NARAS VOTES LATIN MUSIC (1) GRAMMY !
The day of the Latin NY Music Awards, May 4th, the National Academy of
Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) voted to include a category for Latin
music. It's called "Best Latin Record Of The Year", and many questions
were immediately raised in the industry and among our people
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN ?
1. Just What Have We Got? Before, Latin was in a category they call
"Ethnic Music", competing with Blue Grass and Polish Polkas. Now, all
Latin music is in one category. This means the SALSA of New York and the
Caribbean trio (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo) and surrounding areas
will be competing with the Rancheras of our Chicano compaņeros, Tangos,
Brazilian music, Latin Jazz, Latin Rock, Tex-Mex, etc. What we have here
is one step forward and one backward.
While NARA's decision gives us further recognition, by putting all of us
into one category, chaos has been allowed to reign. The majority of
American audiences are still trying to make out the distinctions between
Perez Prado, Cal Tjader, Carlos Santana, Eddie Palmieri, Freddie Fender,
Trini Lopez, Trio Los Panchos and Carmen Miranda. In addition, each type
of music has been fighting for its own recognition. Now only one can
win!
In fact, BillBoard (the music industry magazine) just published an
article expressing concerns from coast-to-coast on the problems created
with just one award.
WHAT IS OUR NEXT STEP ?
2. What Are We To Do? Keep fighting, just as the Black community did.
For years, Black music was considered "Race music" while certain whites
got rich ripping off copies of the real thing. In 1965, NARAS also
created just one category to cover all the different types of Black
music such as: Jazz, Rhythm n' Blues, Gospel, etc. But the Black tidal
wave of music could not be stopped. Today, there are separate awards in
each area of Black music. So too, must be done for every area of Latin
music. This means (as Larry Harlow has been urging for years), that
Latin musicians must get into NARAS, and VOTE! That's one solution.
DO WE NEED NARAS TO MAKE US LEGIT ?
3. Are You Thinking That We Need NARAS to make us Legit? Well, Hell, No!
The first step towards liberation is knowing and taking pride in
yourself. As Ray Barretto said at the Awards Night, "We've shown we
don't need NARAS." But a fight such as ours is complex and must be
fought on many fronts. Therefore, while we get our acts together, we
must also carry la lucha into "the man's" house where we will have
access to a greater stage for recognition. This will then give us the
economics to tackle and incorprate advanced technology into our music
making.
Why do you think there's been practically no use of synthesizers in
Latin? Or why companies don't have diversified catalogues, not even
within the realm of SALSA, so that an artist is forced to be "Tipico" or
disco or lazz, but not all three? Or why the great artists or promising
newcomers can't be promoted properly west of Chicago?
WlLL THE NARAS LATIN GRAMMY AFFECT THE LATIN NY AWARDS ?
4. So What Aftect Does This Have On The Music Awards? Come hell or high
water, NARAS or no, there will be a Latin NY music Awards & Show every
year. We may influence NARAS (and have done so) but that is our only
relation to the Grammys. The Latin NY Salsa Awards are our baby, una
cosa entre la familia where we honor our own. And so hopefully, it will
always be. Our fight after all, is to build our own institutions, define
ourseIves, and in the process . . . educate America.
