NPR Music - Alt.Latino talks all the surprise nominations for the 2024 Latin Grammys

Episode Date: September 25, 2024

Wait a minute — does Alt.Latino actually agree with a lot of the Latin Recording Academy's nominations this year?Felix Contreras, Anamaria Sayre and reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento run through as many of the whopping 58 categories as they can in this episode dissecting the nominations for the upcoming ceremony.Songs featured in this episode:•Grupo Frontera, "CANSADO DE SUFRIR"•Grupo Frontera and Yahritza y Su Esencia, "LAS FLORES"•Grupo Frontera and Christian Nodal, "Ya Pedo Quién Sabe"•Dayme Arocena, "A fuego lento"•Hamilton de Holanda, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, "Saudade, Saudade"•Kali Uchis and Karol G, "Labios Mordidos"•Karol G, "MI EX TENÍA RAZÓN"•Latin Mafia, "Julieta"•Kevin Aguilar, "Bonita"•Nicolle Horbath, "Carmen"•Nicole Horts, "Bitch3"•Ana Frango Elétrico, "Dela"•Angélica Olivo, Juan Pablo Contreras, and Orquesta Latino Mexicana, "La Minerva - III. Himno a la Mujer"Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Suraya Mohamed. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

So Felix, the Latin Grammy nominations have just arrived. I know. I printed them out and I'm going through them as we speak. Can you hear it? You have them printed? Yes, of course. I need everything on paper. You know that. No, I wish I had them printed. That would be so nice. All right, carry on. Let's go. I'm ready. Why weren't you ready five minutes ago? I'm ready now. Look, there are 58 categories that we got to get through today.

So let's go. Let's hit it. From NPR Music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayer that the cheese may begin. And the cheese may is Latin Grammys. So the thing about the Latin Grammys, Felix, is every year when I see this list come out, based on how aligned we are, I'm either like, the Academy has no idea what it's talking about, this is so stupid, or I'm like, they really have a point here. So this year, I felt pretty validated, so I'm going to get in here and say,

I like the Academy this year. Okay. And I might as well get in here and introduce who's sitting in the studio with me because she gave me some validating snaps and I like that. So we have the amazing culture reporter, Isabella Gomez Sergiento. Thank you for joining us. Oliz. Hi, Issa? She's like sitting here in real time doing some serious digital reporting work.

I'm scrolling through the nominations. I should have printed them out like Felix. Not all of us can be so wise. In 40 more years, Issa. We'll get there. We'll get there. Okay. That was not a roast.

That was a compliment. Okay, all right. Let's just keep going. I'm complimenting your wisdom. It's going to take us up at 40 years to get through all 58 categories. I feel like starting with the children's music. Let's go. Oh, truth be told, we're not going to get through all 58 because there were some themes and some highlights that we noticed this year.

There are some things that we want to talk about specifically. But I'll let you start it off because on our text conversation last night, well, you were on the train and I was on the plane. and I was on the plane coming and going from different places. You had an interesting observation about Mexican regional. So I was just saying to Issa that this was amazing for me because this allowed me to revisit some of my most beautiful favorite regional albums. I've kind of been off my regional kick, and I don't know why I ever was off because there's nothing as good.

And this was really the year that they actually acknowledged Reginal as a legitimate popular music, Right? Like we saw nominations across major categories, like record of the year, song of the year, album of the year. And we had not seen that in previous years. I mean, I think that was one of our big complaints last year. Yeah, I was going to say, it really does feel like, I mean, so they added the new category this year for Best Contemporary Mexican Music album. And it really does seem like they're kind of making amends for what people called people, people, I don't know who, but some people called it the great peso pluma snub of 2023. Some people. But I will say what I found really interesting, Yisa, because we saw a Carine Leon mentioned in the album of the year, which is awesome. I mean, that was a really incredible record. He's all over the place. He has a bunch of nominations.

