Pianist Michel Camilo Wins Latin GRAMMY Award

Cleveland (Ohio), USA – Telarc International Corporation announced tonight that Michel Camilo has been awarded a Latin GRAMMY in the category of Best Classical Album by the Latin Recording Academy for Rhapsody in Blue, released on February 28, 2006. Winners were announced at the 7th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards Ceremony on Thursday, November 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The ceremony was broadcast live on the Univision Network.

On Rhapsody in Blue, the Dominican-born pianist pays homage to George Gershwin with the help of the 95-piece Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ernesto Martinez Izquierdo. On the heels of two of his finest recordings to date – the Grammy winning Live at the Blue Note (2003) and the intimate Solo (2004) – Rhapsody in Blue seamlessly merges jazz and symphonic sensibilities with a unique rendition of Gershwin’s immortal “ Rhapsody in Blue,” followed by some of the great American composer’s lesser known works – his Concerto in F, followed by his Prelude No. 2 for solo piano, with a touch of improvised blues.“This is so great,” says Camilo, “I am honored to win my first Latin GRAMMY for Best Classical Album. It feels like a dream come true since it took me several years of preparation to make this album a reality and pay tribute to one of my favorite composers, George Gershwin, and his music.

I am grateful to my producer Elaine Martone and my conductor Ernesto Martinez Izquierdo for understanding and supporting my personal vision of these works from the very beginning and for taking care of capturing and bringing out the beautiful playing from all the wonderful musicians in the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. It was amazing how easily we all connected and were able to make music together.

Thanks also to Bob Woods and everyone at Telarc for believing in me, and most importantly to my wife, Sandra, for her constant love and for always keeping me inspired and creative.”

“I am thrilled to win my first Latin GRAMMY Award,” says producer Elaine Martone, Executive Vice President of Production at Telarc. “This recording is a great example of how music crosses boundaries of many kinds. The idea of a Spanish orchestra playing traditionally American repertoire with a jazz pianist could make some skeptical. I would tell those people to listen to this recording.

Gershwin would have most definitely approved of the swinging and energetic playing of the wonderful Michel Camilo and the stylistic accompaniment of the Barcelona Symphony and their conductor. When we were recording the piece, I felt the power and magic of the music.”

On April 24, 2007, Camilo returns to the straight-ahead trio format with the release of Spirit of the Moment, which features bassist Charles Flores and drummer Dafnis Prieto.

Since 1980, Telarc has been honored with 49 GRAMMY Awards for performance, production, and engineering. Other important awards have included the French Grand Prix du Disque and Diapason d’Or; Japan’s Record of the Year; Germany’s Audiophile CD of the Year; Gramophone Magazine’s 2004 Label of the Year.

Although it began as a classical-only recording company, Telarc now boasts a catalog of more than 1000 recordings, ranging from classical and classical-crossover to jazz, contemporary jazz, Americana, pop and blues. Telarc releases approximately fifty-five recordings each year, working with a notable roster of artists.

Buy Rhapsody in Blue.