Jazz music and the Grammy Awards have been strange bedfellows. Jazz categories are not included in the televised ceremony, and appearances by jazz artists are few in number with minimal air time. Album of the Year awards went to jazz artists only a couple times in the Grammy’s history (Getz/Gilberto 1964; Hancock’s Joni Mitchell tribute River in 2008). This year, New Orleans’ Jon Batiste was a big winner, receiving the Album of the Year award for We Are. Cry from the record received Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song (not jazz categories), and the video for Freedom won Best Music Video. In addition, Batiste received a GRAMMY as one of the composers of the original score for the animated feature Soul.
There are 5 jazz categories in all, and the academy did choose some great picks for this year’s honors.
Best Improvised Jazz Solo
Chick Corea, Humpty Dumpty (Set 2)
Best Jazz Vocal Album
Esperanza Spalding, Songwrights Apothecary Lab
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette & Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Skyline
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Christian McBride Big Band, For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver
Best Latin Jazz Album
Eliane Elias with Chick Corea and Cucho Valdés, Mirror Mirror
There were Hartford connections this year as well. Congrats to University of Hartford, professor and trombonist Steve Davis for his part in the Christian McBride Big Band. Also, Brandee Younger (harp), U of H alumni was nominated for a Grammy for her composition Beautiful is Black from her album Somewhere Different.
Want to hear these award winning artists? Check out this podcast:
source: Jazziz Feb 2022