He's on a trajectory that is incredible and is so talented and so well deserved. But we also saw in Song of the Year, Seugun Kian, the super popular Edgar Barrera Maluma song, which was my actual favorite track off of that Shakira album. It was her regional moment that I thought actually worked quite well. But the one thing that I found really interesting is if you go scroll down or feel like, sorry, flip your pages to the actually regional section where we have Best Norteño album, we have Best Contemporary Mexican Music album. And you see Grupo Fontera spread across those two categories. They actually got two different album nominations there. Yeah, they're kind of the middle line between the old guard of the genre, the more traditional.

guard of the genre and then also this like pop explosion that we've seen this year. It's really cool to see Grupo Frontera somehow manages to have like a foot in both worlds and have a lot of relevance in both worlds, have a lot of respect, I think, from both of those very distinct audiences. Well, and more interestingly to me actually is the way that the Academy is currently trying to sort out what is regional Mexican music kind of in real time because you haven't a band like this. They're so fresh.

They're so young. They're so new. And they are changing so rapidly that within one year, They could actually create two albums that would be included across two different subcategories in this genre. And it's almost like they had to make a choice here that would never quite fit. Because even within each of these independent albums, what was so amazing to me is that they played across these really different styles. I want to play something from El Comienso, which was their debut album, and it's the one that they got nominated in the Norteño category for it. We know a Portsiento came off of that one, but I want to play a different song.

called Cancad Toffre Outson Noor Noe Noe Noe

that to control my mental what you want to make you know

to end up to never to be to I'm I'm I'm

again me put you to see to be the angels and then

you then you you're to to to to to

So something really interesting to me in that Norteur category but what's striking to me is you kind of start with almost like a pop guitar sound which is very classic Edgar Barrera it keeps it very contemporary, very fresh but where it sits like Issa was saying in this Norteño category that's typically

a little bit more old school, it does stand out But then I want to play a little bit of the literal next track on the album called Las Flores. We're kind of going like Selena, Tejano Cumbia. They would never think to throw this album into the Tejano category because this band, even though they're from Texas, is not billed as a Tejano band. and yet there's sprinklings of that all over this record. And they're in a category in the Norteño album. They're in a category with, like you said, veterans.

Like the one that stands out to me is Intocable. They've been doing this for a very long time. Of course. And also Texas and Fusion, definitely. So there's like this incompleteness of the category. And then you fast forward ahead, Felix, to album number two that they dropped within this year of eligibility. And that was just all across.

the board. I think they didn't even know what to do with that record because it did so much. I mean, we talked about it a lot. We had that amazing Desquite track that they did with Nikki Nicole. I want to play a little bit of a song called Yeah, Pedo Can Sabe, and it's off of the album, In That New Category, Best Contemporary Mexican Music album. I brought a In one of those, I'm likeing the I'm

And I'm a little bit of a whole bit of a hole in there Because to me, this track This track feels like it could have fit back in that older category. I do. understand why they slotted them here because you have some tracks that are leaning more Corrio Tumbado. Again, I mentioned the Nikki Nicole Desquite track, which is just all across the board, something really interesting. We talked about it on our Edgar Barrera episode. But there's really, I mean, they're sitting next to artists like Pesso Pluma, Natalcano, Danny

Lux, Carin Leon again in this category, which Carin is doing what he's doing. He was a lot more straight ahead. Traditional regional and now is like collabing with Leon. bridges and doing all the things he's doing. So I think the Latin Grammys just can't keep up with these artists. You know, no shade to the academy because it's... A little shade. Well, no, seriously, because that's what I always say when the people ask me about what, you know, what I think about the music that we play. These younger artists are just so innovative and so genre busting and so creative. Like, how could you possibly keep up? You're going to create a new category every year because somebody did something different? I think it's a testament to the creativity of the musicians

there in an organization and institution like the academy is doing the best that they can to keep up because I know I do and even in the genres that I really care a lot about people are genre busting all the time well Felix I'm curious though like what's the requirement how much of a movement how much you know energy around a certain style of music how many people like does it is it cultural influence is it you know because also when we're talking about smaller artists they're not necessarily going to be a million gazillion bazillion people listening or getting behind that music, but it doesn't mean that it's not impactful what they're doing with innovation. So where's the line there? I don't have an answer, and I'm glad I'm not having to make those decisions, to be honest with you. No, because like the group of frontetta track you played a while

back, if you take out the accordion and sing it in English, to me, that sounded like I'd rather go blind by Editha James. You know, it's got the same kind of R&B, arpeggio, guitar, and so they're going over into that, but singing and you throw in an accordion,

it's true to where they grew up in the music that they listened to. So I think it's maybe even more reflective of a bilingual, bicultural life that a lot of the younger artists are living and experiencing and expressing themselves in. Yeah. And I mean, I think to add to that too, though, like, we're still not seeing, I think, enough integration for some of that innovation in the general categories, right? Like, I think the academy still has very strict definitions of what's pop or what's sort of in those main big four. I think it's easier for them sometimes to put people in boxes. Like I was looking today. Bad Bunny, once again, most of his nominations.

