Ode to Club Owner Turns into CD: "It's a Beautiful Thing"

If Joe Gransden's new Big Band CD garners him a Grammy Award, it would indeed be a beautiful thing.

"It's a Beautiful Thing," was recorded live last summer at Cafe 290. Gransden and a 16-piece Big Band perform on the first and third Mondays of the month, at the jazz club. The new CD was inspired after Gransden penned the title track in tribute to club owner John Scatena.

"Winning would be great but really the focus is to just get nominated," said Gransden, a trumpeter and vocalist. "Some of the big stars have one out; like Harry Connick just came out with a Big Band [album]. It would be tough going up against him."

Gransden's show, tonight at Cafe 290, is the official CD release party. A vinyl album set of the recording is available too.

Tracks on the 21-song album include, "I Won't Dance," "I Remember You," "Love for Sale," and "You Don't Know Me."

Scatena told the recording engineer that he wanted perfection. "I said, 'I want it to sound like Sinatra at the Sands [Hotel] with Count Basie,' " he recalled.

Now comes the campaign for a Grammy Award.

"You kind of have to get a local contingency to help you submit it. In [Los Angeles], they probably go through 500 CDs and listen to about 10 seconds of each one...It's a big process but it changes your life if you win, or even if you're nominted," Gransden said.

Gransden's last album, "Close to My Heart," was produced by saxophonist Kenny G. He performs in large and small venues across metro Atlanta, but he says the Sandy Springs club gives him a sense of family.

Tonight's first music set starts at 8:30 p.m.  Admission is $10.