“24K Magic” is the title track of the Hawaiian-born singer’s third album, which revives his mix of fun-loving retro funk but adds touches of 1980s-inspired synthesizers.

Winning his fifth award of the night, Mars addressed his father from the podium: “Look at me, Pop, look at me! I’m at the Grammys right now!”

Taking on the braggadocious style of a rapper in the song, Mars addresses “playas,” “hustlas” and “gangstas” as he describes arriving at a party where the sight of hot women is “waking up the rocket” in his pants.

Mars, explaining the song in an interview, said he saw his mission as bringing good times in an often difficult world.

“For me, 95 percent of music is about love. That’s why cavemen were hitting stones — to get everybody around the fire and get them feeling sexy,” he told Britain’s NME.

Mars previously won Record of the Year two years ago as the featured artist on Mark Ronson’s equally giddy “Uptown Funk.” He was nominated three previous times in the category without winning.

He beat out the global sensation “Despacito” as well as songs by rappers Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino.

Sheeran won Best Pop Vocal Album for “Divide” and Best Pop Solo Performance for the album’s single “Shape of You,” a minimalist dance number about finding love in a bar.

He beat out fellow chart-toppers including pop superstar Lady Gaga, who was in the running for both awards.

Sheeran, 26, had been a favorite leading up to the nominations for the Grammys in light of his past recognition at the awards and his awesome commercial success, including his status as last year’s most streamed artist on Spotify.

But in a surprise seen as reflecting shifts in US pop culture, hip-hop for the first time dominated the major nominations, and Sheeran was left in the cold.

“Divide” generated a series of major hits for Sheeran including “Shape of You,” the rockier “Castle on the Hill” and the romantic ballad “Perfect.”

Sheeran was not present to pick up the awards.

The music industry also seized on its annual televised gala to rally on behalf of the growing women’s movement against sexual harassment — Lady Gaga, whispering from her piano in between ballads, declared, “Time’s up!”

The Grammys, taking place in New York after 15 years in Los Angeles, marked the first time that hip-hop has dominated the nominations after years of uneven recognition for the genre.

Lamar opened the televised show in Madison Square Garden with a fierce performance, spitting out his verses as he was joined by U2 frontman Bono amid a sea of camouflage-clad dancers who later fell to the ground as if struck by bullets.

The Los Angeles rapper took a strong lead, winning Best Rap Album for “DAMN.” and Best Rap Song for “HUMBLE.,” a playful take on the trappings of fame in which the 30-year-old portrays himself as Jesus in “The Last Supper.”

Lamar had been a favorite two years ago to win Album of the Year or “To Pimp a Butterfly,” an experimental album that offered a soundtrack to the Black Lives Matter movement. But he lost out to Taylor Swift.

“DAMN.” has also won critical acclaim but turns to a more classic hip-hop sound.

– Tough competition –

Other major contenders include Mars, with “24K Magic,” his latest return to fun-loving, old-school funk. The Hawaiian-born singer earned three awards in R&B categories before the main telecast.

But Jay-Z started the night in the lead with eight nominations as he basked in acclaim for “4:44,” an introspective album in which he admits infidelity to his wife Beyonce and explores institutional racism.

Jay-Z, who rose from a broken home in Brooklyn to become a multimillionaire businessman, was given an “industry icon” award at a gala Saturday where he sounded contrite for boycotting the Grammys two decades earlier.

“I realize like, man, art is super subjective and everybody is doing their best and the Academy, they are human like we are,” he told the gala, joined by his wife Beyonce.

But Jay-Z was not being universally celebrated.

On Grammy Day, he was taken to task in a tweet by President Donald Trump, who is widely despised in the US entertainment world, for comments he made in an interview to CNN.

“Jay for president,” Lamar said in his acceptance speech.

Other contenders for Album of the Year were “‘Awaken, My Love!’,” the psychedelic, R&B-infused album by Childish Gambino, the rap alter ego of actor and comedian Donald Glover, and “Melodrama” by 21-year-old New Zealand pop prodigy Lorde, the only woman in the category.

– No longer ‘pretend-winning in shower’ –

Alessia Cara, who rose from making YouTube bedrooms in her bedroom to becoming a socially conscious pop singer, won the closely watched award of Best New Artist.