And again, like, Nadia Sávez Lo Kappa Marana was a pretty straightforward trap album, more so than his last album. But his nominations are once again concentrated in the urban categories in the urban field. He's never won in a general category for a Latin Grammy, which is kind of crazy, considering the sort of revolution of Latin music as pop that he's been leading. The Academy still hasn't recognized that. So I think it's like they keep creating these boxes to put people in. but at a certain point we're sort of losing sight of how those boxes don't really mean anything anymore because everyone's listening to everything. I do a couple of things when the nominations come out. The first thing I do is go through the major categories and do the whole thing.

I go through all of them and I look for the smaller artists that we've played on Alt Latino over the years and see if any of them have moved up to these larger categories, getting larger recognition for what it is that they do. And I'm going to point out two things to share. Sima Funk is nominated in Record of the Year with Monsieur Perrine, both bands that we've played on Alt Latino and both have done Tainideast concerts for their track, Catalina. I was very, very pleased and surprised

to see them nominated in such a major category because they've been working very hard, winning fans in the old-fashioned way, one by one, all over the world. And then also another favorite, Daimé Arocena with Vicente Garcia in the Song of the Year for the track A Fuego Lento from her album, Alchemy.

another Alt-Latino Fave, a Felix Fave, that I've watched grow and develop and just really make a place for herself. Her album, Alchemy, was produced by Eduardo Cabra. She was super, super excited about that when I saw her, what, two summers ago, and she told me she was going to work on this project. So I just want to note that I love to see these smaller artists kind of grow into themselves and grow into the industry. I just wanted to say I was also very excited to see that I may have sent on here

because that album in particular was sort of her big attempt into, Latin pop and into no longer being pigeonholed as being a Latin jazz artist. And I was very glad to see her get some of those flowers because it's a fantastic record that moves across so many sounds she's never really dabbled in before. The Seema Funk example is an example to me again of the Academy kind of not quite catching up in the moment. Like I too was really excited to see that he got that nod. Monsior Perine, got that nod. I mean, they're incredible. I went to their concert a couple months ago and I think it was maybe one of the best live performances I've seen. Like, I don't know,

whatever. And he's incredibly talented and totally deserving and what he does is so innovative and interesting. But I remember when this came out, we were talking about the record. We both really liked it. But we were also feeling like it was a lot of a continuation of what we were really excited to see him do with his previous record, which was El Alimento. So in many ways, I would have loved to see that album get its flowers because it was kind of the first moment for him to be doing what he was doing in that specific way. And this felt like another version of that. And so, I don't know, it felt like a very delayed nomination to me. Again, very excited to see that he was recognized in general, but almost like a few years late.

So are you saying that the Academy needs to listen to Alt Latino more often? Is that what you're saying? Oh, you know what, Felix, I think that's exactly what I'm saying. We have to choose one of the other. Let's hear the Daimé Adocena track. This is A Fuego Lento from her album, Alchemy, with Vicente Garcia. We're talking about the alt-latan-law I'm talking about the Latin Grammy nominations.

We'll be right back after this break. You are listening to Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm talking with Anna Maria Seier and Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento. And we are talking about the Latin Grammy nominations that just came out. Okay, what do you want to talk about next? This is all you, Felix. Jazz.

Okay, then let's talk about jazz. I want to go to category 38, which is what I do every year, to the Best Latin Jazz category. But this year, I don't know if it was this year or when they changed this, but I just noticed it's Best Latin Jazz last Jazz album. And it does reflect how musicians from Latin America, the Spanish-speaking world and the Portuguese-speaking world are playing straight-ahead jazz are reinterpreting the music in ways

that doesn't have to be like Afro-Cuban-Clave-based or Brazilian samba-Basanova thing, It's a way to acknowledge that the innovation in improvise music is, again, impossible to categorize, just like we were talking about with the Mexican regional. That's a super interesting distinction to me, Felix. So that is literally Latin jazz would be, you know, incorporating all those sounds that you just named, and then a Latin Grammy in the jazz category would just be Spanish-language jazz. Not necessarily Spanish-language jazz because, for example, Miguel Zenon and Luis Perdomo are nominated for El Artes de Bolero, Volume 2.

