Third from left, Taku Hirano provides musical accompaniment as Lainey Wilson performs during the Quincy Jones Tribute at the 2025 Grammy Awards. Photo Courtesy of CBS via The Recording Academy/Grammys.
 

As one of the industry’s most in-demand percussionists, Taku Hirano is no stranger to sharing the big stage with musical greats like Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, and Whitney Houston. Most recently, the Newcomb Department of Music Professor of Practice in Music Industry Studies was invited to join the 2025 Grammy award show as part of a star-studded tribute to industry legend Quincy Jones, backing Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Cynthia Erivo, Lainey Wilson, Jacob Collier, and Janelle Monaé. The invitation for this prestigious honor was extended to him by Greg Phillinganes — former session keyboardist for many of Quincy Jones’ seminal recordings and musical director for Michael Jackson’s world tours.

Hirano met Phillinganes while touring the world for two years on Michael Jackson: THE IMMORTAL World Tour — a joint production by Cirque du Soleil and the Michael Jackson Estate — and has also worked with the musician and director on previous Grammy Awards telecasts, including a tribute to Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in 2023 (where they performed behind Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and Chris Stapleton), a musical tribute to Lionel Richie in 2016 (where they performed with John Legend, Demi Lovato, Meghan Trainor, Luke Bryan, Tyrese, and Lionel Richie), as well as the All-Star Grammy Salute to Stevie Wonder special on CBS (backing Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, John Legend, Janelle Monaé, Gary Clark, Jr., Pharrell, Ne-Yo, Annie Lennox, Babyface, and Andrea Bocelli). At Tulane, Hirano applies his invaluable professional knowledge to teaching courses in Music Industry Studies within the Newcomb Department of Music and the Strategy, Leadership, Analytics Minor (SLAM), working with students to shape their own musical careers — and the future of the industry.

He shares his thoughts around the Grammy experience, technology and music, and how he incorporates performances like these into his teaching.

What was your favorite part of the experience?
My favorite part of this latest Grammy Awards performance was reuniting and catching up with longtime and fellow musician-friends. Within the Quincy Jones tribute band, there were friends I hadn’t seen since the Grammys two years ago.

It has always been a dream of mine to be able to take my musical training and apply it to thrilling experiences, backing artists on the largest of stages and on tours around the world. For this year’s Grammys, being in the room and part of the creative process, working out arrangements alongside Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Cynthia Erivo, Jacob Collier, and Lainey Wilson in rehearsals was a fun, unique experience — and I don’t take it for granted. It is a thrill that few get to experience. 

What did you bring back to the classroom from this experience?
Upon returning to class, I was able to share with my Intro to Music Business (MUSC2800) and Intro to Creative Industries (SLAM2600) classes photos and videos from behind-the-scenes and explain the logistics that went into rehearsals, camera-blocking, dress rehearsals, and the live performance that was seen by 15.4 million people. Also, it came to my attention that I had some students hold a viewing party! It warmed my heart to hear that my students and colleagues were thrilled for me and tuned in.

Which musicians inspired your career?
There are a myriad of musicians who have inspired me. One of my mentors was legendary session drummer Ndugu Chancler, who coincidentally worked a lot with Quincy Jones. Ndugu was one of the drummers on Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, playing drums on the hit song “Billie Jean.” He also worked with Quincy Jones on the film The Color Purple and even appeared in the movie. Ndugu played an instrumental part in both my education as well as introducing me to the music scene once I arrived in Los Angeles upon finishing my undergraduate studies.

Who's playing on your Spotify?
I currently have been listening to New Orleans legends The Meters. Not only are they one of my favorite groups, but they were also founded by my late father-in-law, Art Neville — who also went on to lead the Grammy-winning group, The Neville Brothers.

What are you most excited about for the future of music?
I am interested in seeing the integration of technology and AI with music, and its implications on copyright, rights management, and intellectual property issues. As a graduate student, my main area of focus was copyright, licensing, and metadata as it relates to music, as well as music supervision (the synchronization licensing of music for use in other forms of media such as film, TV, gaming, and advertising). We are in the middle of a very consequential period of how technology is intersecting with the music industry, and I have been keeping a close eye on it.

Erin Grayson Sapp was a student in the School of Liberal Arts' interdisciplinary PhD program — focusing on civil rights — when she first learned about the 1965 AFL All-Star Game and the January day when 58 Black and white players walked out of the Tulane Stadium to protest New Orleans' lingering segregation laws and discrimination against Black teammates. As Sapp continued her research, she discovered just how closely the Civil Rights movement was tied to the fate of football in New Orleans. Now, as the city prepares to host the 59th Super Bowl in February, her new book Moving the Chains: The Civil Rights Protest That Saved the Saints and Transformed New Orleans spotlights this pivotal moment in American sports history and its defining role in creating both the New Orleans Saints and the Super Bowl itself.