The 21-year-old from suburban Toronto told the music industry’s gala: “I’ve been pretend-winning Grammys since I was a kid in my shower.”

“I just wanted to encourage everyone to support real music and real artists because everyone deserves the same shot,” Cara added.

Cara has quickly found her voice as a singer with singles such as “Here,” which describes the dread of forced emotions at a party, and “Scars to Your Beautiful,” a call for healthy body image.

Amid the growing attention to gender discrimination in the entertainment industry following revelations of sexual misconduct by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, top stars — notably Lady Gaga — walked the red carpet wearing white roses in solidarity with abuse victims and in an appeal for equality.

Country music legend Reba McEntire, who branched across categories to win the Grammy for Best Roots Gospel Album, said that the white rose amounted to a message to “treat people kindly.”

“I want to treat you like I want to be treated. And I think if we did that more often, a lot of these problems would be non-existent,” she said.

The Grammys could reach another landmark after a year marked by Trump’s attack on immigrants — with “Despacito,” whose singer Luis Fonsi offered a racy rendition during the televised gala.

The viral dance hit that has broken the record for views on YouTube is in the running for both Record of the Year, which recognizes best tune, and Song of the Year, which awards songwriters.

“Despacito” would be the first non-instrumental song that is not mostly in English to win in either category since the very first Grammys in 1959.

The 21-year-old from suburban Toronto told the music industry’s gala: “I’ve been pretend-winning Grammys since I was a kid in my shower.”

It was the first Grammy for the indie rock band, in a field that included fellow critical favorites including LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire.

“Sleep Well Beast” marked the first album in four years by The National, which was born in Cincinnati and came to prominence in New York but whose members have dispersed around the world.

The National set up its own studio in the town of Hudson, the riverside artists’ hub north of New York, and experimented with sounds, bringing an improvisational feel that the band thought was lacking in its previous albums.

Guitarist and songwriter Bryce Dessner, who has gone on to a successful side career as a modern composer, said that the band wanted to give weight to every instrument and not stay stuck in a “sonic maelstrom.”

“We wanted to destroy what we’ve created until now. We needed to explore new paths,” Dessner told AFP when the album came out.

“Sleep Well Beast,” The National’s seventh album, is full of bleak undertones including on the album’s aggressive first single, “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness.”

The National, longtime supporters of the Democratic Party who campaigned for Hillary Clinton, also bring reflections on President Donald Trump’s election.

The album includes a sample from journalist Ron Suskind who, speaking of former president George W. Bush, says that the power of the United States allows it to “create our own reality.”

The National was previously nominated for 2013’s “Trouble Will Find Me,” the group’s breakthrough album after which it became a major force on the international music festival circuit.

Gypsy Carnival – the popular music festival that fuses lifestyle and motorcycle culture – is back for its third edition next month, taking place in the lush meadows of Ton Phueng Farm in Suan Phueng, Ratchaburi Province on February 10.

“Gypsy Carnival was born out my love for music, passion for riding my motorcycle and looking for beautiful places to camp around the country. These are the ways I pursue happiness. So it was only natural that it would become a festival,” recalls Kamol Sukosol Clapp aka Suki during the recent press conference in the garden area of The Sukosol Hotel.

From its very beginnings, Gypsy Carnival has been more than a music festival, combining great sounds with bike revs and a love of the outdoors.

“My wife makes fun of my passion for music and motorbikes and calls me ‘2Ms’. I like camping out too, which is why I set up a camping zone for motorcyclists at the first Gypsy Carnival. It was a great hit so last year we expanded it to two zones. This year, we have three areas and they are already fully booked. So yes, Gypsy Carnival is of course a music festival but one caters to the motorcycle culture. There’ll be plenty to eat too as we have 60 food stalls and trucks already confirmed plus a flea market,” Suki says.

The festival will also feature a new flat track competition, “Hell on Dirt”, which Suki promises will be a whole lot of fun. Older festival goers will be on hand to welcome newcomers coming for the first time with a range of activities including a fashion contest.

And the gypsy charm will make itself felt through the event’s theme “Weekend of Music  Fashion and Freedom lifestyle”.

