No Grammies this year for Jewish entries (but Amy Winehouse cleans up)

This was a strange year (as they usually are) for Jewish music and the Grammy Awards. There were only two nominees, both were for well known Jewish musicians involved with non-Jewish recordings. And neither won. Oh well.

Klezmer/bluegrass musician Andy Statman was nominated, but didn't win for his mandolin ramble"Rawhide," from his album East Flatbush Blues. (You can hear a clip from Rawhide here). East Flatbush Blues is an "a new album of American roots and original melodies, Statman's first all mandolin release since Andy's ramble" While this isn't a Jewish recording, Stateman is well known for his klezmer mandolin and clarinet playing on numerous recordings. My personal favorite is Statman's first collaboration with David Grisman "Songs of Our Fathers."

Musician/historian/producer Henry Sapoznik was nominated, but didn't win, for People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938. People take Warning presents

"Songs of death, destruction and disaster, recorded by black and white performers from the dawn of American roots recording are here, assembled together for the first time. Whether they document world-shattering events like the sinking of the Titanic or memorialize long forgotten local murders or catastrophes, these 70 recordings - over 30 never before reissued - are audio messages in a bottle reflecting a lost world where age old ballads rubbed up against songs inspired by the day's headlines."

While this isn't a Jewish themed compilation Sapoznik is well known in the the klezmer community for his performances and for his book & CD compilation "Klezmer: Jewish Music from the Old World to Our World."

So, no trophy this year. But congrats to both Statman and Sapoznik for their marvelous work.

On the other hand British Jewish vocalist / disaster Amy Winehouse won 'Best New Artist" and most everything else in sight. She took "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance," "Record of the year" & "Song of the Year" for her album/song Rehab. She also won "Best Pop Vocal Album" for her album "Back to Black" Her producer won Producer of the Year. I'm sure the folks on Jewschool are doing little dances over this.