Grammy Awards of Note

The 50th Grammy Awards were on Sunday night, and I managed to catch some of the shenanigans. Here are some of the overlooked awards (comments by yours truly in parentheses)

Pop Collaboration With Vocals: "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)," Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (this is the hot duo delaying the Led Zepp reunion tour)

Pop Instrumental Performance: "One Week Last Summer," Joni Mitchell

Rock Instrumental Performance: "Once Upon a Time in The West," Bruce Springsteen

Country Album: "These Days," Vince Gill (featuring writing and guitar playing by NRBQ guitar legend Al Anderson)

Country Collaboration With Vocals: "Lost Highway," Willie Nelson & Ray Price (the ONE tour I wish I had seen last year)

R&B Album: "Funk This," Chaka Khan

Contemporary Blues Album: "The Road to Escondido," JJ Cale & Eric Clapton (JJ lives!)

New Age Album: "Crestone," Paul Winter Consort

Contemporary Jazz Album: "River: The Joni Letters," Herbie Hancock

Jazz Vocal Album: "Avant Gershwin," Patti Austin

Jazz Instrumental Solo: "Anagram," Michael Brecker, soloist

Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: "Pilgrimage," Michael Brecker

Large Jazz Ensemble Album: "A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)," Terence Blanchard (a great album!)

Traditional Folk Album: "Dirt Farmer," Levon Helm (Levon also won a Lifetime Achievement Award as a member of The Band)

Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: "Washington Square Serenade," Steve Earle

Hawaiian Music Album: "Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar," Various Artists, Daniel Ho, George Kahumoku Jr., Paul Konwiser & Wayne Wong, producers (sad to say, these guys have won this category since the Hawaiian genre was added a few years ago. The Grammy voters are too lazy to try and understand any Hawaiian music with singing, as they can't understand the language. What a shame)

Zydeco or Cajun Music Album: "Live! Worldwide," Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience (as I noted last week, this is the first year for the zydeco genre. Since Terrance was the guy who got it added, he got the first award)

Reggae: "Mind Control," Stephen Marley (somewhere in Babylon, Bob is smiling)

Traditional World Music Album: "African Spirit," Soweto Gospel Choir

Contemporary World Music Album: "Djin Djin," Angelique Kidjo

Polka Album: "Come Share the Wine," Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra

Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Love (The Beatles) George Martin & Giles Martin, producers (Apple Records/Capitol Records)

Musical Album for Children: "A Green and Red Christmas," The Muppets

Spoken Word: "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," Barack Obama (Barry beat out both Bill Clinton and Al Gore for this one)

Comedy Album: "The Distant Future," Flight of the Conchords

Instrumental Arrangement: "In a Silent Way," Vince Mendoza, arranger (Joe Zawinul)-(good to see Joe get another RIP)

Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: "What It Is!: Funky Soul and Rare Grooves (1967-1977)," Masaki Koike, art director

Historical Album: "The Live Wire — Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949," Nora Guthrie & Jorge Arevalo Mateus, compilation producers; Jamie Howarth, Steve Rosenthal, Warren Russell-Smith & Dr. Kevin Short, mastering engineers (Woody Guthrie)