GRAMMYS: FOR THE RECORDAs part of the...

GRAMMYS: FOR THE RECORD

As part of the Grammy Week festivities, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences will honor guitarist Carlos Santana at a benefit concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Santana and his band of the same name burst upon the national rock consciousness at Woodstock in 1969 with an innovative blend of rock, Afro-Latin rhythms and his own soaring guitar. Their performance of “Soul Sacrifice” at the festival is a highlight of both the Woodstock film and album.

Santana further broadened his musical perspective with forays into jazz-rock fusion with artists such as John McLaughlin, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and others. Last year, “Dance of the Rainbow Serpent,” a retrospective box set of his work, was released.

Santana and his band will perform on stage throughout the show Sunday and will be joined by Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, John Lee Hooker, Tito Puente, Wayne Shorter and others. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the NARAS Foundation’s Grammy in the Schools program.

Also, Santana will be inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk in a special ceremony at noon Friday at Guitar Center in Hollywood.

* Carlos Santana and his band plus special guests will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza. Tickets are $30-$45. Call (213) 480-3232.

VALLEY O’ GRAMMYS

The NARAS will hand out the Grammys on Wednesday in a gala CBS-TV telecast live from the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. Among the current nominees, several have some kind of connection to the San Fernando Valley:

Michael Jackson has four nominations for his “HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book I,” including one for best album. Jackson, who has a house in Encino, has won 12 Grammys during the course of his career.

Songwriter Steve Diamond, formerly of Tarzana, also has four nominations associated with his song “I Can Love You Like That.” The tune, which Diamond co-wrote with Maribeth Derry and Jennifer Kimball, was recorded by two major recording acts--the pop harmony group All-4-One and country artist John Michael Montgomery.

The All-4-One recording is nominated for song of the year and best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal. The Montgomery version is nominated for best country song and best male country vocal performance. Diamond and his wife, publisher Teri Muench, moved to Nashville about two years ago.

CalArts’ Charlie Haden (see accompanying story) is nominated for two Grammys, one for best jazz instrumental solo and another for best jazz instrumental performance.

Booker T. Jones of Booker T. and the MGs is nominated along with Terence Trent D’Arby in the best R&B; performance by a group with vocal category, for “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Jones, formerly a resident of West Hills, now resides in the Bay Area.

Oklahoma’s and Van Nuys’ own virtuoso bluegrass fiddle player Byron Berline is nominated twice. His recording of the classic fiddle tune “Sally Goodin,” with bluegrass legends Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe, is nominated for best country instrumental performance, and his “Fiddle and a Song” is nominated for best bluegrass album.

* The 38th Annual Grammy Awards program will air Wednesday evening on CBS-TV.

WEEKEND: GOODBYE, NEIL

The Theatre League production of the Neil Simon-Marvin Hamlisch musical “The Goodbye Girl” continues at the Alex Theatre this weekend.

The production stars Gary Sandy, from the TV sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” and Debbie Shapiro-Gravitte, who won a Tony for her performance in “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway.”

The story is about an actor who comes to New York and winds up sharing an apartment with a down-on-her-luck dancer and her daughter.

* “The Goodbye Girl” runs at 8 p.m. tonight and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Tickets are $32.50-$35.50. Call (800) 233-3123.