Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
Flea Finds His Jazz Thing
In the relatively small pantheon of certifiable rock stars venturing into the intersection of pop music and jazz, the…
To see the complete list of nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards, go to grammy.com.
(Photo: Courtesy NARAS)The nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards are in, with plenty to smile about for the worlds of jazz, blues and beyond. Below we’ve got complete nominations for the jazz and blues categories as well as a few nominations beyond those categories that include artists who have been covered in the pages of DownBeat. Congratulations to everyone who scored a nomination, including DownBeat contributor Ashley Kahn, who was nominated for his liner notes for Miles ‘55: The Prestige Recordings. For those who want to see the complete list of nominations, go to grammy.com.
BEST JAZZ PERFORMANCE
“Noble Rise” — Lakecia Benjamin Featuring Immanuel Wilkins & Mark Whitfield
“Windows–Live” — Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade
“Peace Of Mind/Dreams Come True” — Samara Joy
“Four” — Michael Mayo
“All Stars Lead To You (Live)” — Nicole Zuraitis, Dan Pugach, Tom Scott, Idan Morim, Keyon Harrold & Rachel Eckroth
BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM
Elemental — Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap
**We Insist 2025!** — Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell
Portrait — Samara Joy
Fly — Michael Mayo
Live At Vic’s Las Vegas — Nicole Zuraitis, Dan Pugach, Tom Scott, Idan Morim, Keyon Harrold & Rachel Eckroth
BEST JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
Trilogy 3–Live — Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade
Southern Nights — Sullivan Fortner featuring Peter Washington & Marcus Gilmore
Belonging — Branford Marsalis Quartet
Spirit Fall — John Patitucci Featuring Chris Potter & Brian Blade
Fasten Up — Yellowjackets
BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM
Orchestrator Emulator — The 8-Bit Big Band
Without Further Ado, Vol. 1 — Christian McBride Big Band
Lumen — Danilo Pérez & Bohuslän Big Band
Basie Rocks — Deborah Silver & The Count Basie Orchestra
Lights On A Satellite — Sun Ra Arkestra
Some Days Are Better: The Lost Scores — Kenny Wheeler Legacy Featuring The Royal Academy of Music Jazz Orchestra & Frost Jazz Orchestra
BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM
La Fleur de Cayenne — Paquito D’Rivera & Madrid-New York Connection Band
The Original Influencers: Dizzy, Chano & Chico Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra — Featuring Pedrito Martinez, Daymé Arocena, Jon Faddis, Donald Harrison & Melvis Santa
Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley — Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
A Tribute To Benny Moré and Nat King Cole — Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Yainer Horta & Joey Calveiro
Vanguardia Subterránea: Live At The Village Vanguard — Miguel Zenón Quartet
BEST ALTERNATIVE JAZZ ALBUM
honey from a winter stone — Ambrose Akinmusire
Keys To The City Volume One — Robert Glasper
Ride Into The Sun — Brad Mehldau
LIVE-ACTION — Nate Smith
Blues Blood — Immanuel Wilkins
BEST TRADITIONAL BLUES ALBUM
Ain’t Done With The Blues — Buddy Guy
Room On The Porch — Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’
One Hour Mama: The Blues Of Victoria Spivey — Maria Muldaur
Look Out Highway — Charlie Musselwhite
Young Fashioned Ways — Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Bobby Rush
BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES ALBUM
Breakthrough — Joe Bonamassa
Paper Doll — Samantha Fish
A Tribute To LJK — Eric Gales
Preacher Kids — Robert Randolph
Family — Southern Avenue
BEST INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITION
Best Instrumental Composition
“First Snow” — Remy Le Boeuf (Nordkraft Big Band, Remy Le Boeuf & Danielle Wertz)
“Live Life This Day: Movement I” — Miho Hazama (Miho Hazama, Danish Radio Big Band & Danish National Symphony Orchestra)
“Lord, That’s A Long Way” — Sierra Hull (Sierra Hull)
“Opening” — Zain Effendi (Zain Effendi)
“Train To Emerald City” — John Powell & Stephen Schwartz (John Powell & Stephen Schwartz)
“Why You Here/Before The Sun Went Down” — Ludwig Göransson, composer (Ludwig Göransson Featuring Miles Caton)
BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTAL OR A CAPPELLA
“Be Okay”— Cynthia Erivo (Cynthia Erivo)
“A Child Is Born” — Remy Le Boeuf (Nordkraft Big Band & Remy Le Boeuf)
“Fight On” — Andy Clausen, Addison Maye-Saxon, Riley Mulherkar & Chloe Rowlands (The Westerlies)
“Super Mario Praise Break” — Bryan Carter, Charlie Rosen & Matthew Whitaker (The 8-Bit Big Band)
BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTS AND VOCALS
“Big Fish” — Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick, Nate Smith & Amanda Taylor (Nate Smith Featuring säje)
“How Did She Look?” — Nelson Riddle (Seth MacFarlane)
“Keep An Eye On Summer” — Jacob Collier (Jacob Collier)
“Something In The Water–Acoustic-Ish” — Clyde Lawrence, Gracie Lawrence & Linus Lawrence (Clyde Lawrence)
“What A Wonderful World” — Cody Fry (Cody Fry)
Other nominations of artists who recently have been covered by DownBeat include:
BEST PROGRESSIVE R&B ALBUM
Adjust Brightness — Bilal
Come As You Are — Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon
BEST CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
Ones & Twos — Gerald Clayton
BEATrio — Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda, Antonio Sánchez
Just Us — Bob James & Dave Koz
BEST AMERICAN ROOTS PERFORMANCE
“Lonely Aveue” — Jon Batiste Featuring Randy Newman
“Beautiful Strangers” — Mavis Staples
BEST AMERICAN ROOTS SONG
“Big Money” — Jon Batiste, Mike Elizondo & Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
BEST AMERICANA ALBUM
Big Money — Jon Batiste
BEST FOLK ALBUM
What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow — Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson
BEST REGIONAL ROOTS MUSIC ALBUM
Live At Vaughan’s — Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet
For Fat Man — Preservation Brass & Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Church Of New Orleans — Kyle Roussel
Second Line Sunday — Trombone Shorty And New Breed Brass Band
A Tribute To The King Of Zydeco — Various Artists
BEST ALBUM NOTES
After The Last Sky — Adam Shatz (Anouar Brahem, Anja Lechner, Django Bates, Dave Holland)
Miles ‘55: The Prestige Recordings — Ashley Kahn (Miles Davis)
BEST HISTORICAL ALBUM
Joni Mitchell Archives–Volume 4: The Asylum Years, 1976–1980 — Patrick Milligan & Joni Mitchell, compilation producers; Bernie Grundman, mastering engineer (Joni Mitchell)
You Can’t Hip A Square: The Doc Pomus Songwriting Demos — Will Bratton, Sharyn Felder & Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer; Michael Graves & Jordan McLeod, restoration engineers (Doc Pomus)
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