Mat Ombler shares list of must hear game musicians after Grammy win by The 8-Bit Big Band
Back in 2011, Christopher Tin’s song, Baba Yetu, which he composed for the turn-based strategy game, Civilization IV, ended up being the first piece of video game music (VGM) to bag a Grammy. Considering the Grammy Awards doesn’t recognise video games in separate categories (unlike the Baftas), this was a pretty impressive feat. Any video game nominations are up against fierce competition from hundreds of other tracks pre-shortlist.
Fast-forward to 2022, and Las Vegas is alive with the sound of video game music once again. The 8-Bit Big Band, a 30–65 member orchestra that performs video game music jazz arrangements, won a Grammy for their ridiculously good rendition of Meta Knight’s Revenge from the 1996 SNES classic, Kirby Super Star.
Jazz fusion bands such as Casiopea and T-Square helped shape the sound of video games in the ‘80s and ‘90s, so it’s ace to see everything come full circle with a new generation of musicians and producers making these killer jazz arrangements of their favourite game soundtracks. Better still is seeing this music celebrated on an international stage as large as The Grammys.
By Mat Ombler via NME.com