Big John and Little Joe

Best Jazz Venue
Sambuca
Upon learning of his establishment's win, general manager David Forman is literally at a loss of words. In fact, all he can muster up is a "Wow, cool!" It's understandable that he would be shocked at the news; Sambuca hasn't won the jazz venue prize since 1999. But after he regains his composure, Forman remembers why his club/eatery deserved to win this time around. The downtown spot has been known to feature such well-known jazz hands as Joshua Redman, Steve Tyrell and Eddie Palmeri. "We're the only people that bring them in," says Forman, referring to the city's lack of out-of-town jazz visitors. Forman insists that getting national acts to perform can be a challenge at times, but once an act is booked and turns the jazz cafe out, it is oh so sweet. "It's hard for us to do it, but we're going to keep doing it," he says. Wow, cool! -- C.D.L.

Best Bluegrass
Lone Star Bluegrass

Lone Star Bluegrass's Chris Hirsch is not as glad to have won an award as he is to have a category for his band and their competitors. "We've been around since 1982, and we've lost in a bunch of other categories like country and folk and acoustic to a bunch of other people. We lost to Clint Black and Shake Russell. Hell, I think we even lost to Perry Como one year. I'd kind of given up hope," he says. "But when y'all came out with that category, I thought, 'Now here's something we can do something with.' " As to our tongue-in-cheek allegation that he was using his Saturday-afternoon KPFT show to stump for his band, Hirsch wants it to be known that we said it, not him. "If somebody requested it, I'd play it, but not otherwise." -- J.N.L.

Critic's pick: Lone Star Bluegrass

Best Rap
I-45
Whenever the name I-45 pops up, the first thing that materializes inside a person's head are those immortal lines from their "Bike Song": "Bitch I got a bike / So don't ask me for a ride." Apparently, those lines sprung up in the heads of many a voter. That could explain why the slip-hop team easily won this year's Best Rap prize. Of course, the group's numerous appearances at spots like Fitzgerald's and the Engine Room over the past year probably helped. Perhaps this win is the homecoming present the boys have been yearning for since their return from the gilded trenches of sunny California, where they relocated after the release of their Lost Between the Lines album in 2000. (Or maybe it's just a consolation prize for Tony Avitia's pending divorce.) At any rate, this has been the shakiest year in Houston rap history, with local luminaries getting caught up in everything from child molestation to murder attempts to car wrecks. So it's comforting to see a couple of MCs come out of it unscathed -- and holding an award. -- C.D.L.

Critic's pick: K-Otix

Best Jazz
Free Radicals
Nick Cooper is surprised to hear that his band, Free Radicals, won Best Jazz honors. He called the Press the day after the Wednesday event and got the good news. But didn't his band tell him first? "No, I really should call those guys," Cooper said. Cooper played the Sunday gig and then went back to his borrowed summer digs in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he's been working on a novel. (So far he has 37 pages in the can.) This is his freewheeling combo's sixth win in three categories, but this year Cooper was particularly excited about the band's showcase gig. "We always get nominated separately from [Free Radical] Harry Sheppard," he said. "So this year we asked for our gigs to be scooted together so he could play his set and then join us for ours." Cooper is also pleased that Houston audiences have taken to the band's new, all-but-horn-free lineup, which includes Sheppard, Aaron Hermes and Tom Sutherland. -- J.N.L.

Critic's pick: Free Radicals