DubMC

49th Annual GRAMMY Nominations in World Music

Below are the Grammy World Music Nominations for recordings released during the Eligibility Year October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006. The awards will be announced February 11, 2007.

No comment on the World Music nominees below, but you may view the rest of the nomination categories/fields here including several Latin categories, Reggae, Folk (which includes Native American and Hawaiian categories) and Polka.

Best Traditional World Music Album

Music Of Central Asia Vol. 2: Invisible Face Of The Beloved: Classical Music Of The Tajiks And Uzbeks
The Academy Of Maqâm
[Smithsonian Folkways Recordings]

Endless Vision
Hossein Alizadeh & Djivan Gasparyan
[World Village]

Hambo In The Snow
Andrea Hoag, Loretta Kelley & Charlie Pilzer
[Azalea City Recordings]

Golden Strings Of The Sarode
Aashish Khan & Zakir Hussain
[Moment Records]

Blessed
Soweto Gospel Choir
[Shanachie]


Best Contemporary World Music Album

Tiki
Richard Bona
[Decca]

M'Bemba
Salif Keita
[Decca]

Wonder Wheel
The Klezmatics
[Jewish Music Group]

Long Walk To Freedom
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
[Heads Up International]

Savane
Ali Farka Toure
[World Circuit/Nonesuch]

Six Degrees Launches Digital Only "Emerging Artists" Series

Six Degrees Records--whose brand is known for electronic and other urban global music forms--has launched Emerging Artists, a digital-only EP release series, possibly making the label one of the first in the "world music" category to try out the digital-only model in a substantial way beyond promotion. The series kicks off with a five song EP, each track representing an artist who will have their own digital-only EP released under the series in coming weeks: Rara Avis, DO (featuring Omar Sosa & Greg Landau), ZAMAN 8 and Hafez Modir, MNO, and Jef Stott. In related news, Six Degrees also just signed an exclusive distribution deal with Fontana, the independent distribution arm of Universal Music Group. This is in the wake of major retailer Tower Records and Bayside Entertainment Distribution (Six Degrees' prior distributor) both going out of business this October. Tower's closing has had a significant impact on record labels as a whole, and a heavy impact on the "world music" scene since Tower made up a significant percentage of CD sales (some say as much as a third), acting as a sort of wake-up call for many labels and distributors and marking a turning point in the shift to digital distribution.

DubMC.com is the brainchild of Dmitri Vietze and is sponsored by rock paper scissors, inc., world music publicity firm.

Chicago World Music Festival Revealed: A Q & A with Director Mike Orlove (Pro.File Vol. 5)

Chicago World Music Festival's Mike Orlove talks about his sources for finding music, tips for musicians and new festival organizers, the status of the international musician visa process in recent months (including a breakdown of what it costs), the unique characteristics of his festival, and why his artist selections make women hug him and cry. This Q & A  with Mike Orlove, senior program director at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and head honcho at the Chicago World Music Festival, continues a periodic DubMC series called Pro.File in which we engage a professional within the music field about where they fit into the world music network, what they do, and insights they can offer colleagues in the field.

globalFEST 2007 (NYC) Artist Line Up Announced

The fourth annual festival/showcase globalFEST has announced their 2007 artist line up. The January 21, 2007 festival moves to NYC's Webster Hall to accomodate sell-out crowds seen in recent years. The event is scheduled in conjunction with the annual Arts Presenters conference and draws both performing arts professionals and music fans. Artists scheduled to appear in January are:

Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective (Central American All- stars)
Babylon Circus (French Reggae/ska punkers)
Boom Pam (Israeli Balkan-Surf-Rock)
Chambao (Spanish Flamenco Chill)
Carolina Chocolate Drops (Piedmont String Band)
Dengue Fever (Cambodian-American Psych-rock)
Julia Sarr & Patrice Larose (Soulful Senegelese Song Meets French-Flamenco)
Le Trio Joubron (Palestinian Oud Improvisations)
Les Primitifs du Future (Parisian Musette & Gypsy Jazz)
Lenine (Brazil’s Groundbreaking Innovator)
Lucia Pulido & Palenque (Street Songs of Colombia)
Sara Tavares (Cape Verde’s Rising Star)

Additional information at: www.globalfest-ny.com.

"The overall excellence of the artists, the buzz created, the ambiance have all made globalFEST a mandatory part of going to New York in January," says Mervon Mehta, of Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA. "In just three years of attending I have booked over half a dozen artists that I saw for the first time at globalFest including Daara J, Lura, Eva Ayllon, Emeline Michelle and would have booked a dozen more if I had the dates. World Music is now a topic of conversation at every booking meeting I attend, and there are limitless possibilities.”

Call for Proposals from North American World Music Coalition; $500 Seed Grants Announced

The North American World Music Coalition (NAWMC) is launching a new "Seed Grants" program to spawn activism in the "world music community" to increase the visibility and viability of global music in North America. This year grants of $500 each will be made available to two awardees who are approved by the NAWMC Board. Interested parties may find out more by reading this PDF on the Coalition website or by emailing info@worldmusiccoalition.org. Note that the application deadline is very soon: December 15, 2006.