The Grammy Nominations Are In

By Frank Alkyer I Nov. 11, 2025

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)

MORE NOMINATIONS!

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)