Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album
Awarded for	Quality contemporary jazz performances
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded	1992
Last awarded	2011
Website	grammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, ^[1] to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality contemporary jazz performances. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by The Recording Academy to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". ^[2]

Originally called the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance, the award was first presented to the Manhattan Transfer in 1992. From 1993 to 1994 the category was known as Best Contemporary Jazz Performance (Instrumental), from 1995 to 2000 the name changed to Best Contemporary Jazz Performance, and since 2001 the name of the category has been Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Until 2001, both albums and singles were eligible for this award. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented for albums containing "at least 51% playing time of newly recorded contemporary jazz instrumental tracks". ^[3] Beginning in 2001, award recipients included the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists.

As of 2011, Pat Metheny holds the record for the most wins in this category, with a total of six (five times with the Pat Metheny Group). Randy Brecker has received the award four times total, once along with his brother Michael as the duo known as Brecker Brothers. The group Béla Fleck and the Flecktones has received the award twice. American artists have been presented with the award more than any other nationality, though it has been presented once to Joe Zawinul, born in Austria. The group Yellowjackets holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with a total of seven. In 2012, the award was discontinued in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. From 2012, contemporary jazz recordings were shifted to the newly formed Best Jazz Instrumental Album category.

Recipients

Six-time award winner Pat Metheny

Four-time award winner and member of Brecker Brothers, Randy Brecker

Béla Fleck of the two-time award-winning group, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

2005 award winner, Bill Frisell

2008 award winner, Herbie Hancock

2010 award winner, Joe Zawinul

Year [I]	Performing artist(s)	Work	Nominees	Ref.
1992	The Manhattan Transfer	"Sassy"	Béla Fleck and the Flecktones – Flight of the Cosmic Hippo Bobby McFerrin – Medicine Music Claus Ogerman and Michael Brecker – Claus Ogerman Featuring Michael Brecker Joe Sample – Ashes to Ashes Yellowjackets – Greenhouse	[4]
1993	Pat Metheny	Secret Story	Bob Berg – Back Roads Brecker Brothers – Return of the Brecker Brothers Bob Mintzer – One Music David Sanborn – Upfront	[5]
1994	Pat Metheny Group	The Road to You	Chick Corea Elektric Band II – Paint the World Fourplay – Between the Sheets John Patitucci – Another World Yellowjackets – Like a River	[6]
1995	Brecker Brothers	Out of the Loop	Jan Garbarek Group – Twelve Moons Marcus Miller – The Sun Don't Lie Mike Stern – Is What It Is Yellowjackets – Run for Your Life	[7]
1996	Pat Metheny Group	We Live Here	Fourplay – Elixir Marcus Miller – Tales Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton – Larry & Lee Yellowjackets – Dreamland	[8]
1997	Wayne Shorter	High Life	Bob James and Kirk Whalum – Joined at the Hip T.J. Kirk – If Four Was One Harvey Mason – Ratamacue Mike Stern – Between the Lines
1998	Randy Brecker	Into the Sun	Lee Ritenour – Alive in L.A. Patrice Rushen – Signature Joe Sample – Sample This Grover Washington, Jr. – Breath of Heaven: A Holiday Collection	[9]
1999	Pat Metheny Group	Imaginary Day	George Duke – After Hours Marcus Miller – Live & More Yellowjackets – Club Nocturne Joe Zawinul and The Zawinul Syndicate – World Tour	[10]
2000	David Sanborn	Inside	Russell Gunn – Ethnomusicology, Volume 1 Tim Hagans – Animation/Imagination Bob James – Joy Ride Victor Wooten – Yin-Yang
2001	Béla Fleck and the Flecktones	Outbound	Fourplay – Yes, Please! Tim Hagans and Bob Belden – Re-Animation: Live! Ronny Jordan – A Brighter Day Liquid Soul – Here's the Deal	[11]
2002	Marcus Miller	M²	CAB – CAB 2 Bill Evans – Soul Insider Russell Gunn – Ethnomusicology, Volume 2 Mike Stern – Voices	[12]
2003	Pat Metheny Group	Speaking of Now	Larry Carlton – Deep Into It John Scofield Band – Überjam Yellowjackets – Mint Jam Joe Zawinul – Faces & Places	[13]
2004	Randy Brecker	34th N Lex	Nicholas Payton – Sonic Trance David Sanborn – Time Again The Crusaders – Rural Renewal	[14]
2005	Bill Frisell	Unspeakable	Fourplay – Journey Jan Garbarek – In Praise of Dreams Don Grusin – The Hang Roy Hargrove – Strength	[15]
2006	Pat Metheny Group	The Way Up	Dave Douglas – Keystone Bill Evans – Soulgrass Joshua Redman Elastic Band – Momentum Meshell Ndegeocello – The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel	[16]
2007	Béla Fleck and the Flecktones	The Hidden Land	Groove Collective – People People Music Music Christian Scott – Rewind That Sex Mob – Sexotica Mike Stern – Who Let the Cats Out?	[17]
2008	Herbie Hancock	River: The Joni Letters	Will Bernard – Party Hats Brian Bromberg – Downright Upright Eldar – Re-Imagination Jeff Lorber – He Had a Hat	[18]
2009	Randy Brecker	Randy in Brasil	John McLaughlin – Floating Point Yellowjackets and Mike Stern – Lifecycle Various artists – Cannon Re-Loaded: All-Star Celebration of Cannonball Adderley Various artists – Miles from India	[19]
2010	Joe Zawinul and The Zawinul Syndicate	75	Stefon Harris and Blackout – Urbanus Julian Lage – Sounding Point Philippe Saisse – At World's Edge Mike Stern – Big Neighborhood	[20] [21]
2011	The Stanley Clarke Band	The Stanley Clarke Band	Joey DeFrancesco – Never Can Say Goodbye Jeff Lorber Fusion – Now Is the Time John McLaughlin – To the One Trombone Shorty – Backatown	[22]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

