Letter to NARAS from Carlos Santana & Cindy Blackman

[DSOP]

Dear NARAS Trustees,

It has come to our attention that you have reduced the number of 2012 GRAMMY Awards from 109 to 78. We have heard that categories such as rap performance by a duo or group; some of the instrumental categories in pop, rock and country; traditional gospel; children’s spoken-word album; Zydeco or Cajun album; and classical crossover album have been completely cut. And, then we heard about the cuts to the Latin & Jazz categories.

The biggest and most irresponsible cut to us is that you have eliminated Latin Jazz. Apparently the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences down-sizing (even though no categories were removed from the awards) is simply a bad move and makes us wonder if you are doing this for other motives.

Without Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, João Gilberto and countless others, there would be no Santana. These Latin Jazz artists helped launch and craft countless genres of American and World music and are just as vibrant today as they were at any other point in history. To remove Latin Jazz and many other ethnic categories is doing a huge disservice to the brilliant musicians who keep the music vibrant for their fans – new and old. In fact, the entire “restructuring” of the Latin Field, with groups like the “Best Latin Pop Album” award combining with the “Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album” to create the new “Best Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album” award is ridiculous considering the fact that the Latin market and population is the fastest growing segment in the United States.

We strongly protest this decision and we ask you to represent all of the colors of the rainbow when it comes to music and give ethnic music a place in the heart of music lovers everywhere.



Sincerely,

Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman Santana


http://www.grammywatch.info/?page_id=95

[Gaddabout]

I appreciate the sentiment, but do the Grammy's really mean anything anymore? I guess they do to Santana, who's won a few, but as a musician on the far outside they just don't mean much to me. Some of the most important music in my life wasn't even considered. How can I take them seriously?

[Kurtis]

the grammy's jumped the shark many moons ago. as music started to suck (depends on the person when music started to suck) they don't mean so much. i understand why awards and sports records mean something to an artist. it ups their appeal and money value. artists don't create music for awards. heck maybe some do. it's nice to have these awards to give recognition to great artwork. the standards these days ain't so great. i'm still perplexed that the people who nominate and pick the winners don't have a broader spectrum of artists. it's always the popular music that gets recognized (in most cases). at least herbie has been doing very well the past few years. people don't dig talent anymore. when they hear it, it goes unrecognized cause they view it like wow that was amazing but it's not a number one hit. music industry... what industry. yes the internet killed it. theres still great music out there and always will be. just have to sift through the rubble. the grammy's has lost it's integrity. after a while people will stop showing up cause they will be embarrassed to be awarded such a farce.

every year you see these new categories popping up on these award shows. like - best vocal duo collaboration - single of the year with featured vocalist - best rap hip hop with contemporary appeal - best country and progressive rock album - best instrumental performance by a group, duo, choir or salsa artist. the list goes on.

[Gaddabout]

[Stone]

Funny how he forgot that there is a whole Grammy show based on Latin music called "The Latin Grammys"

Billboard Awards, based on sales makes sense to me.

[Andrew<3'sVinnie]

love it

[Tombo 7/4]

Funny how he forgot that there is a whole Grammy show based on Latin music called "The Latin Grammys"

I was thinking the same thing.

"...the new “Best Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album” award is ridiculous considering the fact that the Latin market and population is the fastest growing segment in the United States."
That's why they created the Latin Grammys in 2000 and Santana wins lots of awards there too...!?! (so does Camilo, Sandoval,...)

Last time I checked the Grammys was a long time ago and was the year they introduced the Metal category. Jethro Tull won the Metal award that year!?!?!.
I remember Lars Ulrich screaming on all tribunes for weeks that this was an injustice and total nonsense. He had a point.

Although I was very happy for Tull since I was a long time fan of the band, it was weird. They should have created a Progressive Rock category for that type of band.