Voting for the Best of 2008 Awards is well underway – thanks to everyone who has voted so far! We’ve had some interesting early results, and I’m looking forward to seeing what arises over the next few weeks. While we’re still getting the ball rolling, I thought that it might be a good time to look a little closer at some of the artists. There are more categories this year – a total of 16 – and as a result, there are far more albums and artists involved. I realize that most people may not have heard all the albums involved, so I thought it might be a good idea to break the categories down in a series of posts.

The Album of the Year nominees seem like a good place to start. My original ten nominations for Album of the Year cover some of the most musical 2008 releases; each one delves deep into various facets of Latin Jazz. There are a lot of great performances on those ten albums, and as a result, you’ll find musicians from each of those albums represented in a variety of other categories. While these ten albums are certainly not the final story on the Best of 2008 Awards, they do provide a good entry point.

I’ve included links to each of the LJC reviews for each of the original 10 Album of the Year nominees. If you haven’t listened to any of these albums yet, this might give you an idea of the music found that you would encounter there. Take a few minutes to check out the reviews of unfamiliar albums, and if you’re so inspired, go check them out before voting. You never know what you might find! Enjoy!

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Marooned/Aislado, Papo Vazquez & The Mighty Pirate Orchestra

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Large Ensemble Album of the Year
Trombone Player of the Year – Papo Vazquez
Sax Player of the Year – Willie Williams
Piano Player of the Year – Zaccai Curtis
Bass Player of the Year – John Benitez

Song For Chico, Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Large Ensemble Album of the Year
Drum Kit Player of the Year – Vince Cherico
Piano Player of the Year – Arturo O’Farrill
Sax Player of the Year – Mario Rivera

Taking The Soul For A Walk, Dafnis Prieto Sextet

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Drum Kit Player of the Year – Dafnis Prieto
Bass Player of the Year – Yunior Terry
Piano Player of the Year – Manuel Valera
Sax Player of the Year – Yosvany Terry

Perspectiva Fragmentada, The John Santos Quintet

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Flute Player of the Year – John Calloway
Sax Player of the Year – Melecio Magdaluyo
Piano Player of the Year – Marco Diaz
Percussionist of the Year – Orestes Vilato

The Latin Side of Wayne Shorter, Conrad Herwig

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Trombone Player of the Year – Conrad Herwig
Trumpet Player of the Year – Brian Lynch
Sax Player of the Year – Ronnie Cuber
Bass Player of the Year – Ruben Rodriguez

Cuban Tribute To Charlie Parker, Hot House

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Flute Player of the Year – Itai Kriss
Trumpet Player of the Year – Steven Gluzband
Guitar/Tres Player of the Year – Pablo Moya

Nuevo Mundo, Gabriel Alegria

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Trumpet Player of the Year – Gabriel Alegria

Replica, Eric Kurimski

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Guitar/Tres Player of the Year – Eric Kurimski
Percussionist of the Year – Juan Medrano Cotito

Why Deny, The Marty Sheller Ensemble

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Large Ensemble Album of the Year
Sax Player of the Year – Bobby Porcelli

Barriles de Bomba, Puertorican Folkloric Jazz

Total Nominations:
Album of the Year
Percussionist of the Year – Jorge D. Rodriguez

VOTE TODAY!
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