Jorge Drexler: The Big Winner at This Year’s Latin Grammys

Jorge Drexler is this year’s Latin Grammys darling…

The 58-year-old Uruguayan musician was the big winner at this year’s awards show, taking home six awards.

Jorge DrexlerDrexler won best alternative song, best pop song, best singer/songwriter album and best Portuguese language song. He was also up against some Latin heavyweights (Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Rauw Alejandro, Christina Aguilera) for the song and record of the year, but beat out the slate with his collaboration with C. Tangana, “Tocarte.”

Although Bad Bunny topped the list with 10 nominations, he won five awards, including best urban album for Un Verano Sin Ti, which made history this week by earning a Grammy nod for Album of the Year.

During Thursday night’s show, Angela Alvarez made history by tying with 25-year-old Silvana Estrada for the best new artist award at 95 years old.

Sebastian Yatra, who has been nominated several times but has never won, took home his first Latin Grammys for his breakout album Dharma,” which won best pop vocal album and best pop song for “Tacones Rojos,” which he sang alongside John Legend.

Rosalía took home best alternative music album for her genre-agnostic and multi-layered Motomami, in addition to best recording package and the coveted album of the year award. The songstress appeared on stage in tears while she gave her thank yous; “Thank you to the love of my life. Baby, I love you,” she told boyfriend and reggaeton titan Rauw Alejandro.

Here’s the complete winner’s list:

Record of the Year: Tocarte – Jorge Drexler and C. Tangana
Album of the Year: Motomami (digital album) – Rosalía
Song of the Year: Tocarte – Jorge Drexler, Pablo Drexler, Víctor Martínez and C. Tangana (Jorge Drexler and C. Tangana)
Best New Artist: Angela Álvarez & Silvana Estrada [TIE]
Best Pop Vocal Album: DHARMA — Sebastian Yatra
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Aguilera — Christina Aguilera
Best Pop Song: La Guerrilla de la Concordia — Jorge Drexler (Jorge Drexler) & Tacones Rojos — Pablo María Rousselon De Croisoeuil, Manuel Lara, Manuel Lorente, Juan Josep Monserrat Riutort and Sebastián Yatra (Sebastián Yatra) [TIE]
Best Urban Fusion/Performance: Tití Me Preguntó — Bad Bunny
Best Reggaeton Performance: Lo Siento BB:/ — Tainy, Bad Bunny and Julieta Venegas
Best Urban Music Album: Un Verano Sin Ti — Bad Bunny
Best Rap/Hip Hop Song: El Gran Robo, PT. 2 — Phanlon Anton Alexander, Geovanny Andrades Andino, Daddy Yankee and Lito Mc Cassidy (Lito Mc Cassidy, Daddy Yankee)
Best Urban Song:Tití Me Preguntó — Bad Bunny
Best Rock Album: Unas Vacaciones Raras — Él Mató A Un Policía Motorizado
Best Rock Song: Lo Mejor de Nuestras Vidas — Fito Páez
Best Pop/Rock Album: Los Años Salvajes — Fito Páez
Best Pop/Rock Song: Babel – Fito Páez & Carlos Vives, compositores (Carlos Vives & Fito Páez), Track from: Cumbiana II
Best Alternative Music Album: Motomami (Digital Album), Rosalía
Best Alternative Song: El Día Que Estrenaste El Mundo, Jorge Drexler, compositor (Jorge Drexler)
Best Salsa Album: Pa’lla Voy, Marc Anthony
Best Cumbia/Vallenato Album: Feliz Aniversario, Jean Carlos Centeno y Ronal Urbina
Best Merengue/Bachata Album: Entre Mar y Palmeras, Juan Luis Guerra
Best Traditional Tropical Album: Gonzalo Rubalcaba y Aymée Nuviola Live
Best Contemporary Tropical Album: Cumbiana II, Carlos Vives
Best Tropical Song: Mala, Marc Anthony & Álvaro Lenier Mesa, compositores (Marc Anthony)
Best Singer-Songwriter Album: Tinta y Tiempo, Jorge Drexler
Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album: EP #1 Forajido, Christian Nodal
Best Banda Album: Abeja Reina
Best Tejano Album: Para Que Baile Mi Pueblo, Bobby Pulido
Best Norteño Album: La Reunión (Deluxe), Los Tigres del Norte
Best Regional Song: Como Lo Hice Yo, Edgar Barrera, Carin León and Matisse
Best Instrumental Album: Maxixe Samba Groove, Hamilton De Holanda
Best Folk Album: Ancestros Sinfónico, Síntesis, X Alfonso y Eme Alfonso
Best Tango Album: Horacio Salgán Piano Transcriptions, Pablo Estigarribia
Best Flamenco Album: Libres, Las Migas
Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album: Mirror Mirror, Eliane Elias, Chick Corea, Chucho Valdés
Best Portuguese Language: Christian Albu Laboratório Do Groove, Eli Soares
Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album: Sim Sim Sim, Bala Desejo
Best Portuguese Language Rock or Alternative Album: O Futuro Pertenece À … Jovem Guarda, Erasmo Carlos
Best samba/pagode Album: Nimanice #2, LUDMILLA
Best MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) Album: Indigo Borboleta Anil, Liniker
Best Sertaneja Music Album: Chitãozinho & Xororó Legado, Chitãozinho & Xororó
Best Portuguese Language Roots Album: Senhora Das Folhas, Áurea Martins
Best Portuguese Language Song: Vento Sardo,” Jorge Drexler & Marisa Monte (Marisa Monte Featuring Jorge Drexler)
Best Latin Children’s Album: A LA FIESTA DE LA MÚSICA VAMOS TODOS, Sophia
Best Classical Album: LEGADO, Berta Rojas; Sebastián Henríquez (album producer)
Best Classical Contemporary Composition: Anido’s Portrait: I. Chacarera, Sergio Assad, composer (Berta Rojas), Track from: Legado
Best Arrangement: El Plan Maestro, Fernando Velázquez, arranger (Jorge Drexler), Track from: Tinta Y Tiempo
Best Recording Package: Motomami (Digital Album), Ferran Echegaray, Viktor Hammarberg, Rosalía, Daniel Sannwald & Pili Vila, art directors (Rosalía)
Best Engineered Album: Motomami (Digital Album), Chris Gehringer, engineer; Jeremie Inhaber, Manny Marroquin, Zach Peraya & Anthony Vilchis, mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer (Rosalía)
Producer of the Year: Julio Reyes Copello
Best Short Form Music Video: This is Not America, Residente Feat. Ibeyi Featuring Lisa-Kaindé Diaz & Naomi Diaz, Greg Ohrel, video director; Jason Cole, video producer, [Doomsday Entertainment]
Best Long Form Music Video: Hasta La Raíz: El Documental, Natalia Lafourcade, Bruno Bancalari & Juan Pablo López-Fonseca, video directors; Juan Pablo López-Fonseca, video producer, [Casa Elefante]