There's no language. There's no singing. So it's strictly a musical interpretation of bolero without the trappings of either an African-Cuban bass or any other kind of rhythm instruments in there. And the one that we played earlier this year from Hamilton de Hollanda and Gonzalo Rubal Calba. Hamilton de Hollanda is from Brazil and plays mandolin. And Gonzalo Rubalcahba is a very, very legendary African pianist, jazz pianist. And their album collab is on here as well. So it's the Academy recognizing the same kind of innovation that we were talking about in the Mexican regional category before.

See, but that's where it gets a little tricky for me because then I think we're back to some of those questions we had earlier this year around country and Latin, Latino, whatever. When you don't have a language, right, because we talk about this all the time in the Latin Grammys, Latin Academy, Spanish, 51% Spanish, right? Or Portuguese. Or Portuguese, thank you. Is there distinguishing classification? So when you take the language out of it all together, what is the qualification here then, that they're Latino and they're making jazz?

The Academy, we're looking at you. Yes. I think it's a broad interpretation, because I know Chick-Correa has been nominated in the past, and he is from, I believe, it's Italian background. Of course, he's a legendary, legendary jazz pianist, known more for his jazz than his ethnic background, and he's been nominated in this category before.

So, you know, that's interesting because I was just involved in a online kind of discussion, heated discussion about the term Latin jazz and whether or not... Fight me. Fight me. Whether or not that is even an applicable term. And the point I made on my post was that what we talk about on the show all the time anyway, like Latin music, it doesn't even have any meaning anymore because it's so diverse. It's not just Afro-Cuban-based music anymore.

It's all of these different musicians. Again, younger musicians doing a lot of different things. And to drive that point home, let me play a track. Okay, we're going to play a track from the Hamilton De Hollanda and Gonzalo Rubacaba album called Calab and this is a track called Soudagee Soudage. Okay, I've had my moment for the jazz category. Category 38. All right, what else do we got going on?

Well, we've discussed at length the limitations of labeling music on language. But on that point, I will say I was very happy to see Kali Uchis get nominated for four awards this year. She's spoken publicly about how her former label did not want her to make Spanish language music earlier on in her career, and she released her second Spanish language album Orquidias this year. She got four nominations, including for record of the year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Pop Song. She's also in the reggaeton category, so I think it just really shows that she committed to making music in Spanish, and it paid off. I thought her inclusion in that

category was actually really interesting. I think of all of the tracks of the year, I mean, again, like we just talked about with Bad Bunny, right? Like, this is an incredibly important, arguably almost like unofficial major category because of the lack of the representation in the actual major categories. I think myself and probably a lot of people often look to this category as like

a legitimate pulse check on the state of Latin music. Labios Mordidos is the track. She did it with Carol G. Let's hear a little bit of it and then we can talk about it. But of all of the tracks that were released this year in the urban category, which is a million, I don't know that it made the most sense to me as a representation of what's happening in that area of the world. I think, igual to an angel with Pesopuma, which was nominated in the record of the year category,

is one that I heard everywhere, is a lot more representative, I think, of the shifts that are happening. obviously not in specifically urban song. It's very different in that sense. But I don't know. Caliucci is in this category unique to see her there, but maybe not overall. And another just like interesting academy choice for me. I liked seeing her there because I think there was a song.

She had a song on her 2018 album, Isolation Nuestro Planet with Reikon. That was like, ooh, is Kaliuchi going to make reggaeton? And it's been years and then she did. I also think it's very much the academy giving Carol her flowers, which we will talk about. But Caro G was... Very flowered. Robustly awarded

into the nominations this year, and this is one of those categories where her name pops up yet again. Well, and her name just kept popping up, Issa. Bichita season. This is one of the most confusing things to me. She already got nominations a victory, I think.

