The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists between 2004 and 2011 for quality contemporary world music

World music

World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

 albums. The Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

s, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...

 of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".

The Grammy Award for Best World Music Album

Grammy Award for Best World Music Album

The Grammy Award for Best World Music Album was an honor presented for twelve years to recording artists for quality albums in the world music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...

 was first presented at the 34th Grammy Awards in 1992. The category remained unchanged until 2004, when it was split into separate awards for Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album

Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album

The Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists between 2004 and 2011 for quality traditional world music albums...

 and Best Contemporary World Music Album. The first award for Best Contemporary World Music Album was presented to Cesária Évora

Cesária Évora

Cesária Évora is a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "barefoot diva" for performing without shoes, Évora is perhaps the best internationally known practitioner of "morna."-Early life:...

 at the 46th Grammy Awards for the album Voz d'Amor

Voz d'Amor

- Track listing :#"Isolada"#"Velocidade"#"Amdjer De Nos Terra"#"Beijo Roubado"#"Djarmai Di Meu"#"Monte Cara"#"Ramboia"#"Jardim Prometido"#"Nha Coracao Tchora"#"Saia Travada"#"Pomba"#"Mar De Canal"#"Milca Ti Lidia"#"Voz D'Amor"-External links:...

. In 2011, a major overhaul of the Grammy categories resulted in the merge of the two awards to a single Best World Music Album category beginning in 2012.

Recipients

For the 46th Grammy Awards (2004), Best Contemporary World Music Album nominees included Cesária Évora

Cesária Évora

Cesária Évora is a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "barefoot diva" for performing without shoes, Évora is perhaps the best internationally known practitioner of "morna."-Early life:...

 for Voz d'Amor

Voz d'Amor

- Track listing :#"Isolada"#"Velocidade"#"Amdjer De Nos Terra"#"Beijo Roubado"#"Djarmai Di Meu"#"Monte Cara"#"Ramboia"#"Jardim Prometido"#"Nha Coracao Tchora"#"Saia Travada"#"Pomba"#"Mar De Canal"#"Milca Ti Lidia"#"Voz D'Amor"-External links:...

, Bill Frisell

Bill Frisell

William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...

 for The Intercontinentals

The Intercontinentals

The Intercontinentals is the sixteenth album by Bill Frisell to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label. It was released in 2003 and features performances by Frisell, Sidiki Camara, Vinicius Cantuaria, Christos Govetas, Greg Leisz and Jenny Scheinman....

, Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

 for Nothing's in Vain (Coono du Reer), Orchestra Baobab for Specialist in All Styles, and Caetano Veloso for Live in Bahia. The award was presented to Évora.

2005 nominees included Paco de Lucía

Paco de Lucía

Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...

 for Cositas Buenas

Cositas Buenas

Cositas Buenas is an album featuring Paco de Lucía and directed by Paco de Lucia with the collaboration of Javier Limón. It was released in 2004 labelled "Blue Thumb Records", by Universal Music Spain S.L....

, Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto is a Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque...

 for Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto (album)

-Track listing:# "Baby" - 3:49# "Simplesmente" - 4:49# "Aganjú" - 4:44# "All Around" - 4:44# "River Song" - 4:57# "Every Day You've Been Away" - 4:05# "Cada Beijo" - 4:26# "O Caminho" - 2:59# "Winter" - 4:19# "Céu Distante" - 2:58# "Jabuticaba" - 3:02...

, the Gipsy Kings

Gipsy Kings

The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier, who perform in Spanish with an Andalucían accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Chico Bouchikhi is of...

 for Roots, Angélique Kidjo

Angélique Kidjo

Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, commonly known as Angélique Kidjo is a Grammy Award–winning Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Time Magazine has called her "Africa's premier diva". The BBC has...

 for Oyaya!, and Youssou N'Dour for Egypt

Egypt (album)

Egypt is a Grammy Award-winning album by Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour, on which he is accompanied by the Egyptian Fathy Salama Orchestra. In the original Senegalese release, it was named Sant Allah ....

. The award was presented to N'Dour.

Nominees for the 48th Grammy Awards in 2006 included Amadou & Mariam

Amadou & Mariam

Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the couple Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia . The pair, known as "the blind couple from Mali" met at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind, and found they shared an interest in music...

 for Dimanche à Bamako

Dimanche à Bamako

Dimanche à Bamako is the fourth album by Malian duo Amadou & Mariam featuring, and produced by, French singer Manu Chao. It was released on the Nonesuch Records label on 2 August 2005....

