Congratulations to all the CD Baby clients nominated in 2019 for a Latin Grammy!

CD Baby artists have made huge showings at the Latin Grammys in recent years, and 2019 is no different. This year’s ceremony in Las Vegas will see 18 Latin-language CD Baby artists nominated across 10 categories:

Best Instrumental Album:

• Gustavo Casenave — Considered by the Uruguayan press to be “one of the best pianists of our country” (Diario El País – Uruguay).
• Miguel Zenón feat. Spektral Quartet — Their 2018 album Yo Soy La Tradición has jazz interpretations of zenón folk and traditional music of Puerto Rico.

Best Salsa Album:

• Mario Ortiz All Star Band — In 1963, the Mario Ortiz All Star Band awakened the world of Latin music with its dynamism and musicality. 55 years later, their legacy still stands!
• Quintero’s Salsa Project — Luisito Quintero was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He has performed with the Rolling Stones, Vanessa Williams and Paul Simon.

Best Tango Album:

• Bernardo Monk Orquesta — On his sixth album Atípico, the composer and saxophonist prepares a musical fiction with Buenos Aires as a stage. With a repertoire that once included original compositions, Bernardo Monk reaffirms his search, which combines tradition and innovation in the tango with an orchestra of twelve musicians.
• Pablo Ziegler Chamber Quartet — Radiotango is the latest work of the pianist and composer Pablo Ziegler, who has been the pianist of the tango conductor Astor Piazzolla for over a decade. Inspired by the contemporary flavor of Buenos Aires and by Pablo’s rich history as the main exponent of a new tango, the work features original Ziegler compositions that imbue the classic chamber quartet with the invigorating spirit of the tango. From the dynamic and fun energy of “Asphalt” to the exciting ballad “Maria Ciudad,” Ziegler takes you directly to the heart of the glorious capital of Argentina.
• Daniel Binelli & Nick Danielson — Violinist Nick Danielson enjoys a versatile career as a tango and classical musician. Daniel Binelli is a composer, musician and music director with an outstanding international career. For 10 years, he has been a member of the orchestra of Osvaldo Pugliese as a bandoneon player, composer and artist. He has toured Europe, the United States and Japan.

Best Christian Album (Spanish):

• Juan Delgado — Juan Delgado, is a Grammy nominee Engineer and Music Producer based in Miami, FL USA.

  he worked in the music industry for more than 18 years and have had the opportunity to work with major and independent record labels, publishing companies, recording studios and some of the best studio musicians and other professionals in the industry. “Todo Pasa” is his first work as an artist.

• Gabriela Soto and Big Band — Gabriela Pérez Soto is a native of Caracas, Venezuela. From her childhood, Gabriela has demonstrated her skill and talent for music. When she was four years old, Gabriela started to participate in concerts, national conventions and evangelistic missions in her native country.

Best Latin Children’s Album:

• Sonia de los Santos — Sonia De Los Santos was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. In 2007 she started traveling around the world, singing in English and Spanish, playing guitar and jarana and lighting the stage with Grammy-winning group Dan Zanes And Friends. Billboard acclaimed Sonia as “one of the Latin children’s music artists you should know.” Her music has appeared on NBC’s Visions, Sirius XM’s Kids Place Live, WXPN’s Kids Corner, among others.
• Payasitas Nifu Nifa — Bim Bom Bam! is the twenty-eighth production of the Payasitas Nifu Nifa children’s group. The five-track album was recorded in Miami, Florida, with Arturo Cabrera’s musical production, Liz Fillol’s executive production and a special appearance by Nifu Nifa. It was directed by Gianna Lodi.
• 123 Andrés — 123 Andrés won the Latin Grammy Award for the best children’s song album 2016. Their latest album Canta las Letras features 38 songs to learn all about lyrics and sounds in Spanish. One song for each letter, With electronic salsa and rhythms.

Best Classical Album:

• National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, Yalil Guerra, Aurelio De La Vega & Enrique Pérez Mesa — Cuba: The Legacy is the new release of the Latin Grammy-winning composer Yalil Guerra. This album includes the symphonic works “Intrata” by the Cuban composer Aurelio de la Vega and the War Symphony # 1 “La Palma Real.”
• Samuel Torres & Nueva Filarmonía — Their latest album Regreso is a unique mix of congas and orchestral elements, where new symphonic tendencies blend with popular African-American roots.
• Orquesta Sinfónica de Heredia & Eddie Mora — The Heredia Symphonic Association (ASH) was founded in 1962. It has remained under the musical direction of its founder, director and Costa Rican musician German Alvarado. After four decades, the composer and director Eddie Mora took over as the director of this orchestra, beginning a new stage with emphasis on the repertoire of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He has given special attention to Latin American and Costa Rican musical creation.

Best Portuguese Language Roots Album:

• Hermeto Pascoal — Hermeto Pascoal is one of the most respected names in Brazilian music. He won the Best Latin Jazz Album at last year’s ceremony.

Best Recording Package:

• Voces del Bullerengue — Music production to preserve and spread the ancestral legacy of the bullerengue, a music and dance style formed in the fields and villages of the Colombian Caribbean.

Best Engineered Album:

• Antonio Adolfo— For his album Encontros – Orquestra Atlantica, Antonio selected some of his new songs, some old ones and one from the master Miles Davis. The compositions are better blended to their sound when playing native Brazilian styles such as Samba, Baião, Frevo and Bossa Nova. All of which mixed with elements of jazz.

CD Baby is no stranger to the Latin Grammys

The 2018 ceremony saw 21 CD Baby artists nominated, five of whom took home the golden gramophone. As mentioned above, one of those winners was Hermeto Pascoal, who won Best Latin Jazz Album with his big band. Hermeto is going for a repeat this year, this time in the Portuguese Language Roots Album category, because being excellent in one genre wasn’t enough. Last year Pascoal’s producer Tiago Gomes gave CD Baby a much-appreciated shout-out in his acceptance speech while espousing the virtues of world music and the four-decade writing process for Pascoal and his band’s album, Natureza Universal.

Also making his second appearance in as many years is Pablo Ziegler, whose trio won Best Latin Jazz Album with Jazz Tango at the 2018 U.S. Grammy Awards. For the 2019 awards, Pablo is nominated for another tango album, Radiotango, this time with a quartet. Whether with a three or four-piece, Pablo Ziegler is defying the old adage “it takes two to tango.”

We wish all of our nominated artists luck at this year’s ceremony, although history has shown they don’t need it. Bring home the gold and make us proud!