She won album of the year last year for Manana Serawu-Nito, and then she released a follow-up version of that album, which is also nominated for album of the year. I was surprised to see that from that album, My Ex Tenia Rason, was the song that was sort of all over the nominations list, which is her Edgar Barrera collaboration. It is sort of like her regional tinged track. I think that song also very much blew up because Carol G has had a very public breakup and a very public new relationship with two reggaetoneros who I will not be naming. But the sort of gosset publicity around those relationships really culminates. in this song where she's talking about her ex-boyfriend and her new boyfriend. But again, it was kind of like the Un Porcento nods last year where the Academy picked the popiest

regional song and placed it across the pop categories as a way to recognize Regional without actually necessarily nodding to the artists innovating in the genre, just sort of a pop artist crossing over into it. Okay, so I want to keep talking about this song, but let's hear a little bit of Mi Extenia Rason. That's a lot of you I'll be I'm going to reason.

That song specifically, and then the album in general, was released at a very important moment in this kind of explosion of Reginal that we're talking about, where we're, we took it from, oh, wow, these artists in Regional are kind of making these bigger tracks and they're being seen and they're being listened to. And now Carol G's going to do it. Maluma's going to do it. Bad Bunny's going to do it.

It was right, kind of fit nicely within that moment. And so I think everyone was really excited to hear the song. It was kind of people were calling it like Her Celina moment because she literally did a Texas Cumbia track. And it's a nice track. It's a good song. It's a fun song. It's a fun song.

but was it the most innovative, amazing Texas cumbia, regional, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, song to come out of this last year? I think you make an incredible point, Issa, where it's the Academy latches onto certain artists. Pamela or Hey, Drexler. Where they see them doing something different. And they want to reward them for a phenomenon, a stylistic phenomenon that is happening in the Latin. music world at large, but they want to give it to an artist that they're like, they're reliably good. Yeah. Yeah. And I do think in a way, not everyone is thinking about regional or not everyone

is talking about regional and the way it's changing the way that we are having that conversation. So in a way, I'm like, maybe my extenia raison is the, you know, most de excess cumbia exposure. A lot of Latin music listeners who aren't invested in the genre have had. And for that reason, it does sort of make sense. But again, it wasn't my favorite song off Bichota season. And I was kind of surprised that was the one that really took off for the Academy's nominations. Speaking of recognition and actual places where it was rightly deserved, I was really excited by the new artist category this year. Me too.

It's extremely rare. It's like a very classic, both Grammys and Latin Grammys thing. I reminded you, I re-enraged you last night either because I brought up the fact that Anita won best new artist at the Grammys, which was insanity. New to who? All to say. This year, there were actually some names that I've done. been really excited about on this list. And they're legitimately small. They're legitimately

just breaking. They legitimately haven't had their moment to shine yet. I agree. It was very refreshing. I was like going into Best New Artist thinking we were going to see big newcomers like Young Miko or, you know, like a name that is relatively new on the scene, but that is everywhere. And most people know their music and they're basically pop artists by now. It was really cool to look at this category and see 10 names that I can't name more than one or two songs by most of these artists and I'm actually excited to dig in and sort of familiarize myself with who these nominated artists are. Okay, so I'm going to name a few that really stood out to me.

Latin Mafia has been my own personal on repeat all the time band. I'm actually obsessed with them. They're a band out of Mexico. They do all these kind of fun. They had a big song, Blua Patas de Aguado, the Humei remix. That was huge. I want to play a little bit of their track, Julietta. I really

It's a about to I'm going to you know You know Pondas Yeah

And so to go to Go to Let's I don't I'm I'm

Piot Pentexto Tevi too you too I'm Where you Go ahead

I'm I'm really love these guys. They've been doing to me what is kind of like on the front end of innovation in this kind of space in Mexico. The other artists I really wanted to shout out, I am so in love with this boy. So I was at my friend's house in Mexico back in October last year and he was like, I've been mixing for this new kid. He's literally kid. He was on the voice Mexico. His name is Kevin Aguilar. You have to listen to his song Bonita. I then literally literally, literally, listened to the song in the studio, fell in love, looked all over before I realized it had not come out yet.

