It's official. Latin jazz artist Bobby Sanabria will be suing the Grammys over their recent category restructuring. At a press conference at the law offices of Balber Pickard Maldonado and Van Der Truin, Mr. Sanabria, a four time Grammy nominee read his own explanation of the reasons, as he sees it, for the action. I will let him and his council speak for themselves, before throwing in my two cents:

Unlike Mr. Sanabria, I have always thought of the televised Grammys show as a carefully packaged main stream media program, calculated to maximize the sale of goods. When a friend of mine won a Grammy, she did not receive her award on air, nor did she expect to, it having been in an "ethnic" category and unlikely to raise the profit margins of the show's various sponsors. Whether they ought to or not, the general public does not tune in to see awards for Best Hawaiian Slack-key Guitar, or Best Native American music. (I invite comments on this topic.)

But is this what the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (as opposed to the broadcast) is predicated upon? According to the Wikipedia, NARAS is an "organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its makers." That is a far cry from how it is currently represented on air, or where it is veering with this decision. By lumping together certain ethnic musical forms, it makes it far harder for the artists involved in those genres to get the Bona Fides that the Grammy award bestows, and the career benefits thereof. And it shows a shocking ignorance -- at best, heedless and dismissive -- of what these various genres are really about.

Since they refuse to divulge the minutes of the meetings that led to the decision, we are left to imagine the true motivations and the conversations that took place. Where was the need for the "streamlining?" Did it have anything to do with financial troubles: an overextended budget, a cutting back of foundation support, and a diminishing membership? Perhaps Latin Jazz was eliminated since "they have their own Grammys" or because "Jazz is Jazz" (both can-of-worms discussions which I am sure they would not want put up for an open debate). Did CBS' or any major label's input affect the decision directly or through other means? Exactly who voted for or against? Which of them was an expert in the fields that were affected? -- Or were the panels all made up of Pop, Rock, R&B and Rap aficionados? One could go on, but I don't wonder that NARAS refuses to disclose the information demanded by Mr. Maldonado's firm. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. And I don't mean that sympathetically. I mean, what did they expect?

While some of the category winnowing is not dreadful, (best male or female pop vocals are now merged into "Best Pop Vocal") some categories need further expansion, not compression. Best Traditional World Music and Best Contemporary World Music are already inadequate, vague categories, and have been reduced to Best World Music Album…grrrrr… By the way, Tex-Mex, Zydeco, Cajun, Hawaiian, Native American and yes, polka, ARE World Music!
For whatever reasons it may give, NARAS has made a heavy-handed blunder, and after stirring up this hornet's nest, it is responding autocratically. By remaining inflexible, it does itself a great disservice. Even as it, along with the music industry, may be grappling with economic downturns and a changing landscape, it is obligated to stay true to its founding tenets by supporting all the music its membership is dedicated to. Members who were knowledgeable in the fields most affected should have been consulted in these decisions, those decisions should have been announced with sufficient time given for preparation by the artists, and secrecy was not the way to go. In excluding its constituency on such crucial matters, NARAS has placed its own credibility at risk.

For more information regarding action on this issue go to: www.grammywatch.org

Click here to see the categories as they were and as they now are.

Malika Zarra has had to negotiate the world of her heritage (Morocco) and the world she has found herself in (Europe, the USA) and has emerged with a strong musical identity that combines the structures of jazz with songs that come from her North African heart. She brought the music of her latest release "Berber Taxi" on Motema Records to the intimate NY club, the Jazz Standard, and from my perch on a bar stool, above the audience -- and the waiters delivering slabs of barbecue -- I caught the title track on video.

Zarra has a warm and caressing presence, and she introduced this traditional song that she learned from her mother by telling of how in remote villages, sometimes one hopes that a taxi will come from far away, bringing love. But the song also operates as a metaphor for Zarra's own inner journey through Morocco, France and New York City. She grew up listening to traditional music in her home, but was introduced to jazz after the family moved to France, where her formal musical studies began. Throughout the evening, the cadences of Arabic and Berber dialects sat easily within the sophisticated arrangements, as did the modalities of the melodies. By the end of her set, the audience was thoroughly entranced.

