vintage

Well, here we are, in the aftermath of this year’s Grammys. I didn’t even watch them, so I can’t comment on the excellent performances or the faux-pas, the red carpet hullaballoo or the dresses, or the fact that Amy Winehouse couldn’t collect her five (!) awards due to the fact she couldn’t get a visa. They tried to make her go to rehab … er.

Anyway, it’s true. Winehouse picked up five Grammy awards last night, and not small ones, either. “Rehab” won both Song and Record of the Year as well as Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; her album Back to Black won Best Pop Vocal Album, and she picked up Best New Artist. “New” is always a baffling category; it seems to mean ’we finally realised you existed this year,’ even though Winehouse had released an album prior to Back to Black. It didn’t do as well, of course, but “new”? Hardly. Still, this is not nearly as head-scratching as the nomination of Leslie Feist for the same category. Uh … what?

Curiously, the winner of Album of the Year went to a – gasp! – jazz album. I wonder how many people were up in arms about that one. That’s right, Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters took the prestigious best album title, as well as winning Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Not bad, especially for an album in tribute to a Canadian artist. (Interestingly, Joni herself won an award for Best Pop Instrumental from her new record Shine.) I’ve got to say that I’m actually impressed with the Grammys for awarding the Album of the Year to a less-than-mainstream genre; there will be speculation about their “hidden intentions” for that one, I’m sure (pandering to jazz fans! trying to garner interest from the less mainstream!) but really, it’s nice to know they actually liked a jazz record enough to award it that highly for once.

Some of the less-publicised awards, though, are even more interesting. Levon Helm (formerly of The Band) won Best Traditional Folk Album for Dirt Farmer. Bright Eyes’ Cassadaga won for Best Recording Package. And yes, ladies and gents, Barack Obama – that one – picked one up for Best Spoken Word album, for the audiobook of his own The Audacity of Hope. Now that’s news. Is the United States ready for its first Grammy-Award-winning black president? I’d vote for him.

See the complete list of winners here: Fields 1-8 and Fields 9-26.