The 2025 Grammy nominations were announced this morning, and results in the jazz field indicate a system in transition. A new cohort of familiar names has settled into place, even as the Recording Academy strains to accommodate the many permutations of style and subgenre that now flourishes under jazz’s broad and leaky umbrella.
Consider the rapper André 3000, whose flute-forward New Blue Sun is up against the likes of Beyoncé and Charli xcx for Album of the Year — and otherwise appears under Best Alternative Jazz Album. Few would make the case that André 3000 is a jazz artist. But there’s a reason his team filed his nomination under “Alternative Jazz” — alongside Arooj Aftab, Robert Glasper, Keyon Harrold, and Meshell Ndegeocello, who won in the category last year — rather than under New Age, where he would be up against Anoushka Shankar and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.
A cynic could further point out that the jazz artist tied for the most nominations this cycle is pianist Chick Corea, who died in 2021, and was also up for multiple awards last year. (He is also tied the fourth most Grammy awards of any individual ever, at 27 and counting.) Corea’s three nods come courtesy of Remembrance, an album of casually intricate duets with a longtime friend, banjoist and fellow Grammy favorite Béla Fleck.
Setting aside Corea, who will always be a special case, the artists with multiple nominations this year embody an admirably diverse coalition. The hard-driving alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, who logged her first nominations last year, is back with Phoenix Reimagined (Live), vying for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Jazz Performance (for its title track). In both categories she’s up against the playful and lyrical pianist Sullivan Fortner: his Solo Game received a Best Jazz Instrumental Album nod, and he has a duet with Samara Joy nominated for Best Jazz Performance. Fortner has a third nomination in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category, for Wildflowers Vol. 1, an EP made in a hurry with singer Kurt Elling.
Samara Joy, who won Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2023, is perhaps the most obvious member of the new Grammy gentry; she’s in the running this year not only in Best Jazz Performance, but also Best Jazz Vocal Album, for A Joyful Holiday. Three other past Best New Artist winners from the jazz fold — Norah Jones, esperanza spalding and Jon Batiste — can also be found scattered through the nominations, though not all in jazz categories. (Batiste has two nods related to the documentary film American Symphony.)
Pianist-composer John Beasley, a two-time Grammy winner and perennial nominee, has two different releases up for Best Latin Jazz Album and Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. In the latter category, his competition includes drummer and composer Dan Pugach, whose Bianca Reimagined: Music For Paws And Persistence also yielded a nod for Best Jazz Performance, courtesy of a tune titled “Little Fears,” featuring last year’s surprise Best Jazz Vocal Album winner, Nicole Zuraitis.
The veteran guitarist Bill Frisell is another artist with two nominations: one for his part in Owl Song, a trio effort by trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire (Best Jazz Instrumental Album), and one for his Orchestras (Live), made with the Brussels Philharmonic (Best Contemporary Instrumental Album). If he wins one, Frisell will double his Grammy total.
Finally, two pianists hailing from Philadelphia are in the mix this year. Orrin Evans and his Captain Black Big Band have scored their third nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album with Walk A Mile In My Shoe; it could be that the third time’s the charm. And NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron, now 81, has logged his 14th nomination with Beyond This Place, which is up for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. If Barron prevails, it will be his first time in the Grammy winner’s circle — and he’s sure to bring along the younger band mates, like Johnathan Blake and Immanuel Wilkins, who should be among the new crop of contenders soon.
Here is a complete list of Grammy nominees. Below, find results in the Jazz field and related categories. Also read our report on the Classical field.
The 67th Annual Grammy Awards Nominations: Jazz Field
Best Jazz Performance
- “Walk With Me, Lord (SOUND | SPIRIT),” The Baylor Project
- “Phoenix Reimagined (Live),” Lakecia Benjamin Featuring Randy Brecker, Jeff "Tain" Watts & John Scofield
- “Juno,” Chick Corea & Béla Fleck
- “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me,” Samara Joy Featuring Sullivan Fortner
- “Little Fears,” Dan Pugach Big Band Featuring Nicole Zuraitis & Troy Roberts
Best Jazz Vocal Album
- Journey In Black, Christie Dashiell
- Wildflowers Vol. 1, Kurt Elling & Sullivan Fortner
- A Joyful Holiday, Samara Joy
- Milton + esperanza, Milton Nascimento & esperanza spalding
- My Ideal, Catherine Russell & Sean Mason
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
- Owl Song, Ambrose Akinmusire Featuring Bill Frisell & Herlin Riley
- Beyond This Place, Kenny Barron Featuring Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Johnathan Blake, Immanuel Wilkins & Steve Nelson
- Phoenix Reimagined (Live), Lakecia Benjamin
- Remembrance, Chick Corea & Béla Fleck
- Solo Game, Sullivan Fortner
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
- Returning To Forever, John Beasley & Frankfurt Radio Big Band
- And So It Goes, The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
- Walk A Mile In My Shoe, Orrin Evans & The Captain Black Big Band
- Bianca Reimagined: Music For Paws And Persistence, Dan Pugach Big Band
- Golden City, Miguel Zenón
Best Latin Jazz Album
- Spain Forever Again, Michel Camilo & Tomatito
- Cubop Lives!, Zaccai Curtis
- COLLAB, Hamilton de Holanda & Gonzalo Rubalcaba
- Time And Again, Eliane Elias
- El Trio: Live in Italy, Horacio 'El Negro' Hernández, John Beasley & José Gola
- Cuba And Beyond, Chucho Valdés & Royal Quartet
- As I Travel, Donald Vega Featuring Lewis Nash, John Patitucci & Luisito Quintero
Best Alternative Jazz Album
- Night Reign, Arooj Aftab
- New Blue Sun, André 3000
- Code Derivation, Robert Glasper
- Foreverland, Keyon Harrold
- No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin, Meshell Ndegeocello
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
- À Fleur De Peau, Cyrille Aimée
- Visions, Norah Jones
- Good Together, Lake Street Dive
- Impossible Dream, Aaron Lazar
- Christmas Wish, Gregory Porter
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
- Plot Armor, Taylor Eigsti
- Rhapsody In Blue, Béla Fleck
- Orchestras (Live), Bill Frisell Featuring Alexander Hanson, Brussels Philharmonic, Rudy Royston & Thomas Morgan
- Mark, Mark Guiliana
- Speak To Me, Julian Lage
Best Instrumental Composition (Artist names in parentheses)
- “At Last,” Shelton G. Berg, composer (Shelly Berg)
- “Communion,” Christopher Zuar, composer (Christopher Zuar Orchestra)
- “I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time,” André 3000, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño, composers (André 3000)
- “Remembrance,” Chick Corea, composer (Chick Corea & Béla Fleck)
- “Strands,” Pascal Le Boeuf, composer (Akropolis Reed Quintet, Pascal Le Boeuf & Christian Euman)
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella (Artist names in parentheses)
- “Baby Elephant Walk - Encore,” Michael League, arranger (Snarky Puppy)
- “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Jacob Collier, Tori Kelly & John Legend, arrangers (Jacob Collier Featuring John Legend & Tori Kelly)
- “Rhapsody In Blue(Grass),” Béla Fleck & Ferde Grofé, arrangers (Béla Fleck
- Featuring Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz & Bryan Sutton)
- “Rose Without The Thorns,” Erin Bentlage, Alexander Lloyd Blake, Scott Hoying,
- A.J. Sealy & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (Scott Hoying Featuring säje & Tonality)
- “Silent Night,” Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (säje)
