Ted Nash won twice at Sunday's Grammy Awards: for Best Large Ensemble Album and Best Instrumental Composition. His big band album, "Presidential Suite - Eight Variations on Freedom" interprets Presidential speeches across the last century.
They are:
“Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You” -- John F. Kennedy
“Tryst With Destiny” -- Jawaharlal Nehru
“We Shall Fight On The Beaches” -- Winston Churchill
“The Four Freedoms” -- Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Freedom From Fear” -- Aung San Suu Kyi
“Tear Down This Wall” -- Ronald Reagan
“The American Promise” -- Lyndon B. Johnson
“The Time For The Healing Of The Wounds Has Come” -- Nelson Mandela
Nash’s Best Instrumental Composition winner, "Spoken at Midnight" is from a speech by Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India.
Earlier this year, Nash spoke with Gary Walker about his new album:
Nash says speech is a direct outpouring from the human soul; likewise, musicians use their instruments to express many of those same emotions. Nash says the best speeches are timeless and have messages as valid today as when they were first delivered.
Watch a full performance of the Presidential Suite from our partner Jazz at Lincoln Center:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEWCluBbLQY