LATIN

The winners in two of the four Latin categories are actually responsible for the best records of the year in their fields. The Grammys for Ry Cooder and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are a sure sign that the academy members have been keeping up with Latin popular music.

Recording with Cuban musicians in their homeland, Cooder created a masterful album. “Buena Vista Social Club,” which won the tropical performance award, exudes a peaceful, harmonious atmosphere, implying that music can unite people from different backgrounds.

If Cooder’s work was based on balance and experience, Los Cadillacs’ “Fabulosos Calavera” was all about the chaos at the end of the millennium.

The album, which fuses almost every genre under the sun, was named best rock en espan~ol album. The record--and its strong competition in this new category--demonstrates that rock is the most vital genre in Latin music now.

Given those results, it doesn’t matter much that Luis Miguel was honored in the Latin pop performance category for a collection that duplicates his two previous albums of boleros, or that La Mafia won over the more deserving Los Tigres del Norte for best Mexican American/Tejano performance.