Grammy

Judging by the thumping of her tail, Snowball, the perky white Maltese, dug the rhythm of the Just Dogs Holiday Favorites CD. Even Cocoa, the miniature poodle, cocked her head. And Ralph, the Akita, barked right along with the instrumental, "Jingle Tails. " Armand "The Hound" Rabuttinio, who was named world's fastest dog trainer in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1984, had slipped in the CD to calm the dogs as they waited for their owners in the grooming area of the Just Dogs pet shop, owned by Rich "The Barker" Parker, in Boothwyn.

He said that he was born on the "wrong" side of the tracks, and that when he came into the world black babies like him were seen as mere "statistics. " Yet pop crooner Peabo Bryson, 43, who will perform tomorrow night at the Keswick Theater, has succeeded. His rich, gospel-tinged, rhythm-and-blues rooted vocals have earned him Oscar and Grammy awards, as well as gold and platinum recordings. Bryson, who just got back from Japan last week, is sandwiching his Keswick appearance before heading to South Africa next week.

In the midst of "He Loves Me (Lyzel in E flat)," the Grammy-winning North Philadelphia mezzo-soprano Jill Scott began offering a wordless, arialike improvisation Saturday night. Her posture, already fine, improved to impeccable. Her facial expression became more serious, and her hands spread out and moved in a regal manner as her diaphragm controlled each enunciated note. Scott is obviously a talented singer, and although she can't (yet) be considered an operatic diva, it was a delicious moment in her show at the Tower Theater.

They've played the Apollo and Madison Square Garden, backed Patti LaBelle and Earth Wind & Fire, but "this is where we come from," the Wilmington Chester Mass Choir's music director says over the pounding of tambourines in a packed Germantown church. It's Saturday afternoon, and Willis Hickerson has to shout in the hallway of the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church as the sound of joyous anticipation swells from the sanctuary. More than a thousand people pack the 123-year-old stone edifice on Coulter Street, awaiting the gospel choir's entrance.

As I willed myself through another overwrought, convoluted Grammy songfest last weekend, I wondered: Why in the name of the motley tsunami-relief ensemble was national TV time being wasted on mediocre performers? Why wasn't Jill Scott - the most captivating live vocalist to cross a stage in the last five years, and the Grammy winner for urban/alternative performance - singing, instead of sitting in the audience 10 rows back? Where was Prince, the male R&B vocal winner and the top concert earner of last year?

Walter Hawkins, 61, a Grammy-winning gospel singer, composer, and pastor from Oakland, Calif., died of pancreatic cancer Sunday in Ripon, Calif. Mr. Hawkins studied for his divinity degree at the University of California, Berkeley. While at the university, he recorded his first album, Do Your Best, in 1972. The next year, he became a pastor and founded the Love Center Church in Oakland, where he also formed a choir. In the 1980s, Mr. Hawkins recorded several albums and earned nine Grammy nominations, according to a friend and family representative, Bill Carpenter.

AUSTIN, Texas - Pinetop Perkins, one of the last old-school bluesmen who played with Muddy Waters and became the oldest Grammy winner this year, died yesterday at his home. He was 97. The piano man played with an aggressive style and sang with a distinctive gravelly voice. He accompanied Sonny Boy Williamson on the popular King Biscuit Time radio show broadcast on KFFA in Helena, Ark., in the 1940s. He toured with Ike Turner in the 1950s and joined Waters' band in 1969. Perkins won a Grammy in February for best traditional blues album for "Joined at the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith.

In a day of parading, singing and praying, Philadelphia-area Jews gathered yesterday at Independence Mall and celebrated Israel's 43rd anniversary. The festivities included a performance by Grammy-winning songwriter Julie Gold (above), who was joined in singing her hit "From A Distance" by students from the Solomon Schecter Day School (left). Organizers estimated that 20,000 Jews attended the event.

The region's newest soap-opera actor is a kindergartner. Plymouth Meeting's Patrick Gibbons Jr. , 5, premieres Dec. 22 on ABC's One Life to Live as Sam Manning. Through plot twists that only daytime writers can muster, Sam is the son of Todd Manning ( Trevor St. John ) and was adopted by Blair Cramer ( Kassie DePaiva ). From birth, Sam had been played by sets of twins. Patrick was discovered by Barbara Kline , manager of his teen sister Anna-Marie , a model-actress.

AUSTIN, Texas - Pinetop Perkins, 97, one of the last old-school bluesmen who played with Muddy Waters and became the oldest Grammy winner this year, died Monday at his home of cardiac arrest. Mr. Perkins was having chest pains when he went to take a nap and paramedics could not revive him, said his agent, Hugh Southard. The piano man played with an aggressive style and sang with a distinctive gravelly voice. He accompanied Sonny Boy Williamson on the popular King Biscuit Time radio show broadcast on KFFA in Helena, Ark., in the 1940s.