LATIN JAZZ Category REMOVED
from the GRAMMYS
To All,
If you don’t know it by now, NARAS, the organization that administers the GRAMMY Awards has announced a consolidation of categories. This included the deletion of the Latin Jazz Category. To say the least, this announcement by NARAS has not been a pretty situation and it is ongoing. The NY Times, Daily News, Village Voice, Bruce Lundvall, president of Blue Note, to name a few have all chimed in on why this decision was made and how insulting it is to the musicians who play in this genre as well as the labels who release this important musical form. An open meeting to the members of NARAS on April 10, 2011, in NYC saw the embarrassing and sad moment of the great Latin Jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri, pleading with Neal Portnow, the president of NARAS to reinstate the category. Please peruse the following links and watch the video of the meeting (A Grammy Scar).
This is an unfortunate situation for musicians and labels that play and release the vibrant art form. The answer to why the decision was made has emerged as a boilerplate statement that is being read by NARAS executives. Everyone from NARAS seems to be instructed to stay on message. But the 'why?' is a bit vague and a bit mysterious.
I have been a member of NARAS since 1977. I was proud of the fact that I had earned the right to vote for the GRAMMY Awards. I am not anymore. To quote David Hajdu from a post in The New Republic, “The problem with the Grammys, as with the Oscars, is that the voting pool is stocked with insiders susceptible to all sorts of influences, including the human need to eat and, accordingly, keep one’s job. The best solution may be to continue in the spirit of the new cuts in categories. With 31 now gone, there are only 78 to go to eliminate the Grammys and complete the fix.”
Jazzheads will continue to release Jazz and Latin Jazz CDs and the audiences will know where to come to find the music.
Randy Klein
President
A Grammy Scar
New York Times "Grammy Chief Defends Award Cuts"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/arts/ ... mys&st=cse NY Daily News "Music giants rip Grammys for ditching Latin jazz category"
http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2011/ ... zz13v.html Village Voice "Latin Jazz Heavyweights Protest Grammy Snub"
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/201 ... harlow.php New Republic "Grammys: 31 Gone, 78 to Go"
http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-famous-door ... cho-valdes WebTV
http://www.veetle.com/index.php/profile/376563061 Randy Klein Blog "NARAS side steps Latin Jazz Grammy issue"
http://randyklein.tumblr.com/post/45591 ... ammy-issue From Randy Klein, Jazzheads Records "NARAS Eliminates Latin Grammy Category"
http://randyklein.tumblr.com/post/43977 ... in-grammy-