Cuban Latin Grammy Nominees

HAVANA TIMES — A large number of Cuban musicians will be competing this year for one of the Latin Grammy Awards, whose nominations were announced on Tuesday by the Latin Recording Academy, reported Cubaencuentro.

In the “Best Latin Jazz Album” category are nominated pianist Chucho Valdés with “Live in Chicago,” and saxophonist Arturo Sandoval for his album “Dear Diz (Everyday I Think of You).” That latter album also received a nomination for “Album of the Year.”

Valdes has another nomination for “Best Folk Album,” for his work Piano Charango, while Sandoval also managed to get his album Tango Como Yo Te Siento (Tango Like I Feel It) in the “Best Tango Album” competition.

The saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera was nominated for best instrumental album for “Day and a Half,” and songwriter Amaury Gutierrez appears among candidates for “Song of the Year” for his work “Invisible.”

In addition, the album La Maquinaria (The Machine), by Juan Formell and Los Van Van, was nominated for “Best Contemporary Tropical Album,” and Eliades Ochoa chose to go after the award for the “Best Traditional Tropical Album” with his album A Bolero Para Ti.

A nomination for the “Best Album in Latin Music for Children” went to the Cuban group Rosa Rita y Amigos for their Canciones De Agua (Songs of Water) and a nomination for “Best Long Version Music Video” went to musician Manuel Galban for Blue Cha Cha.

Finally, three Cuban musicians were nominated in the category of “Best Work/Contemporary Classical Composition.” Those nominees are Tania Leon for Inura, Leo Brouwer for Quartet # 4 – Rem Tene Verba Sequentur, and Aurelio De La Vega for Prelude No. 1.