The 32nd annual TEC Awards returned to the NAMM Show on Saturday, January 21st honoring Aerosmith’s Joe Perry in a ceremony that also recognized the best in professional audio production and sound recording.
Among the 31 awards that were given, the first standing ovation of the evening came when famed Beatles audio engineer Geoff Emerick inducted legendary producer Jack Douglas into the Producer Hall of Fame.
Another emotional moment for both the presenters and the audience came when David Bowie’s “Blackstar”–the single and the album–won for best record production.
Comedian and actor Sinbad who returned for the third year in a row, showed once again why he is the perfect host for this event. As a NAMM veteran himself he infused his opening monolog and banter between awards with witty observations and stories about his own experiences at NAMM over the years.
This kept the audience engaged and entertained during the nearly 3 hour long ceremony until the highly anticipated final award of the night. Aerosmith and Hollywood Vampires guitarist Joe Perry were honored with the Les Paul Award for creative excellence in recording technology.
During Johnny Depp’s introduction and tribute to his Hollywood Vampires bandmate, he was visibly humbled and in awe or Perry, whom he described as “my hero” and “the man who is the very reason that I picked up the guitar in the first place.”
Joe Perry expressed his thanks to his wife and kids and dedicated the award to his manager Howard Kaufman who passed away on January 19.
Backed by the top-notch house band, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp were joined on stage by Alice Cooper, Brad Whitford, and Robert DeLeo for a rocking set of Aerosmith classics and some new original songs.With Alice Cooper on lead vocals, along with Johnny Depp and Joe Perry trading guitar licks and power chords on songs like “Walk This Way,” “Train Kept A-Rollin’” and “Sweet Emotion,” the entire audience was on its feet swept up in the no-holds-barred energy on stage. The performance was made all the more memorable by the pristine audio and visual production which was present throughout the entire ceremony.
As always, the TEC Awards lived up to its reputation as one of the must see events of the NAMM Show. For the complete list of winners: TEC Awards.
Photos by Jesse Grant
We would like to thank Lauren Valdes from the Lippen Group for the credential to review the show.
