Boy, have we got a great Latin Grammys Recap for you!
This year’s Latin Grammy’s biggest buzz was not about what the artists were wearing, or who was going to win the Best Record of the Year, but what President Obama was going to say about immigration reform before the show aired. Time seemed to stand still while our Commander-in-Chief gave the most anticipated announcement of the year. Even the Latin Grammys were delayed for a full 16 minutes to accomodate.
Though social media went into hyper mode throughout (and after) the President’s speech, the Latin Recording Academy was ready to put on a show. With top recording artists such as Calle 13, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Yandel, Wisin, Santana, Pitbull, Carlos Vives, and Ruben Blades the Grammys promised and delivered a star-studded buffet of superb music and jaw-dropping performances.
The show kicked off with rapper René Pérez Joglar (also known on stage as Residente), from the group Calle 13, performing El Aguante, a fusion of Latin Urban and Irish Folk music. About half-way through the performance, Residente revealed his T-shirt with the words “Ayotzinapa Faltan 43” in solidarity with the 43 missing students who were later found dead in Mexico. According to The Hollywood Reporter the group was asked to tone down their political ideologies and not let them take center stage, but true to form, they obviously did their own thing.
The night built on its own momentum, with each act getting more and more hype. Ruben Blades performed his classic song Pedro Navaja, but with a tango twist. Ricky Martin performed his new hit song, A Dios, as dancers dressed in 1920s flapper outfits fused 1920’s Charleston moves with modern Latin choreography. Pitbull even collaborated with Santana to modernized Tito Puente’s hit song Oye Como Va.
Though many artists were nominated for several categories, there wasn’t a single dominant winner in this year’s Latin Grammys. Jorge Drexler took home Record of the Year for Universos Paralelos, the late Paco de Lucia was recognized for his work on the album Canción Andaluza, which also won Album of the Year. Enrique Iglesias walked away with Song of the Year for Bailando, Latin pop singer Mariana Vega was named Best New Artist, and Calle 13 snagged Best Urban Music Album for MultiViral.
Overall it was a fantastic way to sum up the last year in Latin music.
Read on for the complete list of 2014 Latin Grammy winners:
Record of the year: “Universos Paralelos” — Jorge Drexler, featuring Ana Tijoux
Album of the year: “Canción Andaluza” — Paco de Lucía
Song of the year: “Bailando” — Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona and Enrique Iglesias
New artist: Mariana Vega
Contemporary pop vocal album: “Elypse” — Camila
Traditional pop vocal album: “Fonseca Sinfónico” — Fonseca
Urban performance: “Bailando” — Enrique Iglesias, featuring Descemer Bueno and Gente De Zona
Urban music album: “MultiViral” — Calle 13
Urban song: “Bailando” — Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona and Enrique Iglesias
Rock album: “Agua Maldita” — Molotov
Pop/Rock album: “Loco De Amor” — Juanes
Rock song: “Cuando No Estás” — Andrés Calamaro
Alternative music album: “Romantisísmico” — Babasónicos
Alternative song: “El Aguante” — Calle 13
Salsa album: “3.0” — Marc Anthony
Cumbia/Vallenato album: “Celedón Sin Fronteras 1” — Jorge Celedón and various artists
Contemporary tropical album: “Más + Corazón Profundo” — Carlos Vives
Traditional tropical album: “Grandes Exitos De Las Sonoras, Con La Más Grande, La Sonora Santanera” — La Sonora
Tropical song: “Cuando Nos Volvamos A Encontrar” — Andrés Castro and Carlos Vives
Singer-songwriter album: “Bailar En La cueva” — Jorge Drexler
Ranchero album: “Lástima Que Sean Ajenas” — Pepe Aguilar
Banda album: “Haciendo Historia” — Banda El Recodo De Don Cruz Lizarrag
Tejano album: “Forever Mazz” — Jimmy González and Grupo Mazz
Norteño album: “Amor Amor” — Conjunto Primavera
Regional song: “De Mil Amores” — Marco Antonio Solís, songwriter (Marco Antonio Solís)
Instrumental album: “Final Night At Birdland” — Arturo O’Farrill and The Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra
Folk album: “Raíz” — Lila Downs, Niña Pastori y Soledad
Tango album: “Tangos” — Rubén Blades
Flamenco album: “Canción Andaluza” — Paco de Lucía
Latin jazz album: Tie: “The Vigil” — Chick Corea, “Song For Maura” — Paquito D’Rivera & Trio Corrente
Christian album (Spanish language): “La Carta Perfecta – En Vivo” — Danilo Montero
Christian album (Portuguese language): “Graça” — Aline Barros
Brazilian contemporary pop album: “Multishow Ao Vivo – Ivete Sangalo 20 Anos” — Ivete Sangalo
Brazilian rock album: “Gigante Gentil” — Erasmo Carlos
Samba/pagode album: “Coração A Batucar” — Maria Rita
MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) Album: “Verdade, Uma Ilusão” — Marisa Monte
Sertaneja music album: “Questão De Tempo” — Sérgio Reis
Brazilian roots album: “Amigo Da Arte” — Alceu Valença
Brazilian song: “A Bossa Nova É Foda” — Caetano Veloso, songwriter (Caetano Veloso)
Latin children’s album: “Coloreando: Traditional Songs For Children In Spanish” — Marta Gómez & Friends
Classical album: “Verdi” — Plácido Domingo; Christopher Alder, album producer
Classical contemporary composition: “Concierto Para Violín y Orquesta De Cuerdas” — Claudia Montero, composer (Claudia Montero)
Recording package: “Wed 21” — Alejandro Ros, art director (Juana Molina)
Engineered album: “De Repente” — Juber Anbín, Johnnatan García, Rodner Padilla, Eduardo Pulgar, Vladimir Quintero Mora, Jean Sánchez & Alexander Vanlawren, engineers; Germán Landaeta & Darío Peñaloza, mixers; Germán Landaeta, mastering engineer (C4 Trío y Rafael “”Pollo”” Brito)
Producer of the year: Sergio George
Short form music video: “Flamingo” — La Vida Bohème | Leonardo Gonzalez, Pablo Iranzo & Carl Zitelman, video directors; Debbie Crosscup & César Elster, video producers
Long form music video: “El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco – La Película” — Café Tacvba | Gregory Allen, video director; Café Tacvba, video producers