References

1. "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
2. "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
3. "52nd OEP Category Description Guide" (PDF). National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 27, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
4. Campbell, Mary (January 9, 1992). "R.E.M., Raitt tops in Grammy nominations". The Tuscaloosa News . Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The New York Times Company. p. 6B. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
5. Macdonald, Patrick (January 8, 1993). "Grammys Show Influence Of Seattle Music". The Seattle Times . The Seattle Times Company. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
6. "Hundreds Nominated For Grammys". Deseret News . Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Publishing Company. January 10, 1994. p. 3. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
7. "The 37th Grammy Nominations". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1995. p. 5. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
8. "List of Grammy nominees". CNN. January 4, 1996. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
9. Campbell, Mary (January 7, 1998). "Rock veterans Dylan, McCartney face off for album of year". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Block Communications. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
10. "Academy's Complete List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1999. p. 6. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
11. "43rd Grammy Awards". CNN. February 21, 2001. Archived from the original on November 6, 2008. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
12. "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". CBS News. January 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved July 1, 2010. Note: This source lists CAB band members Dennis Chambers, Tony MacAlpine, Brian Auger and Bunny Brunel individually.
13. "Complete list of Grammy nominees; ceremony set for Feb. 23". San Francisco Chronicle . Hearst Corporation. January 8, 2003. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
14. "Nominee list for the 46th Annual Grammy Awards". LiveDaily. December 4, 2003. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
15. "Nominee list for the 47th Annual Grammy Awards". LiveDaily. December 7, 2004. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
16. "The Complete List of Grammy Nominations". The New York Times . December 8, 2005. p. 3. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
17. "49th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 20, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
18. "50th annual Grammy Awards nominations". Variety . Reed Business Information. December 6, 2007. Archived from the original on December 8, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
19. "The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
20. "The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
21. Relative, Saul (January 31, 2010). "2010 Grammy Awards: Michael Jackson Tribute, Lady Gaga and Elton John Duet Highlight". Yahoo! Voices. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
22. "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 5, 2010.

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