Andy Garcia to Narrate the Documentary “Miss Angela” About 91-Year-Old Cuban Discovery Angela Alvarez

Andy Garcia is lending his voice to a special story…

The 62-year-old actor and musician will narrate Miss Angela, the working title of the feature documentary on Angela Alvarez, the 91-year-old Cuban singer-songwriter who had her lifetime’s work of songs discovered, and recently recorded her first album.

Andy Garcia

Filmmakers Paul Toogoodand Lloyd Stantoninterviewed Alvarez and her children about her life and recorded when she performed her music in a debut concert (on her 91st birthday) at Hollywood’s Avalon Theater, an event Garcia both played in the band and hosted.

The film follows the story of Alvarez’s flight from Cuba in the 1960’s and subsequent life as wife, mother and working woman who hid her childhood ambition to be a singer and songwriter. It was only when her grandson, composer Carlos José Alvarez, asked about the traditional Cuban folk songs she had been singing to generations of the family, she told him and unearthed a treasure trove of original songs.

Alvarez recorded her first album in collaboration with world-renowned Cuban musicians from Buena Vista Social Club and her grandson. So at the age of 90, Alvarez is finally living her dream.

“As a fanatical student of Cuban music it’s easy to recognize when you see someone that’s special, not only musically, but lyrically,” he said. “Angela Alvarez is a real discovery. I’m honored to be a part of it — to be asked to lend my support.”

The film charts Alvarez’s childhood in pre-revolutionary Cuba when she announced to her family she wanted to be a singer and songwriter which was expressly forbidden by her father and grandfather as an unsuitable career for a girl. So, she wrote songs in secret.

Their family became part of the Pedro Pan exodus where 14,500 unaccompanied children were spirited out of Cuba between 1960-62. It then took Alvarez four more long, frightening years to escape, and then reunite her family, finally settling down in the United States.

“This is a tale of second chances, where it is never too late to live your dreams,” said Toogood. “It’s the story of a strong woman, a refugee, who fought to make her family safe and a story about the power of music.”

The pinnacle of the film is a debut concert, with world-class Cuban musicians accompanying Alvarez on at the Avalon Theater.

Musicians who took part are Grammy winners Luis Conte, Jose AlvarezAlberto Salas, Ramon Stagnaro, and Justo Almario with Grammy nominated musicians Danilo Lozano, Dayren Santamaria and Roberto Rosario. Other musicians include Carlos Jose Alvarez, Jorge Sawa-Perez, Roque Garcia, Mariano Dugatkin, and Jessicca Brizuela.

The film is now in postproduction.