It has now come out along with a whole EP, a bunch of other singles, and oh my goodness, this boy's voice is so beautiful. I was so excited to see that he actually made it into this category, shocked and excited. So let's hear a little bit of this song, Bonita. Okay, I do to call your attention, I know, oh, I know. You're for me,

I'm just we're not patinando, agarados of the man, it seems it in the cora, I was in the chorale

of you, Dejabu, that I want to repeat always at your side. Bonita. Okay, I just looked

above. He's 13 years old, man. He's literally a baby. He's a baby. Oh, my God. That is so cool. But that voice, is that not gorgeous?

Yeah, that's not what I was expecting at all when I saw that he was 13. I thought it was going to be much more like early Bieber. No, like really when my friend told me he's like, yeah, I'm mixing for this kid who just won the voice kids. I was like, okay, this is really bizarre. And they played me this song and I was like, oh my God, where can I find this? Like, I want to cry to this song. And that's when you know. It's a test of a good song.

That's how you know. Okay, I won't keep going on this category because I could actually name something from almost every single one of these artists that I'm really excited about. So one other nod, I think we should all mention. Nicole Horba. We love her now. We're big fans. She just played Tiny Desk with Juanis. I know.

And she was a star. I'm so excited because that Tiny Desk just came out. And people, so many people in the comments are already like, this background. She's so cute because she was the light of my life that day. Very, very happy to see her get that nod. And you're right, this is the first year that I really was

interested in digging into a lot of these names. I have no idea who they are. But that doesn't be, that's not saying a lot. If Felix doesn't know some of the artists are. Try to get me to name a single person in the Latin jazz category, Felix. They could be big stars,

man, and I still don't know their names. But I do know Nicole Horbao. Let's hear the track, Carmen. Congrats to all the best new artist nominees. Okay, Anna, you had a great idea on text last night, and I'm excited to get to this part. She gave us homework. I could. I was like, is this going to be annoying?

I literally felt like the teacher when they're like, by the way, guys, you have to come with these things prepared tomorrow. And I was like, but I kind of want to know. No, I love it. It was a good assignment. So you asked us to go through all, what is it, 58 categories. Here, hold on. Let me go through it right now. Go through all 58 categories.

See, we went through 58 categories so that other people don't have to listen. to us going through 58 categories. And find someone that we didn't know and play some of the music. So, Anna, since it was your assignment, you go first. Mine's kind of a, I cheated a little bit. I'm not going to lie. We're off to a great start.

I picked a name from the Best Alternative Music Album category that I kind of recognized. I saw her name and I was like, I feel like I've heard something from her, but maybe not. Her name is Nicole Hortz. Turns out I had heard a song from her that is called Nadia, which is off of her.

her record that is nominated, which the record is called Nika. I then went and spent time listening. I think I've listened to this album like four times through at this point since last night. I'm obsessed. This album is so good, guys. It's really good. Like, everyone really has to go listen to it. It's kind of giving a little bit of like a cross between Nati Peluso,

Nikki Nicole, like this very cool kind of rappera sound that she has, but also has salsa moments and some quieter moments. Anyways, I was. dying trying to pick just one track to play, but I did it. This track is called a word that I cannot say. It's spelled B-I-T-C-H-3. So my discovery artist is down in Category which is best Portuguese language rock or alternative album. I have to admit, I was caught by this artist's name.

Their name is Anna Franco Electrical, which does translate to Anna Electric Chicken. But their album, I'm going to do my best Portuguese, Me Chama de Gato, Ke E Usoza. Wow, that sounds good. really impressive to me. Obrigaada. You know, it's an album that is really sort of like, it moves across sort of like a bosa pop sound,

there's a little bit of rock, there's a little bit of jazz and lounge. At some points, the vocals almost remind me of, like, Francois Hardy. Like, there's like this really interesting layered chorus in some of the tracks. But the one song that I picked out from this album by Anna Frango Electrico is called Dela.

Issa, when you sent that in the car this morning, I pulled over safely and found it on Spotify. That is such a lie, Felix. Well, I did at a stoplight. I know you way too well. Listen, I did it at a stoplight, not while I was driving, but I did find it on Spotify and put it on. The details are changing. I did. And this one hit me, man.

I really like this one a lot. And for all those reasons, right? All the things you said. Like, there's a lot of different things happening. That's something we probably should spend more time with. Field 13 is Portuguese language music. There are eight categories, everything from folkloric to contemporary, all that kind of stuff. And it's a whole area to explore.

