Nora Jones, Falguni Shah Nominated for 64th Grammy Awards in Traditional Pop and Children’s Album Respectively
- Born Geetali Norah Shankar in Brooklyn, New York, Jones first emerged on the world stage with the February 2002 release of “Come Away With Me,” which won her five Grammys.
2 Indian American artists Nora Jones and Falu (aka Falguni Shah) have been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Best Children’s Music Album respectively. Jones, singer, songwriter, and pianist, has been nominated for her album “Til We Meet Again,” her first full live album, while Falu, a New York-based singer, songwriter and composer, is nominated for her children’s album “A Colorful World,” that blends South Asian music with global rhythms.
Released in April this year, Jones’ “Til We Meet Again” includes globe-spanning performances from the U.S., France, Italy, Brazil, and Argentina that were recorded between 2017-2019. She will compete against “Love For Sale” by Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga; A Tori Kelly Christmas,” by Tory Kelly; “Ledisi Sings Nina,” by Ledisi; “That’s Life,” by Willie Nelson; and “A Holly Dolly Christmas” by Dolly Parton.
Born Geetali Norah Shankar in Brooklyn, New York, Jones first emerged on the world stage with the February 2002 release of “Come Away With Me,” which won her five Grammys, including Best New Artist, Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year. She has released a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo albums —“Feels Like Home” (2004), “Not Too Late” (2007), “The Fall” (2009), “Little Broken Hearts” (2012), and “Day Breaks” (2016).
She has released albums with her collective bands The Little Willies, El Madmo, and Puss N Boots featuring Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper who released their second LP “Sister,” earlier this year.
Falu is pitted against “Actívate” (123 Andrés); “All One Tribe” (1 Tribe Collective); “Black To The Future” (Pierce Freelon) and “Crayon Kids” (Lucky Diaz And The Family Jam Band).
“We are so happy and grateful to be nominated for a GRAMMY in the Children’s Category with our album,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Thank you to everyone who participated in this album and to everyone who supported our music and our dreams.”
This is Falu’s second Grammy nomination. She was nominated in 2018 in the same category for her children’s album “Falu’s Bazaar,” a trilingual album sung in English, Hindi, and Gujarati,
with traditional instrumentation.
Originally from Mumbai, Falu moved to the U.S. in 2000 and was appointed as a visiting lecturer at Tufts University. Her subsequent career here has led to a series of high-profile collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Wyclef Jean, Philip Glass, Ricky Martin, Blues Traveler and A. R. Rahman amongst others. She was appointed Carnegie Hall’s ambassador of Indian Music in 2006, and has performed for President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. She was a featured performer at the Time-100 gala in 2009. Her first album “Falu” was featured in Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History’s “Beyond Bollywood” exhibit as representative of the voice of Indian American trendsetting artists.
She currently performs and writes with her band, Falu & Karyshma, an internationally recognized supergroup known for its ability to weave together the intensity of rock, the improvisation of jazz, and the intricacies of India’s deepest musical traditions.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on January 31, 2022.