MIAMI, FL. (Recording Academy) - Recording artists
Jorge Ben Jor, Rocío Dúrcal, Generoso Jiménez,
Sergio Mendes, Johnny Pacheco, and Sandro de América will receive the 2005 Latin Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, it was announced today.
Pierre Cossette, Eduardo Magallanes and Rafael Pérez Botija will be honored with the Trustees Award. Recipients of these awards will be acknowledged at a special ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005 at the
Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.
"Honoring the legends of Latin music is one of the most important endeavors we can undertake," said Gabriel Abaroa, Latin Recording Academy President. "The recipients of these awards are a diverse group of inspired and magnificent creators who have contributed some of the most distinctive and seminal recordings in Spanish, English, and Portuguese of the past century."
For the Lifetime Achievement Awards: This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of The Latin Recording Academy's Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.
Jorge Ben Jor was a key representative of the Rio wing of Brazil's tropicalia movement, which blended American blues and rock and roll into the already potent musical stew of Brazilian pop. Ben Jor's first big hit as a singer/songwriter came at the age of 23 with "Mais Que Nada." (performed internationally by Sergio Mendes' Brasil 66). He has worked with all the prominent Brazilian artists and also has worked with King Sunny Ade. Fed by his never ending energy, Ben Jor career is still going strong and has spanned four decades of successes with in the musical genres, from samba to rock to bossa nova, passing through tropicalismo, jazz and reggae.
Rocío Dúrcal is an internationally renowned singer and actress from Spain. She started her career at the age of 10 when she participated in a popular radio program of the time, "Conozca A Sus Vecinos" (Get To Know Your Neighbors), and her surprisingly powerful vocal performance - given her tender age - was well received by the audience and ultimately opened the doors of opportunity. Her breakout performance in the movie Cancion De Juventud launched her into international stardom. Throughout her illustrious 40-year career she has worked with the best in theater, television, movies and music. Her early collaboration on five albums with famed singer/songwriter Juan Gabriel served to cement her place in music history as one of the best-known voices in Mexican music.
The most celebrated trombonist in the history of Cuban music, Generoso Jiménez was born in the small town of Cruces in 1917 and started playing the trombone at an early age. As with any aspiring musicians from the provinces, his path eventually took him 150 miles northwest to Havana, where the legendary prerevolutionary nightlife had attracted musicians and music lovers from all over the world. Jiménez thrived in this environment, eventually winning a coveted spot with Benny Moré's wildly popular orchestra in 1955. He stayed with the band as a composer and lead soloist until 1959 before going on to record several albums with his own orchestra including El Trombón Majadero, which was rereleased in the United States in 1997.
For most of the second half of the 1960s, Brazilian Sergio Mendes was a top-selling artist in the United States and in fact, throughout the world, charting huge hit singles and LPs that regularly made the Top 5. His records with his group, Brasil '66, and Brasil' 77 straddled the domestic pop and international markets in America, getting played heavily on the radio and turning Mendes into an international music star and one of the most popular musicians of South America. But Mendes is much more than a pop entertainer. In 1992, his Brasileiro album paid tribute to the soulful folklore of his homeland. Mendes continues to prove that you can be authentic and unabashedly entertaining at the same time.
Johnny Pacheco has long been at the center of the Latin music universe. Ten gold records and numerous awards pay tribute to his creative talent as composer, arranger, bandleader, and producer. At the age of 11, the Pacheco family moved to New York and he attended the Juilliard School of Music where he studied percussion. He has worked with many of the best Salsa artists including, Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoé, Rubén Blades, Cheo Feliciano, and Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez. He has written more than 150 songs and has also produced music for feature films. Pacheco remains highly active in the recording, industry performing and recording with his group as the guiding force behind the best tropical music. Pacheco is a pioneer, an innovator and more importantly a living legend.
Argentina's very own Elvis Presley, Sandro de América captivated millions of fans with a sweet sentimentality, a great voice and sexually suggestive performance style. This tremendous singer began his career in the '60s with early Latin rock outfit Los De Fuego. At Primer Festival Buenos Aires de la Canción, Sandro switched to pop and embraced an openly melodramatic style of music and became a nationwide sensation. Sandro's timeless hits, such as "Rosa, Rosa," are unapologetically ornate - the product of an era when innocence reigned supreme. Sandro recorded more than 30 albums and became a star of 13 films, which gained him great success in television.
For the Trustees Award: This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of The Latin Recording Academy's Trustees to individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording.
Pierre Cossette was the spearhead that brought the GRAMMY Awards to live television in the early '70s, and he was one of the prime players in bringing the Latin GRAMMYs to life in 2000. A renowned TV and Broadway producer, his Cossette Productions oversaw the first five Latin GRAMMY shows and has been one of the great supporters of live Latin music on TV. He produced the six-time Tony winner "The Will Rogers Follies," "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and "Tommy Tune Tonite," and is developing a musical inspired by the life of Woody Guthrie. Pierre also had a record label where he signed the Mamas and the Papas among some other important acts.
Born in Mexico City, Eduardo Magallanes is a 30-year veteran of the music industry and has served as a composer and orchestra director as well as developing a solid background in A&R. As a producer, Magallanes has contributed to the success of such renowned artists as Armando Manzanero, Angélica
María, Pandora and Juan Gabriel with whom he has collaborated with for nearly 33 years. He has served as musical director on a wide range of projects including "Mañanitas a la Virgen desde la Basilica de Guadalupe" in Mexico City. The "Maestro," Magallanes has always worked with the most recognized singers and songwriters of Mexico and continues to work with young singers and instrumentalists on their paths to a long artistic career.
A classic song like "La Gata Bajo La Lluvia," performed by Rocío Dúrcal, bears the instantly recognizable stamp of Spanish composer Rafael Pérez Botija: Simultaneously sentimental, profound and very elegant, it boasts evocative lyrics and impeccable production values. Pérez Botija, a true songwriter and great producer, helped the careers of José José, Rocío Dúrcal, Enrique Iglésias, Lucero, and Camilo Sesto.
The 6th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards will feature 43 categories, and the three-hour show will be broadcast by the Univision Network on November 3, 2005, from 8 – 11 p.m. ET/PT, supported on radio via Univision Radio (the official Spanish-language radio network of the Latin GRAMMY Awards), and highlighted on the Internet by Univision Online (the official online partner of the Latin GRAMMY Awards) at www.latingrammy.univision.com. For more information, a complete list of nominees, and media credentialing instructions, please visit www.grammy.com.
The Latin Recording Academy is an international, membership-based organization comprised of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers and other creative and technical recording professionals. The organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for Latin music and its makers. In addition to producing the Latin GRAMMY Awards to honor excellence in the recorded arts and sciences, The Latin Recording Academy provides educational and outreach programs for the Latin music community. For more information about The Latin Recording Academy, please visit www.grammy.com.