So good call, Issa. Nice one. Oh, thank you. Okay. The other thing I do when I get these nominations is I go down-ballot, what I call down-ballot, all the smaller categories, the folk. the Latin jazz, the Christian, the children's album. I like to see who's getting nominated.

Because for a lot of times, those musicians, a Latin Grammy nomination really helps them. And I've mentioned this before, these small independent artists, it helps them. They can charge a little bit more for their performances. You know, they get seen a little bit more. So I'm always excited to see who gets exposed. And I know I should let our colleague, Tom Hisinga, handle this one.

But I went to the classical field because Juan Pablo Contreras stood out, and I'm all about Team Contreras, right? That's as good a reason I'm on you, Felix. I love it. He's nominated in the best classical contemporary composition category. So Juan Pablo Contreras, the orchestra Latino Mexican and Angela Olivo, are nominated for a track called La Minerva Part 3, Imno, A La Mujer. Check this out a little bit.

You know, I checked him out. When I did get to the office, I just ran through some of his stuff on on Spotify. You know, he reminds me of, and I'm not just saying this, but he really reminds me of this composer, Carlos Chavez,

who was very, very instrumental in like the 1930s, 1940s of establishing Mexico classical music as putting it on the world stage. And Juan Pablo Contreras, he did a thing with mariachi, he did a thing with Lucha Libre.

Like, he's using these cultural touchstones and interpreting them through the orchestra. And there are a lot of musicians, who do that all over Latin America. But, you know, Team Contreras, I got to stand up for that one.

But anyway, good luck to all of the composers and everybody. Because contemporary classical music is a category that gets overlooked often in both Latin Grammy and Grammys. So that was my discovery. Team Contreras! There you go. Okay, we didn't get to all 58 categories. Yeah, we didn't get to all of them.

We got pretty close. I think we pretty much covered the entire thing. Isabel Gomes? Sarmiento, thank you so much for joining us. It's always a pleasure to have you here. Thank you guys. Okay, the Latin Grammys will be awarded on November 14th. This year in Miami, I think a certain someone named Ana Maria Sayre may be there. I'm so excited. It's always a great time.

Okay, try to control your excitement for now. Okay, we're going to take another break, and when we get back, we've got another Songs That Move You segment. Okay, we're back, and for this week's Songs That Move You segment, I talked to Sochi Jaime Aguirre about one specific song from Linda Ronstant's groundbreaking album Cansiones de my Padre.

My name is Sochil Jaime Aguirre and the song that moves me is La Calandria by Linda Ronstad. Okay, Felix, I'm really excited for this one. But before you tell us, her story. I think everyone has to know a little bit about this album. Canciones de my Padre was huge. It remains the biggest selling Spanish language album in the U.S. of all time. It won a Grammy Award after it was released in 1987. It was so culturally significant that the

Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry. And on one quiet August morning in Ciudad Obrigon in Sonora, Mexico, one song in particular made an old man cry. This song evokes a very clear memory for me of being in the living room of My Abolita and My Abolito's house in my hometown of Ciudad Obron Sonora, just laying down on the floor and coloring one of those old-school felted coloring pages where it was like the black velvet and you colored in the grooves with different colors. Linda Ronsad was a constant in our house, especially that album, Canciones of My Padre, but that specific song, La Calandria, there is a line that says, My Prieta Linda, What I say, if you me quitas is to get it.

Oh, I love that line. My beautiful Prieta, what am I going to do? do if you take this love away from me. And you know, Anna, she didn't know at the time that her family was leaving Mexico for good. So in the moment, I'm sure that I was kind of like, well, that's weird, because he kept putting the song on in that line in particular. And he wasn't, like, sobbing, but we always, we call it the Don Chema, like, lifting his glasses up, putting his fingers to his, like, the bridge of his nose and just wicking the tears away so that no one could see he was crying, but we all saw it, you know?

