Just keep your ears open

Sadly, many Americans are likely to judge the state of Latin music by this year’s terrible Latin Grammy telecast, a grotesquely distorted program that filtered Latin artists through the ethnocentric prism of American pop culture.

The good news is that real Latin music is alive and well and available in the United States, if you look a little.

Spain made an indelible mark on 2004 with the U.S. release of two milestone albums: “Bari,” the brilliant sophomore effort by Barcelona’s flamenco-fusion wizards Ojos de Brujo, and “Lagrimas Negras,” the beautiful reworking of Latin classics by Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes and Gypsy singer Diego El Cigala.

After a stumbling, poorly staged L.A. debut in October, Ojos de Brujo luckily returned the following month for the annual alt-Latino awards sponsored by the magazine La Banda Elastica. The band’s intense and entrancing show at Long Beach’s Vault 350 stands as one of the most riveting live performances in recent memory.

On a more mellow note, the year also marked the commercial breakthrough of Mexican singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas. She follows Colombia’s Juanes and Shakira onto the pop charts, but without losing those demanding alternative fans. That’s a feat that might light the way for other artists, such as fellow Mexican female rocker Ely Guerra, worthy of a wider audience.