, Gilberto Gil

Gilberto Gil

Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...

 for Eletracústico, Kronos Quartet

Kronos Quartet

Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...

 and Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

 for You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood, Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...

 and the Strings of the English Chamber Orchestra

English Chamber Orchestra

The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...

 for No Boundaries, and Anoushka Shankar

Anoushka Shankar

Anoushka Shankar is a British Indian sitar player and composer who lives between the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. She is the daughter of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar and Sukanya Shankar...

 for Rise

Rise (Anoushka Shankar album)

Rise is an album by Anoushka Shankar released on September 27, 2005. The album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005 . On previous recordings, Anoushka Shankar had followed in the footsteps of her father, Ravi Shankar, by performing relatively traditional, raga-based music...

. The honor was presented to Gil.

For the 49th Grammy Awards (2007), the nominees were Richard Bona

Richard Bona

Richard Bona is a jazz bassist and musician. His real African name, as he said live in Montreal in a show with Bobby McFerrin, is Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo...

 for Tiki, Salif Keita for M'Bemba, The Klezmatics

The Klezmatics

The Klezmatics are a Grammy Award-winning American klezmer music group based in New York City, who have achieved fame singing in several languages, most notably mixing older Yiddish tunes with other types of more contemporary music of differing origins...

 for Wonder Wheel

Wonder Wheel (album)

Wonder Wheel is a 2006 album by neo-Klezmer band The Klezmatics. It features lyrics by Woody Guthrie which were unrecorded during his life. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 49th Grammy awards....

, Ladysmith Black Mambazo for Long Walk to Freedom

Long Walk to Freedom (album)

Long Walk to Freedom is a 2006 album by the South African isicathamiya group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It was released on January 24, 2006 and featured collaborations with artists including Sarah McLachlan, Melissa Etheridge, Joe McBride, Taj Mahal, Hugh Masekela, Zap Mama and many more.The album...

, and Ali Farka Touré

Ali Farka Touré

Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues...

 for Savane

Savane (album)

Savane is the final solo album by Malian musician Ali Farka Touré. It is the third and final part of the Hôtel Mandé Sessions, featuring Touré and Toumani Diabaté, recorded by World Circuit head Nick Gold...

. The Klezmatics earned the award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.

Nominees for the 50th Grammy Awards

50th Grammy Awards

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...

 (2008) included Céu

CEU

CEU may refer to:*Continuing education units in the United States*Central European University in Budapest, Hungary*College of Eastern Utah*Centro Escolar University in the Philippines*Centro de Estudios Universitarios in Spain...

 for CéU, Gilberto Gil for Gil Luminoso

Gil Luminoso

Gil Luminoso is a 2006 album by Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil, performed using only voice and acoustic guitar. It is composed of songs written by Gil from the late 1960s to the 1990s.-Conception and themes:...

, Bebel Gilberto for Momento

Momento (album)

-Track listing:# "Momento" - 5:16# "Bring Back the Love" - 4:29# "Close to You" - 3:20# "Os Novos Yorkinos" - 3:41# "Azul" - 3:13# "Caçada" - 4:34# "Night and Day" - 4:57# "Tranquilo" - 4:06# "Um Segundo" - 3:12# "Cadê Você?" - 3:32# "Words" - 2:30...

, Angélique Kidjo for Djin Djin

Djin Djin

Djin Djin is the eighth studio album by Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo, released on April 27, 2007 on Razor & Tie. It won Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards.-Track listing:#"Ae Ae" – 3:31...

, and Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM, OM, is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. McKennitt is known for her refined, clear soprano vocals...

 for An Ancient Muse

An Ancient Muse

An Ancient Muse is the seventh full-length studio album of the Canadian singer, songwriter, accordionist, harpist, and pianist, Loreena McKennitt. It was released on November 20, 2006 internationally, and November 21, 2006 in the United States and Canada. It was her first studio album after a...

. The award was presented to Kidjo.

2009

51st Grammy Awards

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...

 nominees for Best Contemporary World Music Album included Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...

, Zakir Hussain

Zakir Hussain (musician)

Zakir Hussain , , is an Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer.-Early life:Hussain was born in Mumbai, India to the legendary tabla player Alla Rakha. He attended St...

, Sikiru Adepoju

Sikiru Adepoju

Sikiru Adepoju is a percussionist and recording artist from Nigeria, primarily in the genres of traditional African music and world music. He plays a variety of instruments and styles.- Background :...

 and Giovanni Hidalgo

Giovanni Hidalgo

Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" is an educator and percussionist associated with Latin jazz.-Early years:Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he received his primary education. His grandfather had also been a musician as well as his father, José Manuel Hidalgo "Mañengue", who was...

 for Global Drum Project.

For the 52nd Grammy Awards

52nd Grammy Awards

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...

, nominees included Bela Fleck

Béla Fleck

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...

 for Throw Down Your Heart: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 - Africa Sessions.

2011

53rd Grammy Awards

The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...

nominees included Bela Fleck for Throw Down Your Heart: Africa Sessions Part 2: Unreleased Tracks.

External links

• Official site of the Grammy Awards