Jul 25 2009
World music fans often find themselves frustrated with the Grammy Awards, for lots of reasons. The awards show itself is catered primarily to Top 40 music fans, and generally little or no world music is featured. Also, the nominees are frequently arbitrarily strewn throughout a few poorly labeled categories, and there are not award categories at all for several major genres of world music (including Celtic, Cajun & Zydeco, African and more). Therefore, Celtic and Cajun/Zydeco bands are smushed into the traditional folk music category, and in the world music categories, groups like Ladysmith Black Mambazo are pitted against artists like Anoushka Shankar. Quite like comparing apples to Buicks, if you ask me. In any case, let's go ahead and take a look at the wonderful bands and artists that have snagged the coveted nominations:
Best Traditional World Music Album
- Behmanka - Mamadou Diabate
- Para Todos Ustedes - Los Pleneros de la 21
- Faryad - Masters of Persian Music
- Tibetan Master Chants - Lama Tashi
- In the Heart of the Moon - Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate
My pick in this category is Malian kora player Mamadou Diabate. This reward is a long time in coming for him; he's my favorite kora player on the planet. However, Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate (Mamadou's cousin) also made a stunning album, and perhaps better-known, and will likely win.
Best Contemporary World Music Album
- Dimanche à Bamako - Amadou & Mariam
- Eletracusto - Gilberto Gil
- You've Stolen My Heart (Songs From R.D. Burman's Bollywood) - Kronos Quartet & Asha Bhosie
- No Boundaries - Ladysmith Black Mambazo & The Strings of The English Chamber Orchestra
- Rise - Anoushka Shankar
Ladysmith Black Mambazo won the Best Traditional World Music Album award last year for their album Raise Your Spirit Higher, but the typically a capella group took a bit of a different tack with No Boundaries, by performing with a string section. It's a beautiful and stirring album, and will likely win the award. My pick, however, is the gentle, humorous and all-around gorgeous Amadou et Mariam album Dimanche à Bamako. Produced by world music wünderkind Manu Chao, the blind, long-married Malian couple made what is, in my mind, the best album of the year in any category. Period.
Best Reggae Album
- Our Music - Burning Spear
- Welcome to Jamrock - Damian Marley
- The Trinity - Sean Paul
- Clothesdrop - Shaggy
- Black Gold and Green - Third World
I think reggae legend Burning Spear should win in this category. He has formidable competitors, but Our Music is the clear standout. It's classic without being old-fashioned, yet forward enough that it has made waves in the reggae world. However, the winner of this category will undoubtedly be Damian Marley, whose Welcome to Jamrock actually went gold, a rare feat for a straight-up reggae record.
Update! The winners are in! See who took home the World Music Grammys in 2006!
