SAN FRANCISCO—Two San Francisco State University alumni—Joe Louis Walker and Wayne Wallace, earned Grammy nominations on Tuesday, December 6. This is not the first time that Walker and Wallace have earned a Grammy nomination for performance based or compositional contributions.
Walker, 85, also known as Junior Walker of JLW, is a “four-time Blues Music Award winner” and guitarist according to his official website. He played guitar frequently at the SF club, The Matrix, as well as the Fillmore West. While at SFSU, Walker earned degrees in English and music.
Walker was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013. His latest album “Everybody Wants A Piece” – produced by Paul Nelson, earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues.
Wallace is a San Francisco native, Latin jazz trombonist. He studied performance at SFSU. Wallace is described as a performer, producer, arranger, composer, and teacher. Some of his achievements include his co-composition and co-arranging in the award-winning documentary, “Speaking in Tongues,” as well as the 1993 Bay Area Theater Critics Award for best new original score in the musical Pecong according to his website. Wallace was nominated in 2015 for his Latin jazz quartet album, “Intercambio.” He is currently a professor at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 12, 2017 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.