Musicians in the top-notch band that night, were Jean-Christophe Maillard on guitar, Etienne Stadwijk on piano, Mamadou Ba on bass, Harvey Wirht on drums, and Brahim Fribgane on oud and percussion.

I also liked the room. The Jazz Standard has a welcoming feel, and I found myself chatting with a very interesting couple who live on a boat, and make it a point to come to the club whenever they are in town. But when the music began, cell phones were off, and ears were turned on, giving complete attention to the music.

For more information about Ms. Zarra's upcoming performances, visit www.malikazarra.com

Less than a year ago elections were held in Sudan in which President Omar-al-Bashir maintained his control amidst much controversy. The international community settled down to business as usual. But in the back of everyone’s mind, the upcoming referendum on South Sudan’s secession lurked like a tidal wave on the horizon. As of this writing, the ballots have not been tallied and despite violent flare-ups in border areas, the word up is secession, not unity.

Our Sudanese friend Hisham (you may remember him from the interview about the April elections) has created an animation to celebrate that decision, and to make the case for peace between the people of both incipient states. We can only hope the message is heard and heeded.

I first met Josh Norek about ten years ago when he sent me a low budget video of his Latino-Jewish band the Hip Hop Hoodíos. It was a song about Chanukah sung in Spanish and English, and there were plenty of surreal shots of the "Bagel Babe" - a hot young thing wearing a bra made from that circular staple - even in a Jacuzzi! I sensed there was an unusual mind behind this.

Further down the road, Josh sent me an email about a new event: the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) that he was co-organizing in New York City. I wished him well. He continued to send me press releases about bands I had never heard of but which were pretty damned good. I started to trust his taste.

Five years ago, he helped Tomas Cookman launch the company Nacional Records. Between them, they had tons of experience managing and promoting "Rock en Español" acts, and soon they began aggregating the strongest roster of Latin Alternative Music extant. Then, prior to the past presidential election, Josh sent an email around, saying he was taking a sabbatical (or should that be shabattical?) from the music biz, and donating significant time to his favorite grassroots organization, Voto Latino, working to register and activate young Latinos in battleground states to get the vote out. Since then he has also gotten his radio show "The Latin Alternative" up and syndicated. So when I heard that Josh was going to be in town, I jumped at the chance to interview him. His time as usual, was tight; we had just half an hour, so we plowed into it despite the noise from construction on an adjacent floor.

No matter where we fall on the immigration issue, the undeniable fact is that the burgeoning Latino population is changing the face and culture of the USA. I wanted Josh to talk about this, to reflect on the relationship between music, demographics and activism. He did that and more; his conversation was so far ranging that I may have to present those parts of it that dealt specifically with Rock en Español, Nacional, the LAMC and the state of the music industry in general, at a later date.

I have nothing against the idea of the latest fundraising video for Haiti because the cause is certainly a great one; it's just that I tire of the usual bevy of First World entertainers belting it out. That's why it's refreshing to meet someone like Mark Johnson, one of the founders of Playing for Change.  By now you've all probably heard about this organization through the widely seen globetrotting video of "Stand By Me." The first time I saw it, I thought it was pleasant enough, but what was it for, what was the next step -- what was the substance? Mark clarified it all for me in an eloquent interview, in which he laid out a vision for using music as a catalyst for social change. I've heard my share of pie-in-the-sky blah blah about using music for this or that, but Mark's ideas are not dreams -- they are based on solid reality and hard work.

Can any of us deny that one of our greatest achievements to date is our unprecedented technological connectivity? Playing for Change is not just about making pretty videos. It's about connecting a global community where access to medicine, education, and mutual respect are a given.

I had a conversation many years ago with Christoph Borkowsky, one of the founders of the World Music Expo, WOMEX. At the time he said to me that the music of every nation should be treated as a natural resource. He chafed at the lack of market exposure great world artists got, and was certain that significant revenue streams could result from a level, truly international marketplace. Now that a new generation can access global content with ease, perhaps the idea finally has the proper soil in which to grow. And perhaps the next great musical outpouring of support for a cause will well up spontaneously, from another part of the world, and have a truly international face and sound.