Winners of the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in the world music categories were announced tonight, February 13, 2011. Mali’s Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté won in the Best Traditional World Music Album category with the album Ali And Toumani. Recorded in 2005, with contributions from Cachaíto López on bass, this World Circuit/Nonesuch album, produced by Nick Gold, is the successor to the In the Heart of the Moon, which won the Grammy in the same category in 2005, and is the last recording by both Touré and López.
The Best Contemporary World Music Album went to American banjo player Béla Fleck for his Africa Sessions work, Throw Down Your Heart , Africa Sessions Part 2: Unreleased Tracks.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Nonesuch debut, Genuine Negro Jig, won the award for Best Traditional Folk Album. On the record, produced by Joe Henry, the multi-instrumental group reclaims and revives a near-forgotten brand of banjo-driven string-band music from North Carolina’s Piedmont region.
The awards show was broadcast live at Staples Center in Los Angeles on the CBS Television Network.
Following is a list of the world music-related winners:
Best Traditional World Music Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- Ali And Toumani – Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté [World Circuit-Nonesuch]
Best Contemporary World Music Album
- Throw Down Your Heart , Africa Sessions Part 2: Unreleased Tracks – Béla Fleck [Acoustic Planet Records]
Best Tropical Latin Album
- Viva La Tradición – Spanish Harlem Orchestra [Concord Picante]
Best Traditional Folk Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- Genuine Negro Jig – Carolina Chocolate Drops [Nonesuch]
Best Contemporary Folk Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise – Ray LaMontagne And The Pariah Dogs [RCA Records]
Best Hawaiian Music Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- Huana Ke Aloha – Tia Carrere [Daniel Ho Creations]
Best Native American Music Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- 2010 Gathering Of Nations Pow Wow: A Spirit’s Dance (Various Artists) – Derek Mathews, Dr. Lita Mathews & Melonie Mathews, producers [Gathering Of Nations Records]
Best Zydeco Or Cajun Music Album
- Zydeco Junkie – Chubby Carrier And The Bayou Swamp Band [Swampadellic Records]
Best Latin Jazz Album
- Chucho’s Steps – Chucho Valdés And The Afro-Cuban Messengers [Four Quarters Entertainment]
Best Reggae Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- Before The Dawn – Buju Banton [Gargamel Music, Inc.]
Best New Age Album
- Miho: Journey To The Mountain – Paul Winter Consort [Living Music]
Best Latin Rock, Alternative Or Urban Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- El Existential – Grupo Fantasma [Nat Geo Music]
Best Americana Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- You Are Not Alone – Mavis Staples [ANTI-]
Best Bluegrass Album, Vocal or Instrumental
- Mountain Soul II – Patty Loveless [Saguaro Road]
Best Traditional Blues Album
- Joined At The Hip – Pinetop Perkins & Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith [Telarc]
Best Contemporary Blues Album
- Living Proof – Buddy Guy [Silvertone/Jive]
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
- Herbie Hancock with Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck, and Oumou Sangare – Imagine, Track from: The Imagine Project [Hancock Records]
Complete list of winners at http://www.grammy.com/nominees
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central