Last Thursday Nov. 8th, the Latin Grammy Foundation announced their annual awards, recognizing excellence in Latin music. An earlier post discussed my lack of enthusiasm for the Grammy Awards and I questioned what the awards actually recognize. As I pointed out though, the Grammys bring notoriety to award winners that equates to more sales. If the awards took the opportunity to highlight lesser-known artists, their influence would boost the overall music economy. Instead, they consistently reward successful musicians and the successful musicians become more successful. This seems irresponsible and contradictory to their purpose. I found the original list of nominees for the Latin Jazz award questionable, but the outcome left me cold.

Arturo Sandoval’s album Rumba Palace won the award for the year’s best Latin Jazz album and I feel a bit cheated. On one hand, Sandoval possesses formidable skills and he has dedicated his life completely to music. His broad knowledge and ability deserve recognition; not many people can perform like he does. Yet, Rumba Palace didn’t really reflect those powerful musical chops. It worked well as a commercial product that brought elements of Latin music and jazz to a large audience. It didn’t explore any new directions though, and it certainly didn’t challenge anyone’s expectations. The album’s over produced sound felt stagnant and Sandoval’s potentially exciting arrangements fell flat. If 2007 didn’t contain anything better, I could accept this choice . . . but this past year included an incredible array of outstanding Latin Jazz releases.

With this much said, I feel somewhat lost, cynical, and frustrated. The Latin Grammys have happened, decisions have been made, and Rumba Palace has been endorsed as the best Latin Jazz album of 2007. Regardless of my opinions, a mediocre Latin Jazz album will become a big seller and several deserving recordings will continue to go unnoticed by the general public. The Grammys maintain a huge public face, and many people, at least in the U.S., associate their endorsements with quality. Many more people hear the Grammy opinion than the amount of people that hear my voice. In a sense, the situation is out of my control and I should just let it go.

I believe that we can have a voice though, even if it resonates on a smaller level than the Grammys. I’m considering a series of Latin Jazz specific awards that would recognize the most outstanding work of 2007, organized here at the Latin Jazz Corner. It seems that LJC readers are more invested in the artform, and they could make more appropriate choices. I’m going to figure out the logistics over the next week or so, but in the meantime, I’d love your input.

I’ve created a sidebar poll asking a simple question - should LJC create “Best of 2007″ awards? Before I commit completely to these awards, I’d like to make sure that people would participate! Vote in the poll and let me know what you think.

I’m also left with a series of questions about the recognition of excellence and how this should be approached:
* How can we recognize outstanding musical efforts without the influence of commercialism?
* Who would be the most appropriate people to make this choice - Latin Jazz listeners? Latin Jazz musicians? Latin Jazz critics?
* How can we make sure that the results are based upon musical merit?

Please comment on these questions and let’s take the process into our own hands! I’d love to see some dedicated artists get the recognition they deserve!

Stumble it!