Hello, Dali

Photo by Ted Soqui

In a rather, oh, let’s say adventurous affair held last Thursday evening at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, the winners of the L.A. WeeklyMusic Awards 2000 were announced. A glitzy array of show biz’s finest (and those who love them), along with their bodyguards and curious onlookers, turned out to pump the flesh, shoot the breeze and catch the drift in what turned out to be an unpredictable night for all concerned.

First of all, apologies to Michael Whitmore, whose excellent group Some’tet was inadvertently left out when the nominees were announced for Best Instrumental Band; and to George Sarah, who suffered the same fate during the announcement of the nominees for Best Dance Artist. Our humblest bows before these artists.

Some said it was a mistake to put so many different types of music — from punk rock to hip-hop to classical — together on one bill and try to get the whole thing to resonate. We figured L.A. had grown up to the point where it could embrace such a concept, and we found out that we had matured somewhat, though not quite as well as a piece of cheese — this town is still a place that can’t handle its freedoms. It wasn’t a good idea for certain invited performers to shower (literally) our honored guests with abuse, especially since many of those honored guests had personally paved the way and paid the price for the freedoms enjoyed by the punks who graced the stage.

Our thanks to host Ice-T, who kept the proceedings lively, and to our ace performing musicians, each of whom in his or her own wildly different way ripped the joint loose with some totally first-class work. And as raucous and irreverent as the show was, we hope it’s understood that the LAWMAs ultimately exist to convey our deepest respect for Los Angeles musicians and their achievements. And we’ll be back next year — with a new, improved show.

BEST NEW ARTIST Macy Gray

BEST ROCK BAND The BellRays

BEST HARD ROCK/METAL BAND Rage Against the Machine

BEST POP/ROCK BAND Eels

BEST PUNK/HARDCORE BAND Betty Blowtorch

BEST RAP/HIP-HOP ARTIST Jurassic 5

BEST JAZZ ARTIST Wadada Leo Smith

BEST COUNTRY ARTIST Dave Alvin

BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES/ R&B ARTIST Ben Harper

BEST SALSA/LATIN ARTIST Poncho Sanchez

BEST INSTRUMENTAL BAND Banyan

BEST NEW-GENRE/ UNCATEGORIZABLE ARTIST (tie) Brad Laner/Electric Company, and Azalia Snail

JAZZ EMINENCE AWARD (tie) Billy Higgins and Charlie Haden

POP/ROCK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS Hadda Brooks, Big Jay McNeely, Dick Dale, Arthur Lee

BEST WORLD MUSIC/ RECOMBINANT ARTIST Ozomatli

BEST DJ (Mixmeister) Cut Chemist

BEST DJ (Selector) Jason Bentley

BEST RADIO SHOW Garth Trinidad’s Chocolate City (KCRW)

BEST ROCK/POP SONGWRITER/COMPOSER Beck

BEST DANCE MUSIC ARTIST OO Soul

OUTSTANDING CLASSICAL ENSEMBLE/ARTIST L.A. Philharmonic’s New Music Ensemble