To understand the context of the walkout, Sapp studied a decade’s worth of sources on the city’s racial struggles and sports history. After earning her PhD in English and American History, she became a scholar-in-residence at the Historic New Orleans Collection, where access to invaluable archives helped transform her initial term paper into this major project.

In 1965, despite its role as longstanding host of the Sugar Bowl, New Orleans was not yet a football city — especially since integrated university teams and clubs across the nation refused to play here due to the fact that the city was holding onto Jim Crow-era segregation laws. When players arrived for the All-Star Game in January of that year, Sapp explained over email, “The All-Stars were expecting a week of celebration, but instead, the Black players were turned away from taxis, restaurants, and nightclubs.” When Black players checked in at the Roosevelt Hotel alongside their white teammates, they were told they would have to use the side entrance. Their mistreatment reflected the racist policies that ruled the city, creating a mixed atmosphere of apathy and turmoil.

The All-Star boycott had the power to break through some of this apathy. “In New Orleans, before the walkout, civil rights progress largely took place slowly and quietly, behind closed doors,” Sapp shared. “The walkout gave citizens a popular cause to rally behind, a shared reason to openly promote progress.”

The game was meant to be a crucial stepping stone toward giving the city its own professional football franchise — something locals believed was just out of reach. “With the All-Star Boycott,” Sapp explained, “suddenly racial conservatism was football obstructionism. In a striking reversal of old trends, widespread change took place very openly and quickly after the walkout.” By 1966, when three Black players returned to New Orleans, their cab driver took them right to an oyster restaurant in the French Quarter.

“The driver explained that those guys didn’t realize the impact they had,” Sapp emphasized. “The city wanted pro football so badly they had accelerated integration, meaning cabs, cafes, and clubs were open to everyone.”

On February 3, 2025, mere weeks after the 60th anniversary of the All-Star Game walkout, two players — Pro Football Hall of Famers Bobby Bell of the Chiefs and Ron Mix of the Chargers — will return to New Orleans and join Sapp for a talk at Tulane School of Law. The two are among the many 1965 All-Star players who went on to major pro football careers, winning awards and Super Bowls — while often using their platforms to continue advocating for social change. “This was a very early example of activism in American sports,” Sapp stated. “And they had no idea what the repercussions would be. They had a monumental impact that wasn’t even lost over time, but rather downplayed in real-time, and just never fully brought to light.”

“Locals have long clung to that colorful story of backroom politics (not serious civil rights reform) as the origin of the Saints,” Sapp remarked. In 1966, two Louisiana congressmen greased the necessary palms to pass antitrust legislation through Congress so that the American Football League and National Football League (NFL) could merge — a move that gave New Orleans hope for their own team and created America’s first Super Bowl. While the rest of the Saints’ origin story is familiar New Orleans lore — a shady quid pro quo between a Louisiana politician and the NFL commissioner — the All-Star Game and its athlete activists get left out of the picture. After the protest, many white New Orleanians became defensive. As the likelihood of getting a pro team increased, New Orleans wanted to prove to the NFL that they were a big-league city and any new progress was “just proof that the city had been had been tolerant all along.” As a result, Sapp said, “Locals largely never admitted change was needed — and never celebrated that it occurred.”

Moving the Chains is the first book to spotlight the All-Star Game boycott and its significance. Sapp found it “heartbreaking” to learn that many All-Star players felt forgotten for their activism. “They deserve to be honored for their courage, action, and impact,” she said. “I only wish more had been during their lifetimes.”

Erin Sapp (SLA '13)

Like all good historians, Sapp excels at connecting dots and uncovering hidden throughlines. The All-Star Game boycott and the progress it ignited helped the city land a pro football franchise; in turn, the Saints redefined New Orleans. With their own team, New Orleans became a major city, football hub, and event destination — hosting their own Super Bowl in 1970 (at Tulane Stadium). Moving the Chains and the All-Star Game legacy further proves how much the Saints mean to New Orleans.

“The power of the team stands out to me as something exceptional, unlike any other league city. And the walkout explains why that is,” Sapp emphasized. And since unity was so key to founding the Saints, she goes on, “From day one, the Saints club was absolutely everyone’s team.”

Order Moving the Chains: The Civil Rights Protest That Saved the Saints and Transformed New Orleans from LSU Press and other booksellers, and stay tuned to register for the February 3 event at Tulane School of Law.