“Perhaps surprisingly, this festival is related to fashion. Festival-goers, especially the women, dress up to the nines to match our bohemian theme. One of the most popular gimmicks is painting the faces of festival-goers – one line for the first time, two lines for the second and three lines for the third. At the Burning Man festival in Nevada, people who participate in this event for the first time must be wet and smeared with mud. We can’t do that with Thai people though,” Suki says withg a grin.

Among the artists taking part in this third festival are Singto Numchok, T-Bone, Greasy Cafe, The Toys, Yokee Playboy, Flure, Alyn, and songs-for-lifer Pongsit “Pu” Kamphee.

“I always select a newcomer from YouTube on his ability to be able to perform on a big stage in front of a large audience and this year I’ve picked Alyn. James Alyn Wee, to give him his full name, is a Thai-Singaporean artist and should do well as, I’m sure, will up-and-coming band, The Toys. Other artists are Greasy Cafe and T-Bone are veterans of Gypsy Carnival, while Singto Numchok, Flure, Po Yokee Playboy and Pongsit are the headliners,” says Suki.

A day in the country

– Tickets for the festival cost Bt1,400 and are available at http://www.GypsyCarnivalThailand.com and http://www.AllTicket.com as well as at All Ticket counter service at 7Eleven.

– Keep updated at Facebook.com/gypsycarnivalthailand and http://www.GypsyCarnivalThailand.com.

One OK Rock had an absolute blast rocking out with a rowdy audience of Thais and Japanese at their larger-than-life third visit to Thailand. The concert at Impact Arena last week was bigger and better than the previous two.

The Japanese band have steadily spread their fame and fortune into the United States and Europe, hitting new heights with the 2016 English-language album “Ambitions” on the label Fueled by Ramen and featuring collaborations with Avril Lavigne on “Listen” and 5 Seconds of Summer on “Take What You Want”.

The sound on aural display last week was powerful and energetic. Takahiro “Taka” Moriuchi’s fresh and clear roar, Ryota Kohama’s jerked and slapped bass, Toru Yamashita’s guitar solos and Tomoya Kanki’s heavy drumming on the first stop on the “Ambitions Asia Tour” meant they’re just going to get better.

I was at Impact before show time and wondered why there wasn’t the usual hustle and bustle outside the arena. Everyone must have already been inside, gasping in anticipation. Certainly the seats had sold very well.

The huge crowd inside was in fact screaming in unison, right up until the band rolled onto the stage and kicked off the show with a string of tasty tracks – which was when the screaming got a whole lot louder.

After opening with “Ambitions”, One OK Rock unleashed “Bombs Away” and then pursued the assault with “Taking Off” and “Bedroom Warfare” – all from the 2016 album – then fired off a few older rounds, like “Deeper Deeper”, “Cry Out”, “Re: Make” and “Clock Strikes”.

The fans never stopped cheering, dancing and waving their arms in the air along to the beat and joined singer Taka jumping up and down to “Cry Out”. Taka had a neat little surprise for the Thai crowd during “Bedroom Warfare” when he shook a traditional ankalung.

And the three big LED screens presented something I’d never seen before at a concert in Thailand – terrific worm’eyeview shows from a camera positioned low to the stage.

The quartet halted the music long enough to say hello in Thai. Ryota claimed he’d love to live in Thailand, Taka spoke the praises of sticky rice with mango, and Tomoya announced that he’s already married with a child, which earned appreciative applause and laughter.

Enough of the niceties – it was time to start screaming again, and that’s what happened when the band launched into the hit ballad “Wherever You Are”, from the 2010 album “Niche Syndrome”. Up went the mobile phones and the hall was bathed in a poignant sea of light.

Another ballad followed – “One Way Ticket” – and then Taka left Toru, Ryota and Tomoya to rock out on an instrumental. When the singer returned, they rampaged through three new rock singles, “Bon Voyage”, “I Was King” and “Take What You Want”.

The concert was nearing its conclusion, and yet Taka kept up an astounding level of energy for electrifying renditions of “The Beginning”, “Mighty Long Fall” and “We Are”.

“Thank to all our Thai fans,” Taka declared. “Our first concert in Thailand was good, the second time was better, and this third time has been great!”

