The Grammy Awards—the 65th edition of which will be broadcast on CBS Feb. 5 from Los Angeles—have an annoying tendency to downplay the jazz and jazz-adjacent categories. Fortunately, JazzTimes is here to fill that gap with our laser-sharp focus on the jazz nominations, and, after the broadcast, on the winners.
There is no juggernaut among 2023’s nominees on the order of Jon Batiste, whose 11 nominations and five wins led the Grammy pack on both counts last year. Pianist, composer, and arranger John Beasley is this year’s most nominated jazz artist with three nods: Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album (for Bird Lives, with the SWR Big Band featuring trombonist Magnus Lindgren), Best Improvised Jazz Solo (for “Cherokee/Koko,” from the same album), and Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella (for “Scrapple from the Apple,” again from Bird Lives). Beasley has previously been nominated eight times, winning once in 2021 in the Best Arrangement category (for “Donna Lee,” which appeared on the album MONK’estra Plays John Beasley).
Others of this year’s nominees have also scored prior Grammy gold, many of them multiple times. Iconic saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter has collected 11 statues, with the potential to add two more on Sunday for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival, on which he shares billing with Leo Genovese, esperanza spalding, and Terri Lyne Carrington) and Best Improvised Jazz Solo (“Endangered Species,” for which he shares the nomination with pianist Genovese). Christian McBride, likewise nominated for a co-led session—LongGone, with Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, and Brian Blade—has won eight times, while vocal group Manhattan Transfer (up for Best Jazz Vocal Album for their Fifty) has won seven. Drummer and composer Carrington, a three-time Grammy winner, is this year nominated twice—both for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (her own studio project New STANDARDS Vol. 1 and Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival). Legendary bassist Ron Carter, who has also previously won three awards, is nominated for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album for his Remembering Bob Freedman with the Jazzaar Festival Big Band. Pianist Danilo Perez, up for Best Latin Jazz Album (Crisalida), is another three-timer.
However, much of the attention at this year’s Grammy Awards will be on newcomers. Blue Note artists DOMi and JD Beck were breakout stars in 2022 of so-called “viral jazz” (i.e., successes on the social media platforms TikTok and YouTube); their debut album NOT TiGHT competes with Mehldau, Jeff Coffin, Grant Geissman, and Snarky Puppy in the (jazz adjacent) Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category. Vocalist Samara Joy, whose sophomore album Linger Awhile is competing for Best Jazz Vocal Album, received considerable acclaim and attention for the album, including two appearances on NBC’s Today.
Joy, along with DOMi and JD Beck, are both also nominated for Best New Artist, placing them alongside such contenders as Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta, Italian rockers Maneskin, and rapper Latto. Various oddsmakers give either Latto or Anitta the edge, but an upset by one of the two jazz artists is not implausible.
Below is the full list of jazz and jazz-adjacent nominees.
Best Jazz Vocal Album
The Baylor Project: The Evening: Live at APPARATUS
Samara Joy: Linger Awhile
Carmen Lundy: Fade to Black
The Manhattan Transfer with the WDR Funkhausorchester: Fifty
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Ghost Song
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
Terri Lyne Carrington: new STANDARDS Vol. 1
Peter Erskine Trio: Live in Italy
Redman/Mehldau/McBride/Blade: LongGone
Wayne Shorter/Terri Lyne Carrington/Leo Genovese/esperanza spalding: Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival
Yellowjackets: Parallel Motion
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
SWR Big Band/Magnus Lindgren/John Beasley: Bird Lives
Ron Carter & the Jazzaar Festival Big Band: Remembering Bob Freedman
Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra: Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra
Steve Gadd/Eddie Gomez/Ronnie Cuber/WDR Big Band: Center Stage
Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows: Architecture of Storms
Best Improvised Jazz Solo
Ambrose Akinmusire: “Rounds (Live)” (from Terri Lyne Carrington’s new STANDARDS Vol. 1)
Gerald Albright: “Keep Holding On” (from Hank Bilal’s The Black Aquarius)
Melissa Aldana: “Falling” (from 12 Stars)
Marcus Baylor: “Call of the Drum” (from the Baylor Project’s The Evening: Live at APPARATUS)
John Beasley: “Cherokee/Koko” (from Bird Lives)
Wayne Shorter and Leo Genovese: “Endangered Species” (from Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival)
Best Latin Jazz Album
Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Fandango at the Wall in New York
Danilo Pérez Featuring the Global Messengers: Crisálida
Flora Purim: If You Will
Arturo Sandoval: Rhythm & Soul
Miguel Zenón: Música de las Américas
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Jeff Coffin: Between Dreaming and Joy
DOMi & JD Beck: NOT TiGHT
Grant Geissman: Blooz
Brad Mehldau: Jacob’s Ladder
Snarky Puppy: Empire Central
Best Instrumental Composition
Paquito D’Rivera: “African Tales” (from Tasha Warren & Dave Eggar’s Ourself Behind Ourself, Concealed)
Miguel Zenón: El País Invisible
Danilo Pérez: “Fronteras (Borders) Suite: Al-Musafir Blues” (from Crisálida)
Geoffrey Keezer: “Refuge” (from Playdate)
Pascal Le Boeuf: “Snapshots” (from Tasha Warren & Dave Eggar’s Ourself Behind Ourself, Concealed)
Best New Artist
Anitta
Omar Apollo
DOMi & JD Beck
Samara Joy
Latto
Maneskin
Muni Long
Tobe Nwigwe
Molly Tuttle
Wet Leg
