Hip-hop artist K'Naan arives at the Juno Awards Sunday, April 18, 2010 in St. John's N.L..Mike Dembeck/The Canadian Press
It's an old refrain. Bloggers and laptop critics have accused the Juno Awards of commercial stiltedness.
They point to the music scenes in Montreal, Toronto, most every major city across Canada, and all the musicians winning praise in the hippest circles worldwide. Bands like Vancouver's Japandroids or Montreal's Handsome Furs. The Junos seemed to favour only the most radio-friendly acts instead, they lamented.
But wait, Japandroids and the Handsome Furs were nominated this year. And this, in fact, may be the year when the old criticism sounds exceedingly tired.
Sure, the Canadian music industry's biggest annual self-promotional event, held this year in St. John's, Nfld., had its usual share of major stars coming up to the podium Sunday night to collect trophies.
But the heart of the Junos - the majority of the categories that are awarded Saturday night - revealed an unusual depth, even more so this year. The nominees and winners were not only rising stars, but artists straddling multiple genres, indie artists proving their staying power and veteran artists finally getting their due.
Take Montreal jazz singer Ranee Lee. With a handful of nominations already to her credit, she didn't attend the gala, but was performing a gig in Montreal, "doing what I do," as she said. She only heard about her win for vocal jazz album of the year when she returned home Saturday night. Jim West, the president of the jazz label Justin Time, had left insistent phone messages.
As Ms. Lee tells the story, Mr. West was in St. John's, sitting next to acclaimed jazz pianist Oliver Jones. The two men didn't know what to do when Ms. Lee's name was called. Mr. Jones had to nudge Mr. West to accept the award.
"That recognition really does give you the seal of approval," said Ms. Lee, who has recorded many albums with Justin Time. "I don't believe that the focus should be to win an award. … But I think the award is the proof of the acceptance of the masses. It's the key that keeps the door unlocked."
That acceptance also extended to Charles Spearin, a founding member of the alt-rock group Broken Social Scene, who won contemporary Jazz album of the year for his experimental disc The Happiness Project. The album melds recordings of conversations with his neighbours in downtown Toronto with snippets of jazz. The album was up against CDs by an assortment of acclaimed artists, such as Cuban bandleader Hilario Duran. Mr. Spearin has often said he was surprised his disc was even nominated in the contemporary jazz category.
Other notable winners include the modernist ensemble Bell Orchestre, which is on Broken Social Scene's Arts & Crafts record label (and therefore shares a connection to the alt-rock scene), winning instrument album of the year. Similarly, the band Metric taking home group of the year and alternative album of the year, and Johnny Reid winning country album of the year will only add more heft to those well-touted acts already strong fan base.
So, maybe it was the fog delaying flights into St. John's, Nfld. over the weekend. Maybe it was the cloud of Icelandic ash over Europe that prevented singer Bryan Adams from flying to this side of the Atlantic. But something new was in the air at the Juno Awards this time around.