One OK Rock treated the crowd to an encore, starting with “American Girls” – during which Taka got the local lasses in a frenzy by changing the lyrics to “Thai Girls” – and finishing up with “Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer”.

The most-overheard comment among departing fans had to do with the amazing extent to which One OK Rock have improved their skills.

British-born, New York-based alto saxophonist and composer Will Vinson makes his debut in Thailand tomorrow night as part of the Thailand International Jazz Conference 2018 taking place at the College of Music, Mahidol University’s Salaya campus and he’s delighted to be playing a role in this one-of-a-kind event.

“I’ve heard about TIJC from a few people. Jonathan Kreisberg was there a couple years ago and I play with him a lot. We talked about it, but I couldn’t do it back then. Rick Rosato, Glenn [Zaleski] and Shai [Maestro] also know of the Conference. So I’ve been waiting for the right moment,” he told me a few weeks ago.

“I’m very excited. I was in Thailand when I was teenager and have been wanting to come back ever since. I’m looking forward to going to Bangkok and really looking forward to Thai food,” he enthused.

“My quintet is happy to be going too. It’s a really beautiful meeting of personalities. Musical personalities I mean. Orlando [Le Fleming] and I have been playing together since he moved to New York. He is a great bass player and great composer. Then Mike Moreno, who’s obviously well known to most people who are interested in jazz guitar – he’s got the most incredible sound and fluency of playing. Kevin Hays is one of the most creative piano players I ever heard and every time he plays everything a bit different. And Henry Cole is a great drummer. He has experience from a million different types of music that he brings to playing jazz. I met him through Miguel [Zenon] and I’ve played with him for almost 10 years now. We did a tour in September with Kevin and Matt Brewer,” Vinson says.

Vinson’s saxophone playing is executed with incredible power and dramatic sensitivity and is characterised by his imposing sound and technique. Influenced by saxophonists from Cannonball Adderley to Chris Potter, he nevertheless brings his own unique approach to every performance.

“When I was a kid, I took piano lessons and it was interesting because I knew I loved the piano, I knew I loved playing music. But I hated taking piano lessons until I started to listen to my dad’s jazz records. He has a decent jazz collection and he was a big fan of Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington and others. When I was much younger, I was not interested in that music. I hated it because it’s my parent’s music and then at some point, there was some connection between me messing around on the piano and the music that I was hearing. Suddenly, I found that I was falling in love with jazz. I’m not sure how I ended up taking up the saxophone as well,” Vinson laughs.

“For a long time I wanted to be a piano player, but I was also playing the saxophone. I could not really decide, it was a long process for me to realise that I needed to play the saxophone, but it came from listening too. It started with Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, and then I became more interested in Duke Ellington. From there, I changed my piano teacher and I took jazz piano lessons from a great piano teacher in London called Leon Cohen. He opened a new world of music for me and he was also interested in synthesisers and making music on computers. I got interested in Weather Report, Chick Corea, and Pat Metheny and all this different stuff. That sort of changed everything. Suddenly, before I knew it, before I really had a chance to make any decision, I just sort of knew that I had to be a musician. Leon inspired me. One of the things he said when he could tell that I was interested in becoming a musician was, ‘Look, one thing that I would say about it is, don’t do it. Unless, you would rather be dead than doing anything else.’ I thought, wow, he would probably try to encourage me to become an accountant or something. I heard that and I was like, ‘what an amazingly romantic and dramatic thing to say’. I was like, yeah, great! That’s me!”

Vinson is very conscious of his responsibilities towards his fellow musicians, saying, “If you have good time, rhythm section players will want to play with you. If you don’t have a good time, the rhythm section will feel like they’re babysitters.

“I’m very difficult to please. But one of the reasons that I’m difficult to please is because I live in New York and that’s where the best drummers are. You want to be supportive but you also don’t want to be bored. It is such a delicate balance. You’re looking for somebody who can provide a foundation for what you are doing, but also contributing to it and taking you in a different direction without overwhelming what you are doing. I’m looking for balance. I’m looking for somebody who’s going to do something that I would not have thought of; somebody who’s going to push me where I would not have gone.”

After two decades in the business, how does Vinson describe his sound?

