At 17, Bothell High senior Tim Nelson already is, in a way, a Grammy Award winner.
Competing with young voices from around the country, Nelson is one of only eight students — four boys and four girls — selected by the Grammy Foundation to be part of the Grammy Jazz Ensemble that will perform with a larger group of a total of 40 students at various events surrounding the annual award show that takes place in Los Angeles Feb. 13.
Prior to the award show, the group’s appearances are spread out, but a highlight is probably the MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute to Barbra Streisand Feb. 11. The ensemble will also perform at a special “Grammy in the Schools” concert at the University of Southern California and featuring what a Grammy press release refers to only as “special guest artists.” The ensemble will also take the stage at famous music spots such as Spaghettini’s Italian Grill and Jazz Club, again with “special guest artists.” They will record their own CD, and past ensemble recordings are available on Web sites such as Amazon.
And, finally, while they won’t get to perform during the ceremony, Nelson and the ensemble will attend this year’s Grammy Awards show then perform at the Grammy Celebration after-party.
“It’s just a great opportunity,” said Nelson, who while admitting to being excited, is well-spoken and matter-of-fact about the upcoming experience.
“It’ll be cool just to see people you recognize,” he said, referring to attending the Grammy Awards show. For now, though, he seems focused on learning the seven songs the ensemble will perform.
“They definitely expect perfection,” Nelson said of the ensemble’s directors, who so far, he only has spoken with by phone. “It’s the trickiest music I’ve had to learn.”
Nelson said he’s been practicing almost daily. He’s performed for Grammy staff over the phone and he added they weren’t shy about telling him what he needed to improve. Nelson is confident it won’t happen, but staffers even warned him they might drop students if they aren’t up to par. Once in California, the group will have maybe a day to rehearse together prior to its first public performance.
“There’s some pressure there,” Nelson admitted.
Including two winners from Washington, overall ensemble members represent 30 cities in 12 states. The Grammy Foundation chose the participants via audition DVDs. Nelson entered a performance last year and was named a finalist, but ultimately wasn’t selected. For this year’s audition, he worked with his voice teacher, well-known Seattle-based jazz singer Greta Matassa. Nelson’s audition was shot in Matassa’s living room. He sang two required songs, but also performed some optional material borrowed from a favorite singer, jazz artist Kurt Elling.
While Nelson said he is happy and excited about the trip, he also noted it is the possibility of receiving a share of $2 million in Grammy scholarship money that really attracted him to try out for the ensemble.
A member of two Bothell High choirs, Nelson said he spends most of his time working with classical music rather than jazz. Still, while he definitely wants to be a music major in college, he isn’t sure what type of music he will concentrate on. He also hasn’t settled on a school, but plans to visits universities in Boston and New York City, as well as the smaller Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn.
The latter is a Christian liberal-arts school and Nelson said he is very active in his local church group. He added that while the idea of going to school in New York has its appeal, he would be “a little fish in a very big pond.” For that reason, among others, Concordia might be more to his liking.
Returning to the upcoming trip, Nelson said at first he was unsure how to tell his friends without sounding like he was bragging.
“I really didn’t know how to tell people, I just didn’t want to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to L.A.,'” he said.
