In March 2011, the United States Census Bureau announced that the U.S. Latino population had surpassed 50 million — accounting for roughly one in six people in the U.S.
The following month, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that holds the annual Grammy Awards ceremony, announced drastic changes to its award structure, including the elimination of the Latin Jazz category.
While the academy insists the decision was based solely on a desire to increase “unity” and “parity between fields,” many recording artists in the Latin Jazz community see the decision as symptomatic of a wider cultural backlash against Latinos in the U.S. and have noted that most of the other categories targeted for elimination or consolidation were ethnic-niche genres.
The Hawaiian, Native American and Zydeco or Cajun categories were all eliminated and Traditional and Contemporary World Music were combined into one category for World Music.
Five-time Grammy-nominated percussionist, producer and composer John Santos says there is “no defending” what the academy did and sees the elimination of the Latin Jazz category as a “knee-jerk backlash” against Latinos and their culture.
“While our country is in an unprecedented state of Latino demographics and multi-culturalism, NARAS and the Grammys are moving backwards and embracing the anti-immigrant sentiment that is being promoted by certain sectors,” he said. “It is nothing less than highly insulting to have out-of-touch individuals suddenly decide that Latin Jazz is no longer a legitimate art form when the creativity and activity in the field are at an all-time high.”
He added that by forcing Latin Jazz artists to compete with “straight-ahead” jazz acts, the academy was ensuring that there would “never again be a Latin Jazz artist recognized with a Grammy.”
“I’m sure that would make a handful of folks happy,” he said. “But it is grossly unjust, immoral and ignorant of the history and significance of the art form.”
Greg Landau, three-time Latin Jazz Grammy nominee and City College music instructor, has been a member of the academy for twenty years and is on the board of governors for the San Francisco chapter. He doesn’t think the decision had anything to do with race because the membership of NARAS is very diverse, representing “all genres and races,” but does believe it will profoundly and negatively impact the Latin Jazz community.
“The thing is, Latin jazz and jazz, while they share some similarities, they are different genres…[the change] is marginalizing and taking away credibility from some vital genres, ” he said. “It affects me and many other struggling musicians who are trying to get recognition and keep making music in a hostile environment.”
Landau added that some of the most contested changes, like the consolidation of the Modern Classical category or the elimination of separate male and female artist fields, had nothing to do with race or ethnicity.
But Santos said that whether it was “ignorance or arrogance,” there was no excusing the negative impact of the academy’s decision.
Grammy nominated bandleader and composer Rebeca Mauleon is a City College music instructor and director of education at SFJAZZ, a non-profit arts and education organization focused on jazz. She sees the academy’s decision as a tragedy and an indication that it has “clearly lost sight of its purpose.”
“What we as a community do to right this and so many other wrongs will be the ultimate test of our solidarity for one another and our respect for the creative spirit that is the Bay Area,” she said, but added that it was every artists mission to “continue on [their] creative path without seeking the validation of any institution.”
The changes made by the academy include the elimination of 31 categories, reducing the number from 109 to 78.
The academy also raised the level for minimum submissions to 40 from 25 per category. Landau says this change is what sealed the fate of the Latin Jazz category.
“Normally, Latin Jazz had more than 25 and would have been safe,” he said. “There’s a number of Latin Jazz releases that would have been eligible and didn’t submit… an abundance of indie releases by people who haven’t always been in the music business and don’t know how to submit or the importance or feel that they have no chance of winning.”
A petition to reinstate Latin Jazz as a Grammy category is being circulated by Urban Music Presents, a group of jazz lovers and musicians united by their desire to promote and preserve the cultural legacy of jazz.
So far, the petition has roughly 2,700 signatures and has been officially endorsed by Associated Musicians of Greater New York Local 802, the largest musicians local union in the world, and Professional Musicians Local 47 in Los Angeles.
A website, grammywatch.info, has also been created to organize the response against the academy’s decision and provide updates on any developments in the struggle to reinstate Latin Jazz.
Santos and a group of roughly 20 people attempted to display protest signs at a recent academy event at the Premier Theater and were denied access to the building.
“We had a bunch of students and families there with protest signs and they made us go across the street…but anyone coming into the place had to go by the signs,” he said. “We aired all of the opposition and logic we could present to oppose this crazy thing they’ve done and are trying to defend…it’s starting to sink in slowly to them that it was a bad decision on their part.”
Mauleon sees the opportunity for growth and development in the movement to reverse the academy’s changes.
“This is not about ‘us versus them;’ this is about all of us,” she said. “I only hope that with all of our positive energy we can convince NARAS to revisit their decision and never again lose sight of the artists and community who have made them what they are.”