Playlist

Yes, yes...it's all about Mexico's Cafe Tacuba and Colombia's Juanes. Tacuba scored six Latin Grammy Awards nominations while Juanes snagged five of them. They did it with two exceptional albums, Sino and La Vida...Es Un Ratico, respectively. But let's talk about Puerto Rico's Kany Garcia, an impressive singer-songwriter whose debut CD, Cualquier Dia, was one of the best last year. Not only is she up for best new artist, but her disc is in the running for album of the year and the tune "Hoy Ya Me Voy" vies for song of the year. Way cool! And of course I need to mention Guatemala's Ricardo Arjona, one of the finest pop singer-songwriters of our time, who competes for best male pop vocal album with Quien Dijo Ayer.

For a full list of Latin Grammy Awards nominees, go to www.grammy.com. The ninth annual Latin Grammy Awards will be televised live from Houston Nov. 13 on the Univision Network.

Photo: Kudos for Kany! (Sony BMG Norte)

Yes, yes...it's all about Kenny Chesney. He snagged the most CMA nominations - a total of seven, including entertainer of the year and album of the year for Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates. But Kenny's a perennial CMA fixture, so his nods aren't exactly interesting or revelatory. Here's what made me go "hmmm..." The Horizon Award is no more. It's been renamed New Artist of the Year. More self-explanatory, I guess. I'm glad James Otto is one of the nominees. His Sunset Man is a great country soul disc. Also, Sugarland vies for five awards, including entertainer of the year. That's a first for the duo. The Eagles grab their first CMA nomination in more than 30 years in the vocal group of the year category. And yay! Alan Jackson's wonderful Good Time CD is up for album of the year. For a complete list of nominees go to the CMA website.

Catch the 42nd annual Country Music Association Awards Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. on ABC-TV.

Photo: It's all about Kenny! (William Deshazer/DMN)

Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Sugarland and Keith Urban are all up for entertainer of the year in this year's CMAs. Mario will be all over the CMAs like country radio on Carrie, don't you worry. But here's some prelims: the AP story and the full list of nominees.

(AP photo: Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum react to the announcement that they're one of the CMA nominees for vocal group of the year.)

Last night, I caught the Dallas Theater Center's production of the Who's Tommy and was by impressed by just how well the Denton band Oso Closo pulled off a daunting task: Tommy isn't one of the Who's best works. Hell, it's not even its best rock opera -- that honor goes to 1973's Quadrophenia or (if you prefer brevity and kitsch) 1966's 9-minute "mini-opera" "A Quick One While He's Away." Oso Closo is also faced with the unenviable job of trying to replicate the work of rock's all-time greatest rhythm section (virtuoso bassist John Entwistle and madman drummer Keith Moon.) Yet in spite of the obstacles, the group shines through - not by mimicking the Who, but by taking a subtle approach that doesn't steal the actors' thunder. Any band can swing a machete through "Amazing Journey" or "I'm Free." Oso Closo is smart enough to use a scalpel. Tommy runs through Sept. 28. For more insight, check out Lawson Taitte's review.