Uncle Stuey Votes for the 2011 Grammys

Grammy nominations are a strange thing. It's as if they came from a random play generator. There's a lot of just plain awful music that gets nominated. Still, like any random selection, there's usually something decent. I do like to go online and listen to the stuff to find the occasional gem.

I only vote in categories where I've found something that's at least somewhat interesting and listenable. Here's what I liked on the ballot this year. Note that my votes line up with the winners about 10 percent of the time.


Album of the Year
Arcade Fire The Suburbs
Joyful, exuberant, quirky and depressing all at the same time.

Song of the Year
Miranda Lambert House The Built Me
Allen Shamblin knows how to write an effortless lyric. Sorry, just can’t vote for a song with the hook F*** You.

Best New Artist
Esperanza Spalding Chamber Music Society
A real musician in this category and one you definitely should see live. Oh yeah, there’s another person in this category…Justin somebody or other.

Pop Performance By A Duo or Group
Train Hey, Soul Sister (live)
Writing a song this catchy and infectious is very hard to do.

Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Barbra Streisand Love Is The Answer
Because my mom would have wanted me to vote this way.

Alternative Album
Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
Joyful, exuberant, quirky and depressing all at the same time.

Male R&B Vocal Performance
Kem Why Would You Stay
Nice hook, old school, almost as good at Al Green.

Female Country Vocal
Gretchen Wilson I’d Love To Be Your Last
Yeah, the country white trash act gets old, but this girl can absolutely sing.

Male Country Vocal
Macon Jamey Johnson
Mr. Johnson is the best country singer/writer out there right now by a mile.

Country Perfomance By A Duo
Little Big Town Little White Church
One of the few fun and interesting songs on the country charts this year.

Country Album
The Country Song
I'll say it again. Mr. Johnson is the best country singer/writer out there right now by a mile.

Best Jazz Vocal Album
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee
Lots of thought went into this album and the musicianship is first rate.

Improvised Jazz Solo
Keith Jarrett Body And Soul
He’s been doing this kind of stuff so long and so well he’s almost up there with Sonny Rollins.

Jazz Instrumental Album
Clayton Brothers The New Song And Dance
Straight ahead jazz done with some verve.

Contemporary Blues Album
Bettye LaVette
Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook
Oh that voice and phrasing, very yummy even if the songs are sometimes cheesy.

Traditional World Music
Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate
Ali And Toumani
Very chill, but still fairly interesting.

Musical Show Album
Original Broadway Cast With Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams, Tom Wopat & Others
Sondheim On Sondheim
The singers here are absolutely the best of the best; I wish I had seen this live.

Classical Crossover
Matt Haimovitz
Meeting Of The Spirits
Pretty much defines what this genre should be.