Stars sue after Grammy shake-up
WENN.COM
FIRST POSTED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2011 3:46:32 EDT AM
Musicians Bobby Sanabria and Mark Levine have filed a lawsuit in a bid to convince Grammy Awards bosses to reinstate a category cut from the annual ceremony.
Officials at America’s Recording Academy sparked outrage earlier this year after announcing plans to axe a number of prizes, including awards for Latin jazz, Hawaiian and Native American music, while merging several categories.
Latin jazz star Sanabria rounded up a number of musicians, including Paul Simon and Carlos Santana, to help him convince chiefs to reverse the decision before the 54th annual Grammys next year.
And now Sanabria has enlisted the help of a lawyer in a bid to have the Best Latin Jazz Album category reinstated.
Sanabria and composer Levine filed a class-action lawsuit against Recording Academy chiefs in Manhattan’s Supreme Court on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Lawyer Roger Maldonado says, “They (Academy bosses) shouldn’t have done this. Not only does it devalue the category of music and the work these musicians do, it makes it much harder for them to gain recognition.
“The concern is by lumping several categories together, it makes it much easier for larger record labels and those artists who have already gained recognition to dominate. Even being nominated for the award has enormous value for these musicians.”
Recording Academy bosses have hit back at the legal action, saying in a statement they “(believe) this frivolous lawsuit is without merit, and we fully expect to prevail”.
SOURCE: TORONTO SUN
