Legend, The Legacy
  • Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra The Definitive Thad Jones
  • Duke Ellington Orchestra conducted by Mercer Ellington Music Is My Mistress

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Group

Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Soloist

Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Duo Or Group

  • Winner:
    Dr. John, Rickie Lee Jones     Makin' Whoopee
  • Ray Charles, Lou Rawls Save the Bones for Henry Jones
  • Take 6 Like the Whole World's Watching
  • Joe Williams, Marlena Shaw Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby
  • James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie Get the Booty

Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Female

Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Male

Best Latin Pop Performance

Best Metal Performance - Vocal Or Instrumental

Best Mexican-american Performance

Best Music Video - Long Form

Best Music Video - Short Form

Best Musical Cast Show Album

  • Winner:
    Jason Alexander, Debbie Shapiro, Robert La Fasse, others     Jerome Robbins' Broadway
  • James Holmes conducting the English National Opera Sondheim: Pacific Overtures
  • Frank Zappa Broadway The Hard Way
  • Broadway cast. Mbongeni Ngema, Hugh Masekela Sarafina! The Music of Liberation

Best New Age Performance

Best Opera Recording

  • Winner:
    James Levine conducting the Metropolitian Opera Orchestra (solos: Lakes, Moll, Morris, Norman, Behrens, Ludwig)     Wagner: Die Walkure
  • Simon Rattle conducting the London Philharmonic and Glyndebourne Chorus (solos: white, Haymon, Evans, Blackwell, Hubbard, Clarey, Baker) Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
  • Seiji Ozawa conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra (solos: Ludwig, Behrens, Secunde, Ulfung, Hynninen) R. Strauss: Elektra
  • Claudio Abbado conducting the Vienna Philharmonic (solos: Grundheber, Raffeiner, Langridge, Zednik, Haugland, Behrens) Berg: Wozzeck
  • James Levine conducting the Dresden State Orchestra (solos: Freni, von Otter, Lang, Allen, Shicoff, Burchuladze, Senechal) Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin

Best Orchestral Performance

  • Winner:
    Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic     Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor
  • Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony Hanson: Symphonies No. 1 in E Minor (Nordic) and No. 2 (Romantic); Elegy in Memory of Serge Koussevi
  • Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Copland: Appalachian Spring; Short Symphony; 3 Latin American Sketches; Quiet City
  • Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C Minor
  • Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

Best Polka Recording

  • Winner:
    Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra     All in My Love for You
  • Walter Ostanek & His Band Any Time is Polka Time
  • Pen Ohio Polka Pals Penn Ohio Polka Pals Souvenir Edition
  • Gene Mendalski & the G-Men Moldie Oldie Golden Goodies
  • Gordon Hartmann Polkaholic

Best Pop Instrumental Performance

Best Rap Performance

Best Recording For Children

Best Reggae Recording

Best Rhythm & Blues Instrumental Performance

Best Rhythm & Blues Song

  • Winner:
    Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff     If You Don't Know Me by Now
  • Superwoman L.A. Reid, Babyface, Daryl Simmons
  • Every Little Step L.A. Reid, Babyface
  • When A Man Loves a Woman Calvin Lewis, Andrew Wright
  • Miss You Much James Harris III, Terry Lewis

Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Duo Or Group

Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Female

Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Male

Best Rock Instrumental Performance

Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television

Best Soul Gospel Performance - Duo, Group, Choir Or Chorus

  • Winner:
    Daniel Winans & Choir     Let Brotherly Love Continue
  • Commissioned Will You Be Ready?
  • L.A. Mass Choir Can't Hold Back
  • Rev. Milton Brunson & the Thompson Community Singers Available to You
  • Minister Thomas Whitfield & Thomas Whitfield Company And They Sang a Hymn

Best Soul Gospel Performance - Male Or Female

Best Spoken Word Or Nonmusical Recording

  • Winner:
    Gilda Radner     It's Always Something
  • Robert Fulghum All I Really Need to Now I Learned in Kindergarten
  • John Gielgud Sir John Gielgud Reads Alice in Wonderland
  • Jason Robards, Steve Allen, Douglas Edwards The War of the Worlds 50th Anniversay Production
  • Erma Bombeck I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise

Best Traditional Blues Recording

Best Traditional Folk Recording

  • Winner:
    Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Choir     Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, Vol. 2
  • various American Indian tribes American Indian Dance Theatre
  • Norman & Nancy Blake Blind Dog
  • Master of Traditional Missouri Fiddling Now That's a Good Time
  • Cajun Tradition A la Veille Facon

Best Tropical Latin Performance

Classical Producer Of The Year

  • Winner:
    Robert Woods
  • Michael Haas
  • Wolf Erichson
  • Elizabeth Ostrow
  • Patti Laursen

Hall Of Fame

  • Winner:
    Oscar Levant, Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra     Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
  • Winner: Ray Charles I've Got a Woman
  • Winner:
    Original Cast and Broadway Revival Cast; Todd Duncan, Anne Brown     Gershwin: Porgy & Bess Highlights, Volumes 1 & 2
  • Winner:
    Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra     Black, Brown and Beige
  • Winner:
    Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra; Mack Harrell, Eileen Farrell     Berg: Wozzeck
  • Winner: Chuck Berry Roll Over Beethoven

Lifetime Achievement Awards

New Artist

Pop Female Vocalist

Pop Male Vocalist

Pop Vocal Group

Producer Of The Year

  • Winner:
    Peter Asher
  • Emilio Estefan Jr., Jorge Casas, Clay Ostwald
  • Tears for Fears, David Bascombe
  • L.A. Reid, Babyface
  • Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Janet Jackson
  • Prince

Record Of The Year

Rock Female Vocalist

Rock Male Vocalist

Rock Vocal Group

Song Of The Year

  • Winner:
    Larry Henley, Jeff Silbar     Wind Beneath My Wings
  • Mike Rutherford, Brian A. Robertson The Living Years
  • Don Henley, Bruce Hornsby The End of Innocence
  • Billy Joel We Didn't Start The Fire
  • Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Tom Snow Don't Know Much

Trustees Award

  • Winner:
    Dick Clark
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