The Audience Award One of the main awards has now been decided by you the audience. The winner will be announced at the Poll Winners concert in March. A huge thanks to all those who contributed. It was wonderful to see such a wide-ranging list of nominations (left) and the way so many of the musicians have touched your lives.
Here are the bands who were voted onto the final shortlist. Click on each name to read more about them and click on the 'listen' icon to hear a selected track from each band. A large selection of your comments can be found by clicking on the list to the left.
Lynn Bird, London:
'Cachaito Lopez is my man of the year because he's brought Cuban music into a contemporary setting using a very eclectic approach. He's working with artists from all over the world yet he remains totally true to the roots of Cuba and Salsa. Off his album, it's got to be Track 5 with that fantastic flute sequence. He's so young at heart and that's inspirational for a young woman like me to be able to connect and be in touch with the likes of him through his music. I've also seen him twice now, at Womad … 2001 and this year at London's Royal Festival Hall this year … he's just the man!'
Peter Judge, London:
'His giant feet are planted in both the history of Cuban music, and the future of world music. He has a wonderful band which reflects that. This makes a fantastic live performance. On top of this, his stage personality is engaging and modest.'
Peter Dignam, London:
'Most Latin music seems very busy, very desirous to fill up all the space with layer upon layer of percussion. Cachaito is cool enough and confident enough to play the holes in the music.'
