Apr 18 2006
Best Native American Music Album
- More Kids' Pow-Wow Songs - Black Lodge
- Intonation - Harmonized Songs From the Southern Plains - Alex E. Smith & Cheevers Toppah
- Sacred Ground - A Tribute to Mother Earth - Various Artists
- Our Love Will Never Die - Randy Wood
All of these albums are very good and very different. The Black Lodge Singers made a great (and definitely not kids-only) children's album, featuring the phenomenal drum styles that they are best known for on a number of surprising song choices, including the Spongebob SquarePants theme song. The Sacred Ground compilation is also wonderful, featuring such giants of Native American music as Joanne Shenandoah and Bill Miller. Randy Wood made a beautiful and lyrical love album, featuring lots of gentle drumming in the Cree Round Dance style. However, my pick for the winner is Intonation, featuring the absolutely phenomenal vocal harmonies of Smith and Toppah.
Best Hawai'ian Music Album
- Slack Key Dreams of the Ponomoe - Kapono Beamer
- Sweet & Lovely - Raiatea Helm
- Kiho'alu - Hawai'ian Slack Key Guitar - Ledward Ka'apana
- Slack Key Guitar: The Artistry of Sonny Lim - Sonny Lim
- Masters of Slack Key Guitar - Vol. 1 - Various Artists
The slack key guitar style (a sort of bluesy fingerpicking style) has been popular in Hawai'i for over one hundred years, but is clearly finding a current surge in worldwide popularity, as four of the five records nominated here feature the slack key style. My pick for the winner out of the five is Led Ka'apana; I love his jazzy, improvisational style. However, I think the four different slack-key recordings will split the votes up, and Raiatea Helm, a young and gorgeous ukulele player and singer, will take the award.
Best Polka Album
- Under The Influence - Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones
- Time Out For Polkas and Waltzes - Walter Ostanek and Ron Sluga
- Polka Pizzazz - Del Sinchak Band
- Solecktions - Kevin Solecki
- Shake, Rattle and Polka! - Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra
I confess that I have not heard all of these albums in their completion, but from what I HAVE heard, Jimmy Sturr's album is quite excellent, and is my slightly uninformed pick as a winner.
World music nominees that have shown up in other categories include The Chieftains and Jo-El Sonnier in the Best Traditional Folk Category and Ry Cooder in the Best Contemporary Folk Category.
Update! The winners are in! See who took home the World Music Grammys in 2006!