“Man, even though I’ve been doing this for a long time, I still feel like it’s not for me to say. It’s not my tradition. I still try to explore other tradition that has been given to us. I’m still in awe of it and just amazed by something that I hear. For me, it’s music I grew up listening to. Although the most important thing about music isn’t the style, the technique or genre, it’s what you communicate with the music. I feel fortunate because I feel that jazz is the style that gives you the most room, but also the most kind of responsibility. You have responsibility to the tradition of the music, but also have responsibility to do something that’s unique to you and that is an amazing thing. It’s a lot of freedom and a lot of responsibility. That’s something that I find really exciting. I love all kinds of music, but I do feel in jazz, the more you have to give, the more you will get.

And Will has some advice for the younger generation.

“In jazz, there’s a lot pressure coming from a lot of angles. I think that the way you can achieve all of those things is to listen to the music as much as you can and to find yourself in that music instead of trying to fulfil other roles that people have for you. I mean, there are certain things that you’ll need to do. If you are rhythm section player, you’ll need to do something. We can all learn from each other. It’s really important to listen to that voice in yourself that tells you what to play and not to be too intimidated by the need to sound like anybody else. Take any opportunity you can to fall in love with music that you haven’t heard before. One expression I heard before that’s important to keep in mind is: ‘If you take care of the music, then the music will take care of you’.”

Kom Wongsawat is the drummer with Thai jazz quartet The Pomelo Town and also a member of the organising committee for the three-day Thailand International Jazz Conference.

Letting the music speak

– The Will Vinson Quintet performs tomorrow night at The College of Music, Mahidol University, Salaya campus.

– Find out more at http://www.TIJC.net.

Tropical house is on the rise at some of the world’s most reputable international festivals such as Tomorrowland in Belgium and Ultra Music Festival in Miami, and has been brought to the forefront of the music scene by artists like Thomas Jack, KYGO, Robin Schulz, Sam Feldt, Lucas & Steve, Oliver Heldens and Tchami.

A passionate music lover, Perry built his own studio in his house while working as a car engineer for Volvo. Today he’s making waves in the genre and rapidly becoming one of the world’s most sought-after hit makers.

Last year his hypnotic global dance hit “The Ocean” cast its own wave over the summer music landscape. He rapidly achieved over 480 million Spotify streams and 100 million views on YouTube and gained support from world-renowned global artists Tiesto, Kygo and The Chainsmokers.

He followed up with the equally catchy “Hands” with UK’s up-and-coming indie pop band The Vamps featuring Sabrina Carpenter, and engraved his producing skills into a remix for Maroon 5’s radio hit “Cold” and Ed Sheeran’s mega hit “Perfect”.

Tickets cost Bt500 at the door. Onyx is on Royal City Avenue.

Yos has chosen contemporary Spanish composer Oscar Navarro’s incredibly beautiful “Clarinet Concerto No 2” as his showcase, a work very recently added to the core repertoire and one which has grabbed the attention of clarinet admirers across the music world. Much admired Japanese conductor Hide Shindori makes a welcome return to conduct the programme for “Classical Concert No 1”, which will start with Bizet’s “Carmen Suite No 1” and conclude with Mozart’s “Jupiter Symphony No 41 in C major”.

Yos was born in Chiang Mai in 1975, and received his bachelor’s degree in music composition with firstclass honours from Chulalongkorn University. He rapidly gained widespread respect as one of the foremost musicians on the Thai classical scene, and was first appointed as Principal Clarinet with the RBSO in 1997, a position he holds to this day. During his previous years of study he served as bandmaster and clarinettist with Asean Youth Orchestra in 199495, and joined the Asian Youth Orchestra in 1998 and 2000.

He continued his studies with full scholarships from Louisiana State University and the University of Missouri where he worked towards achieving his master’s and doctoral degrees. The richly orchestrated and tonally satisfying Navarro concerto he has selected to play was composed in 2012.

Shindori has delighted Bangkok audiences in recent seasons with his exuberant, joyful, and at times even playful demeanour on the podium. His highly sensitive and intelligently conceived performances have ensured a happy ongoing relationship with the RBSO.

Tickets cost from Bt300 to Bt1,000 at Thai Ticket Major counters and online at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.