By Derek Paiva
And the Grammy goes to ... Hawaiian music.

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences announced yesterday that Hawaiian music would be recognized with a category of its own at next year's Grammy Awards.

The recording academy's board of trustees created the category this week at its summer meeting on the Big Island.

The newly created "Best Hawaiian Music Album" category will be one of several added to next year's 47th annual Grammy Awards list. The recording academy said in a statement that the criteria for qualifying and nominating works for the Hawaiian music category would be released in the next few weeks.

"What this says is that Hawaiian music — which is so culturally based — is worthy and ready for popular appreciation on a worldwide scale. And that's an amazing, exciting thing," said Judy Drosd, chief officer of arts, film and entertainment for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Observers say it is likely the academy will require that works be largely in the Hawaiian language to qualify. Some in the industry have pushed for 75 percent or more Hawaiian language content, but the official criteria has yet to be announced.

"There's a lot of stuff that doesn't fall into that category ... a lot of music that would be left out," said Jim Linkner, a veteran Hawaiian music producer and a former president of the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts. "We need a rule that (is) more inclusive."

Nalani Choy of the contemporary vocal trio Na Leo Pilimehana called the announcement a milestone for Hawaiian music, even though the group's music, which is mostly pop contemporary with English lyrics, likely would be ineligible for Grammy consideration.

"There's some people that think that it's only Hawaiian music if it's sung in the Hawaiian language. I would disagree with that," Choy said. "I think there's room in the category of Hawaiian music to cover a broad spectrum.

"(I) would hope that the wording would be broad enough that it would include as much of the different Hawaiian artists and different styles of Hawaiian music as possible. ... (But) however the category is worded, and whether it does or doesn't include us, the important thing is that at least there's a category established."

An initially broad Hawaiian music category could act as a stepping stone to more genre-specific local Grammy album categories — such as "traditional," "contemporary" and "instrumental" — in the future.

"It's a phenomenal foot in the door, because we're hoping over time to be able to be expand to more categories so that we can really showcase the incredible variety and diversity of music that we have," Drosd said.

Hawai'i-based record labels, producers and musicians have been lobbying the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences for a Hawaiian music Grammy category since the late 1980s.

"Hawaiian music has always been such a great secret," said vocalist/musician Robert Cazimero from Los Angeles when told of the announcement. "We have kind of kept it that way. Perhaps it's time for the secret to be shared."

The eligibility period for next year's Grammy Awards is Oct. 1, 2003, through Sept. 30, 2004. That will allow well-received best-selling CD releases such as Na Palapalai's "Ke 'Ala Beauty" and Keali'i Reichel's "Ke'alaokamaile" to qualify if they meet the nomination criteria.

Reichel's album took seven awards at Monday's 2004 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, the Hawai'i music industry's equivalent of the Grammy Awards, given by the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts.

"Hawaiian music is at the very heart of our Island culture, and it is enjoyed and appreciated around the world," Gov. Linda Lingle said in a statement. "This historic Grammy category for Hawaiian music will bring much-deserved attention to our multi-talented performers and help expand our local music industry." 

Aug. 17th...The nomination process opened on August 3, and continues through September 3. This is important as the all CDs released up to September 30 are eligible. If an artist anticipates that a release will be put out between September 3 and September 30, you still need to enter the release by September 3. the criteria for the Hawaiian Album are reinterated: vocal and instrumental, predominance (greater than 50%) of Hawaiian language content in vocal tracks.
 

