Best R&B Album and Male Performance of The Year

The Grammys was an interesting watch this year, as uneven as usual, but with better vocal performances than we’ve seen in some years. While folks appear more flummoxed by Taylor Swift’s Album of the Year win over Beyoncé, and are over-concerned with whether this Grammy was a kind of Kanye backlash (backlash would have been not nominating him for several awards, including three in one category), they missed Beyonce skipping out the door with six Grammys in the song, pop, and r&b departments. There was crickets about Jason Mraz beating out a racket of all-black male competitors from Seal and Stevie Wonder to Maxwell and John Legend for Male Pop Vocal  (one of two for Mraz). Maxwell returned the favor by delivering one of the top five performances of the night and still walking away with a Best R&B Male Performance Grammy for “Pretty Wings” (per my prediction). The Black Eye Peas took home a couple including Pop Group and Pop Vocal Album for “The E.N.D.”

This album earned 5 of the 6 Golden Gramophones

Predictably, Gaga swept the dance categories for “Poker Face” and “FAME.” Sadly indie artists got bested again and again by better known names, encouraging charges of popularity over substance in some key categories. Here are the rest of your Black Music-oriented Grammy Winners:

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance

Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

Maxwell “Pretty Wings”

Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

Jamie Foxx & T Pain “Blame It”

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance

Beyoncé “At Last”

Best Urban/Alternative Performance

India Arie “Pearls”

Best R&B Song

“Single Ladies” (performed by Beyoncé)

Best R&B Album

Maxwell “Blacksummers’Night”

Best Contemporary R&B Album

Beyoncé “I Am…Sasha Fierce”

Best Rap Solo Performance

Jay-Z “D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)”

Best Rap Performance By A Duo or Group

Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent “Crack A Bottle”

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

Jay-Z, Rihanna, & Kanye West “Run This Town”

Best Rap Song

Jay-Z, Rihanna, & Kanye West “Run This Town”

Best Rap Album

Eminem “Relapse”

Best Contemporary Jazz Album

Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate “75″

Best Jazz Vocal Album

Kurt Elling “Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings The Music of Coltrane and Hartman

Best Improvised Jazz Solo

Terence Blanchard “Dancin’ 4 Chicken” from “Watts (Jeff “Tain” Watts)

Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual Or Group

Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Piece Band “Five-Piece Band-Live”

Best Large Jazz Ensemble

New Orleans Jazz Orchestra “Book One”

Best Latin Jazz Album

Bebo Valdés and Chucho Valdes “Juntos Para Siempre”

Best Gospel Performance

Donnie McClurkin featuring Karen Clark Sheard “Wait On The Lord” from “We All Are One (Live In Detroit)”

Best Gospel Song

Mary Mary featuring Karen Clark Sheard “God In Me”from “The Sound”

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

Israel Houghton “The Power Of One”

Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

Heather Headley “Audience Of One”

Best Traditional Gospel Album

Various Artist “Oh Happy Day”

Best Reggae Album

Stephen Marley “Mind Control-Acoustic”

Best Musical Album For Children

Ziggy Marley “Family Time”

Best Traditional World Music Album

Douga Mansa “Mamadou Diabate”

Best Contemporary World Music Album

Béla Fleck “Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3- Africa Sessions”

TAGS: Beyonce, Grammys, India Arie, Lady Gaga Black Eye Peas, Maxwell