Latin Jazz Musicians Rally Against Trimmed-Down Grammy Awards
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A decision to cut dozens of categories from next year's Grammy Awards is met by a musicians' protest in Beverly Hills.
KNX 1070's Chris Sedens reports some of the biggest names in the industry swarmed the Beverly Hilton to voice their opposition to the move.
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Grammy winner Oscar Hernandez, Pete Escovedo, and Bobby Matos were among the demonstrators protesting the elimination of Latin jazz and thirty other music categories.
"These are important categories that reflect the multiculturalism and diversity of our American society," said Motose, a Latin jazz recording artist & performer.
In a statement, Grammy president Neil Portnow said the changes will affect next year's Grammys, and urged those opposed to the cuts to work with the academy to examine the impact of the changes on the 2013 awards.
Matose says that's not good enough.
"If I'm told there's no category for my music, it's going to disappear off the radio, the public will think it doesn't exist, and why should they come out and support a Latin jazz artist," said Matose.
