GETTING IN THE GRAMMY GROOVE\CalArts students, teacher nominated.

Byline: James J. Rodriguez Daily News Staff Writer

When the 38th annual Grammy Awards are presented next month, you can bet folks at CalArts will be tuning in - if not heading there by limo.

Nine students and a faculty member have received Grammy nominations in the music and directing music video categories. The awards will be presented on live television Feb. 28 before an estimated 50 million viewers.

"We are excited," said Rachelle Katz, operations director for California Institute of the Arts' School of Film Video, adding that she would be one of those tuning in to watch the awards ceremony. "We're really proud they have been recognized."

The film video students have been nominated for Best Music Video, Long Form. The nomination stemmed from their collaborative effort in directing "Where'd You Hide the Body," by James McMurtry.

The students are K.C. Amos, Bill Brown, Ingrid Calame, Gregory E. Conner, Johannes Gamble, Pip Johnson, Brenda McIntyre, Luis Ruis and Deborah Stratman.

"It's been a great opportunity for them making the video and working in a professional atmosphere," Katz said. "They are very creative. A lot of them were very honored to have been selected to work on the video. (The Grammy nomination) has been an extra special bonus for them. If they win, they are going to be in orbit."

Charlie Haden, music instructor and founder of CalArts' jazz program, was nominated for two Grammys for his instrumental performances with jazz performer Hank Jones.

The nominations aren't Haden's first. Like a perennial bridesmaid, he has been nominated three times since 1991, but has yet to take home the coveted award.

Jones and Haden were nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance for their album, "Steal Away."

Haden also is a nominee for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for the song "Go Down Moses" from the same album.

Haden won't make the show. He'll be out of the country the day of the Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium. Nonetheless, he said his wife, who co-produces his records, will represent him.

As previous nominations can attest, Haden said it is difficult to win a Grammy, especially without big name recognition.

"I usually don't expect to get a Grammy," he said this week in a telephone interview from his Malibu home. "A lot of people are much more well-known than I am."

Over the years, Haden said he has seen some encouraging movement on behalf of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which puts on the awards ceremony each year.

"The Grammys are really trying to improve the quality of the voting," he said. "They are trying to achieve excellence. It's really difficult when you have 7,000 people voting and a lot people vote for categories they don't know much about. So they vote by name recognition."

Nonetheless, Haden said, "I play to express my feelings about the music. If people like it, I'm really happy."

Coming from a musical family, Haden began singing at the age of 2. In Missouri, he was the youngest cowboy singer and yodeler on the air on the Haden family's popular Midwest radio show.

He later taught himself jazz and moved to Los Angeles.

"Music has been my whole life," he said.

Over the years, Haden said he has been able to work with a variety of artists, including Rickie Lee Jones, Herbie Hancock, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, John Coltrane, John Scofield, Pat Metheny and Keith Jarrett.

He's been chosen as the best acoustic bassist by Down Beat magazine's critics and readers' poll over the last 13 years. He has earned a Guggenheim Fellowship and four grants in music composition.

Last year, he and his group, Quartet West, were nominated for a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance on the group's album, "Always Say Goodbye."

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Photo (color in SAC edition only) CalArts jazz program founder Charlie Haden has been nominated for Grammys since 1991 but has yet to take home the award. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News