New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Stevie Hawkins Official Website) The 22nd Annual Los Angeles
Music Awards hosted by comedian
Brett Walkow took place on Thursday, November 15th at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, and featured a stellar live performance by Stevie Hawkins. The Georgia artist, who won "Record of the Year" and the "Mark Vigil Male Singer-Songwriter of the Year" awards on the night, performed a two-song set of material that included a special guest performance by legendary musician and record producer Miles Grayson on piano.
Immediately after Mr. Hawkins received the Mark Vigil songwriter award from actress
Dustin Quick and TV personality
Tamara Henry, the show's producer Al Bowman introduced the spry and dapper Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Grayson as they took the stage elevating the energy of the show to the next level, powering through an energetic funk tune “Procrastination". Reminiscent of crowd pleasers
James Brown and Sly Stone, the deep infectious groove of the song prompted the packed house to sway and dance, with a spontaneous call and response injection of "hey hey, I feel alright, oomph" to boot.
For the second song of the set, Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Grayson switched up the high-energy funk to a bluesy laid-back vocal and piano performance of an emotional and touching original ballad "Everything Is Subject To Change", co-written with
Charlotte Hannon who won the "Executive Producer of the Year" accolade at the event. This arrangement was all about feel and dynamics, all the better to give prominence to Hawkins' voice, which can be whisper-soft or booming. The singer was buoyant, acting out lyrics and riffing with his voice injecting melancholy into the lyric. As a ballad interpreter, Mr. Hawkins built "Everything Is Subject To Change" from subtle inflections and phrasings, to magnificent finales, keenly accenting key words within the lyric, using a verbal shorthand to convey exactly what he wanted to say, all delivered with the passion of a man savoring "the change" that has ended in rejoicing.
It says everything about Stevie Hawkins that his Los Angeles
Music Awards performance was no-frills and intimate: a great singer and drummer doing what he does best with style and panache. Most performers his age would hide behind a large band and back-up singers. Not Hawkins, who used only a backing track as accompaniment for the first song, and a superb Miles Grayson on grand piano for both songs.
Vocally there were two Hawkins. A stealthy, gritty funkster with a soulful pulse, and the potent, melodically controlled tenor on his ballad whose notes as a whole were remarkably intact.
As a drummer, he lived up to being "a drummer's drummer," as dubbed by Bob Burns, the original drummer and founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Mr. Hawkins played with heart, a relaxed feel, confidence, showmanship, combined with rudimentary technique that is uncommon in today's musical climate. No question his drumming performance was impeccable.
There are deep crevices. Musical ones, emotional too, into which Stevie Hawkins brings his sense of song. The qualities that define Mr. Hawkins, (humility and a rock-bottom sense of funk and blues, reminiscent of Sly Stone and Ray Charles), evoke a hopeful spirit that has hardly anything to do with the over-comabtive, surplus adorned, new age and its American idol youth. Mr. Hawkins does not compete; he has no need to. You had the sense of a self-assured, calm and good-humored Mr. Hawkins. His frequent acknowledgment of co-writer Ms. Hannon and Mr. Grayson, also revealed a generosity of team spirit.
The show as a whole was not lacking in quality and variety of music or entertainment, which speaks in volume as to the integrity of the LA
Music Awards and its producers. Outstanding performances were also given by independent artists Akron, Lisa Panagos, Giuseppina Torre, Fat Tree, Monks of Mellonwah, Deborah Mangone, Tehrah and Gabriele Ciampi. But the energy and charisma between Stevie Hawkins and Miles Grayson, secures their status as two of the most memorable, entertaining and talented performers at the 2012 LA
Music Awards.
Whatever one thinks of the rendering as a whole, it’s impossible to deny this stunning performance, because in the end, the dynamic duo brought the crowd to their feet with a standing ovation.