And I just, I have that moment very clear in my head. And it wasn't until many years later that I realized why it was so important and why it stood out to me. I don't know if my mind and my body just kind of kept that memory for me to unpack and see the importance later on when I could actually understand it. And I could actually feel the love that my grandpa had for me, that he was so heartbroken that we were going. to be leaving Mexico. You know what was going on there, Anna, is that her abuelito, or Don Chema, was facing the very real emotional reality that his oldest son was about to move his family, Sochil, her brother and her mom, all the way to the U.S. And, you know, Sochil was the first grandchild, so she had a very, very special bond with Don Chema. I have memories from just sitting on the porch,

those blue enamel cups that people take camping, Like I remember drinking coffee from those with him. Like he'd let me have sips listening to the news before the city really got moving, going for walks, the cheese that he would make, biking around town, fixing things for people. So many of my memories and my childhood are tied to him because we were incredibly close. I don't know my life without Linda Ronstad's voices. in it without that album in it. And I think there was just such a sense of pride of this woman who was an unbelievable

musician singing these songs that were specific sonoran folk songs. Obviously, I feel like Linda's record was super popular, but there was something really significant, I think, for Latino families at this time who didn't have a lot of really big pop artists to latch onto her to see themselves in. And I think everyone kind of tried to find that connection with Linda. I mean, my dad's family, part of them are from Sonora, and he had a Tucson

connection to her. So it was always kind of mapping experiences on to that album. I didn't know Linda Ronstad as like the 70s, you know, those stone ponies and the trio, like all of that. I came to that later in my life. So I feel like I got

a reverse version of what a lot of people know about Linda Ronstad, right? Because I grew up with Cancunes de My Padre. That was a Linda Ronstadt that I knew. Linda Ronstadt's grandparents were part of that northern migration from Sonora. Because even as she made a name for herself in the 1970s folk rock scene in Southern California, very few people, and myself included, knew that Mexican music was part of her story. So with the release of Canciones de My Padre and its sequel, Mas Cansiones, her Mexican heritage came in the full view for all of us to appreciate.

And for people with roots in Sonora, these albums are really. really deeply personal. And so for my family, for people in Sonora, that was such a sense of pride. The pride is so important here, Felix, because Linda was obviously taking a risk. I mean, I remember when we talked to her in our interview, I was so not surprised to hear that even with her star power at the time, she was told that making a mariachi album was going to be career suicide. And you know, for many of us, when she did dig in her heels, it felt like she was standing up for all of us. That to me is where I'm so thankful for her and the pride that she had, honestly, at a time where

there was a lot more of our culture having to assimilate, right? Like we know this, like pasturations, I think newer generations are really digging more into their roots, but in that time there was a lot of like assimilate. And I feel that with her at that time, she fought for that record. And I think that there is something, I mean, I don't know the woman just from what I feel, I think that there's a part of her where sometimes she's not necessarily a contrarium, but like you're not going to tell her what to do. And you're also not going to tell her what not to do. So when at that time, everybody's assimilating and she decides to go for this

record that like maybe didn't necessarily make sense in, you know, the trajectory of her career, she was like, no, this is what I need to do. And she dug in her heels. She dug into her roots. she brought together, you know, all these Mariacis and literally changed the culture, the sound of Mariachi, what people knew of her, what people thought about her. It was absolutely a game changer. You know, in 2013, she announced that she was battling in a form of Parkinson's disease that put an end to her singing career.

And, you know, for Sochil, that is another deep bond between the singer and her family. The tie for me for Linda Ronsett and my grandpa, my abolito, when he passed, it was from Parkinson's. And I know that Linda has Parkinson's. And I think about even that tie to me, Linda Ronset and my abolito Chema are one and the same for me. And, you know, seeing everything that she's been going through and that disease, like, I'm just also thankful to her for bringing so much awareness to it. And that's just something that I think is important. It was just something I think about a lot.

There's this beautiful humanizing, Felix, I think that happens when we get so intimate with an artist and their struggles and their pain and their sadness. And the fact that Sochil was able to take this to, what I would imagine would be one of the most emotional moments in her life, leaving her grandpa like this as she's crossing the border into the unknown and to have someone like Linda be the representative and the voice for that, I mean, there's nothing really like it.

It's one of the joys of listening to music in any genre, in any tradition, when an artist becomes almost like a family member because the music has such significance, just like it does for Sochi Jaime Aguilir and her story this week. You have been listening to Alt Latino from NPR Music. Our audio producer for this episode is Taylor Haney, production support from NPR music executive producer, Saraya Mohamed. The woman who keeps us on track is Grace Chung.

We have editorial support from Hazel Sills. And our he-fan chief is Keith Jenkins. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayre. Thank you for listening.