Those Canadians sure know how to make music (Polaris Music Prize)

kez

I recently purchased the most recent album by Justin Rutledge, a Canadian contemporary folk/roots type troubadour.
The Early Widows by Justin Rutledge
Amazon link

Just gave it a listen for the first time today, and it's his best by far - (gets a very strong 5 stars from me!). EDIT: After listening to it a couple more times, I have to backtrack a little - I still like his earlier album 'No Never Alone' best - even if I do happen to be one of the few on emusic who really like it! I was introduced to Justin Rutledge by his album, "No Never Alone" - available on emusic here, and was so impressed with it that I picked up his next album "Man Descending" on AmieStreet, which was not bad but not nearly as good as No Never Alone. [EDIT: Gee, I just noticed "No Never Alone" gets a whopping 3 1/2 stars from emusic members! Well, guess I'm in the minority. I give it 5.) Now, with his 3rd release "The Early Widows," Rutledge has done it again. Give it a listen.

I mention Rutledge's "The Early Widows" CD in the context of this posting on the Polaris Music Prize because I happened to notice in a review that it was nominated for the 2010 prize. Reviews here and here.

I got to wondering who won that prize for 2010. A description of the prize and eligibility rules for 2010 are:

The Polaris Music Prize is Canada’s first juried award for creative artistic achievement in recorded music. This national critic’s prize honours the full-length album as an art form and awards a cash prize of $20,000 to the artist or artists who create the best album of the year. All genres of contemporary music are considered for the Polaris Music Prize and no entry fee is required. Artists or their representatives do not submit to Polaris. Only titles suggested by Polaris jury members are considered for the Polaris Music Prize. A Long List of 40 nominated Albums of the Year will be selected by an independent panel of over 200 jurors from the fields of music journalism, blogging and broadcasting from across Canada and announced to the media June 17, 2010. This same jury will vote for a Short List of 10 titles which will be announced to the media on July 6, 2010. These 10 titles will also be marketed through various means and specially presented at music retail across Canada. A second panel of 11 jurors will convene at the Polaris Music Prize Gala in September, 2010 to select the winner of the Polaris Music Prize. Polaris Music Prize nominees and winners will be selected solely on artistic merit without regard to genre, sales history or label affiliation. All forms of contemporary music (including, but not limited to, pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B, electronic, experimental, jazz, classical, instrumental, country and blues, or any combination of the above, and including genres not mentioned or invented at the time these rules were written) are eligible for the Polaris Music Prize.

It turns out, Early Widows wasn't the winner. The winner was:

Amazon link

Go to this link to find out who else was on the list. You'll see the long and short list of nominees. Included are some fine musicians, one of them being Amelia Curran for her album, "Hunter, Hunter":

Amazon link

I had forgotten about that one, but had it on my list of albums to watch for after downloading her previous album, "War Brides" from AmieStreet which was very good.

kez

Comfortably Mine by Dominic Mancuso
Amazon link

This one's not a Polaris Music Prize winner, but Mancuso is Canadian with Italian ancestral roots and this latest offering won him the Canadian Folk Music Award "World Artist of the Year" for 2010.

"Dominic Mancuso is one of the most distinctive voices in music. He is a paramount storyteller; a premier Sicilian griot of these times. He wails with the best. He cries the blues from the depths of his soul—bringing great measures of duende to the music. Mancuso can swoop, flutter, and rush in to every nook and cranny to dilate the mind's eye when he sings. At times he is like that blithe spirit inhabiting the hidden breath of music, the one who makes the nape of the neck crawl with delight and who makes the heart skip a beat when he lets that distinctive rasp glide through to deconstruct and rebuild the song from its very depth. In this respect, he recalls the great Ray Charles at the height of his powers. Comfortably Mine—his first CD since he graced Michael Occhipinti's award-winning Sicilian Jazz Project (True North Music, 2008)—is headed for the proverbial classic status despite its being a humbly offered self-production, the fate of much worthwhile music these days. On this album, Mancuso weaves in the warmth and passion of Sicilian folk sensibility with the sliding quarter notes of the myriad sounds of the Mediterranean rim with the vibrant elasticity of the idiom of soul and the wild swing of jazz and Romani freedom." (from AllAbout Jazz website article, http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=35889).

This is a new artist to me, but the sound samples sound very intriguing (IMO). Yep - those Canadians sure know how to make music.

EDIT// Just noticed - this album also received a Juno Award in 2010 for "World Music Album of the Year" (Canadian equivalent of a Grammy.)