October 24, 2004 Comprehensive information about Hawaiian Music and The Grammys come read our running board since May 2004. Hawai'i-based record labels, producers and musicians have been lobbying the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences for a Hawaiian music Grammy category since the late 1980s. Many of the open meetings have taken place here in Seattle NW. Chapter of the organization, and have been interesting to attend and voice opinion. The good news is it was successful. Unfortunately the bad new is that it may curtail doing away with the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards in the future. "This historic Grammy category for Hawaiian music will bring much-deserved attention to Hawaii's multi-talented performers and help expand the local music industry." There are a decent number of Hawai'i released albums in the "Album of the Year" category, including artists (The Brothers Cazimero for one), Ho'okena, Keahi Conjugation, Jake Shimabukuro and Paul Shimomoto are the most notable Hawai'i entrants in the in Best New Artist category. Keali'i Reichel ("Ke'alaokamaile"), The Brothers Cazimero ("Some Call It Aloha... Don't Tell"), Kimo Alama Keaulana and Lei Hulu ("Hula Lives"), Ho'okena ("Cool Elevation"), Darlene Ahuna ("Bridge Between Generations") and Na Palapalai ("Ke 'Ala Beauty"). There are a total of 23 releases in the Hawaiian category. 'Ekolu is the most noteworthy Hawai'i nominee in the Reggae category. There were only 47 Reggae nominees overall. Ballot must be received by the accounting firm by Nov. 10. ********* Recording Academy News - June 3, 2004 New categories also were added in existing fields: in the Dance field for Best Electronic/Dance Album; in Gospel for Best Gospel Performance (for singles or tracks with Gospel lyrics); and in Folk, for Best Hawaiian Music Album. This brings the total number of GRAMMY categories for the 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards in February 2005 to 107. An initially broad Hawaiian music category could act as a stepping stone to more genre-specific local Grammy album categories — such as "traditional," "contemporary" and "instrumental" — in the future. Ironic isn't it... That at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards  in 1958 The Best Male Vocal Performance Catagory included  Andy Williams - "Hawaiian Wedding Song" written by Hawaiian Kui Lee.   Wendell Warrington's Grammy Nominations An email informing me that Wendell Warrington's CD "A Few More Drops" has made the preliminary ballot for the Grammy nominations.  Wendell passed away earlier this year, a shock to those who new him. While not a household name, he was well-known and highly respected for his talents thoughout the state. He has been nominated 2 times in the Gospel section  of the Grammy ballot, under the "Best Gospel Performance" with the song "E Nana Aku I Ka Nani o Iehova" and also under the "Best Gospel/Contemporary Album of the Year". He is truly deserving of your consideration.   The Hawaiian Grammy Finalists And The Hawaiian Grammy Finalists Are... Some Call It Aloha...Don't Tell The Brothers Cazimero [Mountain Apple Company] Amy & Willie Live Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom & Willie K [Blind Man Sound] Cool Elevation Ho'okena [Ho'omau Inc.] Ke'alaokamaile Keali`i Reichel [Punahele Productions] Slack Key Guitar Volume 2 Various Artists, Charles Michael Brotman, producer [Palm Records] all of the above are deserving finalists. Congratulations to them and all of the entries in the inaugural Hawaiian balloting! We've been following the development of the Hawaiian Catagory for Grammy acceptance and even attended meetings here in Seattle at the NW chapter in charge. Let me tell you it did get heated every so often. This expression was heard a lot "Music is the carrier of aloha." Best Hawaiian Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental.) is a reality for The 47th Annual Grammy Awards being held on February 13, '05 9pmET on CBS Sunday, February 13 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-Telecast Ceremony Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles, Calif.   1:30 p.m. Hawaiian is in it's OWN category, not World and not Latino as first anticipated. There is nothing final about the demise of the Hawaiian Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (it was discussed at several meetings) but the acceptance into the Grammys were fought over for years a 15-year effort to get the music industry's most prestigious ceremony to recognize Hawaiian recordings to no avail until this year. The thinking is perhaps this may help to bring Hawaiian Music to the general public (nationwide and worldwide) and the exposure will be the best thing for island music. The Hokus are a marvelous recognition but all the artists know the Grammy is prestigious and usually money generating. It will definitely help the local music industry. Grammys are considered the most coveted of the many contemporary music awards. Despite the honor the awards carry and the ratings success of the awards show, many industry insiders consider the Grammys to be merely a reflection of mainstream commercial success.