HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 6 (acn) -- Cuban diva Omara Portuondo and renowned pianist Chucho Valdes won Latin Grammy awards during the 10th Latin Grammy Awards ceremony held on Thursday night at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Omara, who came to renewed international attention with the Buena Vista Social Club, won the award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album for her recording ‘Gracias’ (Thank You), which honored her 60 years in music.
‘Gracias’ recently won – shared with the DVD ‘Aquí el que baila gana’ by Los Van Van - the top award of the Cubadisco 2009 International Music Fair held last May in Havana.
The Cuban bolero singer made history by not only being the first Cuban artist from the island to appear on the telecast, but the first to win an award on the air.
Meanwhile, Chucho Valdes, a pianist, instrumentalist and composer who already had four Grammy Awards and who is regarded by specialists as one of the top four jazz players of the world, won the Grammy in the category of Best Latin Jazz Album.
On this occasion, he shared the award with his father Bebo Valdes with the album ‘Juntos para siempre’ (Together Forever).
Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 were the big winners of the night as they won all five of the awards for which they were nominated.
Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Urban Album, Best Alternative Song, and Best Short Form Video, all from their album ‘Los de atras vienen conmigo’ (Those from behind are coming with me). Frontman Rene Perez paid tribute to recently deceased Argentine folk star Mercedes Sosa, whose album Cantora 1 won the prize for Best Folk Album.
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