Cuban record labels in the final stretch of the 2018 Latin Grammys

September 22, 2018

Phonograms belonging to the Cuban companies Egrem and Producciones Colibrí were classified in the list of nominees for the 2018 Latin Grammy Awards.

The albums Omara siempre, by Omara Portuondo, and A mí qué: tributo a los clásicos cubanos, a new combination of Dominican José Alberto el Canario with Septeto Santiaguero, both from Egrem, achieved this status in the Best Traditional Tropical Album category, while under the same label another finalist was included for Best Tropical Fusion Album, Palante el mambo, by Diego Gutiérrez. In this latter category appears another Cuban artist, Aymée Nuviola, with Como anillo al dedo, from Top Stop Music.

Presented by Producciones Colibrí, Fuerza Arará, by Telmary, entered the quintet of recordings competing for Best Alternative Music Album.

Distributed internationally by the Barcelona-based company Páfata Productions and licensed in Cuba by Abdala, Cantor del pueblo, by Alexander Abreu and Havana D' Primera aspires to win the award for Best Salsa Album.

Music and Cuban musicians, with albums produced by labels from other countries, achieved positions among the nominees. Once again maestro Leo Brouwer, one of the Island's creators with the greatest worldwide recognition, occupies a finalist position in the race for Best Classical Music Album, through the recording of his work El libro de los signos, double concerto for guitar and orchestra performed by Brasil Guitar Duo (Joao Luiz and Douglas Lora) and the Delaware Symphony, on a disc that also contains Concierto caboclo, by Brazilian Paulo Bellinati.

In that field, but in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category, the String Quartet no. 3, by Yalil Guerra (Rycy Productions), achieved a nomination, belonging to the album Alma con brío, by La Catrina String Quartet, a group of instrumentalists from Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela.

For Best Latin Jazz Album, Back to the sunset, by the band led by composer and percussionist Dafnis Prieto, entered the competition.

A sign of the times in the entertainment industry, the largest number of nominations, eight in total, went to J. Balvin (real name, José Álvaro Osorio), a Colombian who has achieved fame as a reggaeton artist. Following with five is Spanish Rosalía, who cultivates an interesting fusion of flamenco with so-called urban sounds; and with four Puerto Rican Kany García, Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler, and Mexicans Natalia Lafourcade and El David Aguilar.

The awards will be announced on November 15 at the MGM Grand Arena, in the North American city of Las Vegas.