Latin Notas: New Grammy Category For Tejano Marks Its Growing Identity

NARAS RIGHTS WRONG: In a move that unquestionably will please players in the regional Mexican market, the trustees of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) have approved the creation of a Grammy Award for Tejano music (Billboard, June 6).
Previously, Tejano music was lumped with the broader regional Mexican genre in the loquaciously titled category of best Mexican-American/Tejano performance.
Musically, Tejano and regional Mexican sub-genres such as norte˜a and Mexican cumbia are close relatives. Indeed, Tejano is considered part of the overall regional Mexican field on Billboard's radio and retail charts.
But since many of NARAS' Latino members are from Texas, where Tejano music is popular, the winner of the erstwhile Mexican-American/Tejano Grammy category usually went to a Tejano act. Regional Mexican artists seldom rated a shot.
Now, regional Mexican artists have their own category, which means perennial nominees such as Fonovisa's venerable norte˜o crew Los Tigres Del Norte and Sony Discos ranchero legend Vicente Fernández finally have a solid chance of winning Grammys.
NARAS president/CEO Michael Greene says the creation of a Tejano award reflects the genres' increasing market presence.
"In terms of the number of entries we have received in recent years, both Mexican-American and Tejano continue to grow . . . so, both of these forms deserve their own category," says Greene.
In other NARAS news, the trustees also approved the allocation of $500,000 to the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (LARAS), the Latino counterpart to NARAS.
Greene says the $500,000 infusion, which followed an initial $500,000 sum earmarked last year for LARAS, will be used to cover operating costs, including the opening of a new office in Miami Beach within the next six weeks and the salaries of a three-person staff headed by Mauricio Abaroa. Part of the money also will provide salaries for project managers who are expected to be hired in the coming months in Latin America.
In addition, Greene says, the trustees have begun to take steps toward the creation of the Latin Grammy Awards, now slated to debut in 2000 or 2001. A network to broadcast the program should be selected in 1999. Voting on the Latin Grammy Awards will be done by members of LARAS; Greene says its membership is 300.
While stressing that the Latin categories in the U.S. Grammy Awards will remain with the stateside ceremony, Greene says the Latin Grammy Awards will use a totally separate voting procedure that "will not be quite as cumbersome as some of the things we experienced in the American Grammy process."
Under consideration for the Latin Grammys is the creation of a special nominating committee to qualify potential nominees for awards. The general membership would then vote on the final five nominees.
In reference to the nominating committee, Greene says its activities will probably be "something in between a democracy and a blue-ribbon kind of a process."
Unfortunately, no such nominating committee is imminent for the Latin nominees in the U.S. Grammy Awards. Instead, Greene says, he is relying on the LARAS members who are eligible to vote on the Latin categories of the U.S. Grammys to "right some of the wrongs" of past nominee selections.
"We are hopeful that with the new members in LARAS we are going to see a vastly improved electorate in terms of the folks voting in the Latin categories," Greene says.
Further, Greene points out that more Latino categories will be added to the U.S. Grammy awards.
"Just as last year, when we added rock en espa˜ol," says Greene, "as we get a larger [Latino] constituency who come as a result of us getting more members [in LARAS], you are going to see more categories in the American Grammy process for Latin music."
ACAPULCO ACTION: In its recent eighth edition, Festival Acapulco offered its usual wide array of well-known talent who played before sellout crowds at two venues: Centro de Convenciones and Rodeo Playero.
Upstart pop, tropical, and dance acts such as Servando Y Florentino, MDO, and Mestizzo performed at three different Acapulco beaches. And for the first time, there were free shows offered at three stages located in Acapulco's economically challenged neighborhoods.
The eight-day festival was launched May 16 at the 5,000-seat Centro de Convenciones by Emilio Azcárraga Jean, president of Mexican TV network Televisa, which was broadcasting the event, and Angel Aguirre Rivero, governor of Guerrero, the Mexican state in which Acapulco is located.
Although veteran talk-show host Jorge Ortiz De Pinedo had been announced as the event's MC, a series of actors and actresses attempted‹and usually failed‹to handle the hosting chores with comfort and grace.
Among the standout performers at Centro de Convenciones were Alejandro Sanz, Oscar D'Ležn, Celia Cruz, Moenia, Laura Flores, Ana Bárbara, Mercurio, Hanson, Jos Luis Rodr"guez, and Ricardo Montaner. A crowd-pleasing show was also delivered by reunited members of pop vocal group Timbiriche.
The festival's best night was May 21. After solid sets by Sacados, Yuri, and Alberto Vásquez, the polite crowd went wild when the six members of El Reencuentro‹the reunited members of Menudo‹took the stage and dazzled the audience with their mid-1980s hits, including "Claridad," "Ven A Volar," and "Quiero Rock." After Puerto Rico, Mexico was Menudo's most popular market.
At the 5,000-seat Rodeo Playero, the Monterrey-based Representaciones Jaguar produced a top-shelf slate of shows highlighted by stellar sets from Banda Del Recodo, Banda Machos, Banda Arkangel R-15, Los Cardenales De Nuevo Ležn, Bobby Pulido, Antonio and Pepe Aguilar, Caballo Dorado, and Los Tucanes De Tijuana, the latter of which performed before a sellout crowd and who, like last year, drew fans who listened to them outside the venue on sidewalks and at bus stops.
Also presented during the festival were two children's shows called Festival"n; they took place May 17 and 24. Kiddie idol Tatiana was announced as an attraction for the May 24 show, but she didn't appear. Most of the audience, which had bought Tatiana merchandise before her scheduled set, were predictably piqued.
Though there were few Latino rock acts booked to perform at Festival Acapulco, many roqueros such as La Lupita and Julieta Venegas did play at the local Hard Rock Caf during the festival.
ACAPULCO NOTAS: During Festival Acapulco, several acts announced plans for the rest of the year.
RMM salsa icon Celia Cruz arrived cranky and 90 minutes late for her afternoon press conference because she had to do media interviews that morning, a chore she said she doesn't like to do on a day when she performs. Nonetheless, Cruz said, she was pleased to be part of the "last" Festival Acapulco, which shocked the media reps. When Cruz realized no one knew what she was talking about, she said someone had told her it was going to be the final Festival Acapulco. It was not. Cruz said that in 1999 she was going to make a bolero album, a project she has wanted to do for a long time.
The members of the U.S. pop sensation Hanson said they were hoping to kick off a Latin American tour later this year.
Spain's newly reunited rock trio Mecano received a platinum disc May 22 for sales of 200,000 units of its latest CD, "Ana, Jos , Nacho." As the bandmates prepare for a Latin American tour in 1999, they also are planning to record a new album with tracks in English and French for European markets.
Sony Discos' crooning favorite Jos Luis "El Puma" Rodr"guez was given a gold record for sales of 100,000 units of his album with Los Panchos titled "Inolvidable." He is expected to tour Central America in August, and by the end of the year he will play shows in Mexico. His own Venezuelan TV channel, "Puma TV," is now on satellite. El Puma hopes to do an album and tour with superstar balladeers (and labelmates) Julio Iglesias and Roberto Carlos before 2000.
The Spanish pop quartet Providence finished its two-month tour of Mexico with a performance at Festival Acapulco. When the Max act arrived in March, it had three fan clubs; it now has 23. The band is slated to return in August to perform more shows.

Assistance in preparing this column was provided by Teresa Aguilera in Mexico City.