Mark Hinson

Democrat senior writer

Tallahassee-born singer-songwriter Kendra Foster had a big night at the Grammy Awards on Monday.

Foster took home the trophy for Best R&B Song for “Really Love,” which she co-wrote with singer and collaborator D’Angelo. The album “Black Messiah” by D’Angelo, which featured eight songs that Foster helped create, also won the Grammy for best R&B Album of the year.

“Having a childhood in little ole Tallahassee FL can produce this,” dancer-choreographer Lela Aisha wrote on Foster’s Facebook page. “I tell people all the time don't sleep on Tally! Congratulations, Kendra Foster! She is one of the most dedicated people I know to her craft.”

Foster studied jazz and commercial music at Florida A&M University and was a member of the Orchesis Contemporary Dance Theatre. She got her professional music start in Tallahassee by performing in the rock-funk band Smoke and, later, as the lead singer in the group Fish-N-Grits. Her talent caught the attention of influential funk artist George Clinton, of Parliament-Funkadelic fame, who has a recording studio in Tallahassee. Clinton became her musical mentor and took her on tour.

“Unlike many pop artists, who are expected to burst onto the scene, musical parentage unknown, Foster not just acknowledges but celebrates her connection to Clinton’s living musical history,” Taylor Ho Bynum wrote of Foster in The New Yorker magazine late last month. “And the affection is clearly mutual.”

Speaking of her mentor, Clinton also won a Grammy Award on Monday night for his many contributions to the various samples and backing tracks for Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly,” which won for Best Rap Album of the year.

On March 21, Clinton will perform his signature song “Atomic Dog” with a percussive gamelan orchestra during the annual Rainbow Concert of world music at Florida State College of Music.

“This is going to be an incredible show,” FSU ethnomusicology professor Michael Bakan said in an email. “‘Atomic Dog’ for George with gamelan, ‘Funkentelechy’ with Omnimusica, etc. He's going to perform with five different world music ensembles. Danny Bedrosian, George's keyboardist and musical director for P-Funk, and also the co-guest artist for Rainbow, and I have been working on some unique and very cool arrangements of some of Clinton's classic tunes. I can honestly and confidently say that there has never been a concert like this one.”

Contact Mark Hinson at mhinson@tallahassee.com