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Lorber is looking forward to attending the Grammy awards ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Feb. “Winning is more of a popularity contest,” he said. The nominees, he explained, are chosen by a committee that really listens to the music carefully. Lorber said he feels that being nominated is almost more of an honor than winning. “It was really nice to share that news with the audience that night,” he said. “You have to make a good record, but you also have to make a record that fits the category real well.”Įven though this is his fourth nomination, Lorber said it was still a thrill. “There’s a lot of competition in that category (Best Contemporary Jazz Album). “I really didn’t expect to be nominated,” he said. Plus, he said, “I wasn’t accepting any phone calls over there because it’s just so expensive to talk on the phone.” But the early-morning call prompted him to see what was happening, so he checked his e-mail and found out about the nomination. Lorber said a friend in Orlando tried to call with the news, but it was about 5 a.m. The tour was so hectic that one month later Lorber couldn’t recall which town he was in when he received the news of his latest Grammy nomination––his fourth. “I really wanted to see more of Istanbul, but the weather was just too rough when we were there.” “The walks we’d go on we called our ‘freeze walks,’" he said.
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Lorber said he was able to get in a little sightseeing, particularly in some of the quaint smaller towns they visited, but the weather wasn’t cooperative in late November and early December. The tour took them from Portugal to Istanbul, Turkey, and to various venues in Italy, Germany, France and Sweden. Lorber recently returned from a whirlwind European tour, where he and bandmates Marienthal, Victor Bailey and Sonny Emory played 22 cities in 28 days. “I think people are ready to hear that, to hear something a little different.” “It’s a little more harmonically complex and funky, and up-tempo,” he said. About half of the songs on the new album are remakes of his old fusion songs, and the other half are new songs written in that style, Lorber said. It’s been nearly 20 years since the last Jeff Lorber Fusion album. The title has a very positive thrust to it, and it evokes a certain sense of being serious and taking charge.” “It represents a real musical shift toward something a little jazzier and a little more exciting. “This record is a clear statement,” Lorber said. And, critics are saying that with this release, Lorber has recaptured the spirit of jazz fusion––his original style––with the help of artists that include Jimmy Haslip, Eric Marienthal, Paul Jackson Jr., Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Randy Brecker and others. 1 spot in Smooth Jazz News' Top 10 CDs of 2010. Keyboardist and composer Jeff Lorber has garnered a Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category, and a lot of notice, for his latest CD, Now Is the Time.