Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album
Awarded for	Quality performances in the vocal jazz music genre
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First award	1977
Currently held by	Samara Joy – Portrait (2026)
Website	grammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album is 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 quality works (songs or albums) in the vocal jazz music genre. Awards in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".^[2]

Awarded forQuality performances in the vocal jazz music genre

CountryUnited States

Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

First award1977

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Year^[I]	Performing artist(s)	Work	Nominees	Ref.
1977	Ella Fitzgerald	Fitzgerald and Pass... Again	Irene Kral – Where Is Love? Quire – Quire Ray Charles and Cleo Laine – Porgy and Bess Sarah Vaughan – More Sarah Vaughan Live in Japan	^[3]
1978	Al Jarreau	Look to the Rainbow	Irene Kral – Kral Space Helen Merrill – Helen Merrill - John Lewis Carmen McRae – Carmen McRae at The Great American Music Hall João Gilberto – Amoroso	^[4]
1979	Al Jarreau	All Fly Home	Ray Charles – True to Life Mel Tormé – Together Again - For the First Time Eddie Jefferson – The Main Man Sarah Vaughan – How Long Has This Been Going On Irene Kral – Gentle Rain	^[5]
1980	Ella Fitzgerald	Fine and Mellow	Eddie Jefferson – The Live-Liest Helen Humes – Sneakin' Around Joe Williams – Prez and Joe Sarah Vaughan – I Love Brazil!	^[6]
1985	Joe Williams	Nothin' but the Blues	Carmen McRae – You're Lookin' at Me Sue Raney – Ridin' High Lorez Alexandria – Harlem Butterfly Mel Tormé – An Evening at Charlie's	^[7]
1992	Take 6	He Is Christmas	Mel Tormé – "Ellington Medley" from Mel and George "Do" World War II Natalie Cole – "Long 'Bout Midnight" from Garfield The Manhattan Transfer – The Offbeat of Avenues Shirley Horn – You Won't Forget Me	^[8]
1993	Bobby McFerrin	"Round Midnight" from Play	Shirley Horn – Here's to Life Abbey Lincoln – You Gotta Pay the Band Jimmy Scott – "All the Way" Take 6 - "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" from Glengarry Glen Ross	^[9]
1994	Natalie Cole	Take a Look	Ernestine Anderson – Now and Then Shirley Horn – Light Out of Darkness Bobby McFerrin – "The Pink Panther Theme" Bobby Short with the Alden-Barrett Quintet – Swing That Music	^[10]
1995	Etta James	Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday	Dee Dee Bridgewater – Keeping Tradition Shirley Horn – I Love You, Paris Lena Horne – We'll Be Together Again Cassandra Wilson – Blue Light 'til Dawn	^[11]
1996	Lena Horne	An Evening with Lena Horne	Dee Dee Bridgewater – Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver Kurt Elling – Close Your Eyes Abbey Lincoln – A Turtle's Dream Dianne Reeves – Quiet After the Storm	^[12]
1997	Cassandra Wilson	New Moon Daughter	Ernestine Anderson – Blues, Dues and Love News Nnenna Freelon – Shaking Free Shirley Horn – The Main Ingredient Diana Krall – All for You	^[13]
1998	Dee Dee Bridgewater	Dear Ella	Kurt Elling – The Messenger Shirley Horn – Loving You Diana Krall – Love Scenes Mark Murphy – Song for the Geese	^[14]
1999	Shirley Horn	I Remember Miles	Kurt Elling – This Time It's Love Nnenna Freelon – Maiden Voyage Etta Jones – My Buddy – Etta Jones Sings the Songs of Buddy Johnson Dianne Reeves – That Day...	^[15]
2000	Diana Krall	When I Look in Your Eyes	Carla Cook – It's All About Love Etta James – Heart of a Woman Dianne Reeves – Bridges Cassandra Wilson – Traveling Miles	^[16]
2001	Dianne Reeves George Duke (producer) Erik Zobler (engineer/mixer)	In the Moment - Live in Concert	Dee Dee Bridgewater – Live at Yoshi's Freddy Cole – Merry Go Round Kurt Elling – Live in Chicago Nnenna Freelon – Soulcall	^[17]
2002	Dianne Reeves George Duke (producer)	The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan	Mose Allison – The Mose Chronicles – Live in London, Vol. 1 Karrin Allyson – Ballads – Remembering John Coltrane Kurt Elling – Flirting with Twilight Shirley Horn – You're My Thrill	^[18]
2003	Diana Krall Tommy LiPuma (producer) Al Schmitt (engineer/mixer)	Live in Paris	Patti Austin – For Ella Natalie Cole – Ask a Woman Who Knows Etta Jones – Etta Jones Sings Lady Day Luciana Souza – Brazilian Duos	^[19]
2004	Dianne Reeves Arif Mardin (producer)	A Little Moonlight	Kurt Elling – Man in the Air Shirley Horn – May the Music Never End Aaron Neville – Nature Boy – The Standards Album Luciana Souza – North and South	^[20]
2005	Nancy Wilson Jay Ashby & Martin J. Ashby (producers) Jay Ashby & Jay Dudt (engineers/mixers)	R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal)	Andy Bey – American Song Jamie Cullum – Twentysomething Al Jarreau – Accentuate the Positive Queen Latifah – The Dana Owens Album	^[21]
2006	Dianne Reeves Allen J. Sviridoff (producer) Leslie Ann Jones & Charles Paakkari (engineers/mixers)	Good Night, and Good Luck	Dee Dee Bridgewater – J'ai deux amours Nnenna Freelon – Blueprint of a Lady: Sketches of Billie Holiday Luciana Souza – Duos II Tierney Sutton – I'm with the Band	^[22]
2007	Nancy Wilson	Turned to Blue	Diana Krall – From This Moment On Karrin Allyson – Footprints Roberta Gambarini – Easy to Love Nancy King – Live at Jazz Standard with Fred Hersch	^[23]
2008	Patti Austin	Avant Gershwin	Dee Dee Bridgewater – Red Earth Freddy Cole – Music Maestro Please Kurt Elling – Nightmoves Tierney Sutton – On the Other Side	^[24]
2009	Cassandra Wilson	Loverly	Karrin Allyson – Imagina: Songs of Brazil Stacey Kent – Breakfast on the Morning Tram Kate McGarry – If Less is More...Nothing is Everything Norma Winstone – Distances	^[25]
2010	Kurt Elling	Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman	Randy Crawford and Joe Sample – No Regrets Roberta Gambarini – So in Love Luciana Souza – Tide Tierney Sutton – Desire	^[26]
2011	Dee Dee Bridgewater	Eleanora Fagan (1915–1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee Bridgewater	Freddy Cole – Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B Denise Donatelli – When Lights are Low Lorraine Feather – Ages Gregory Porter – Water	^[26]
2012	Terri Lyne Carrington & Various Artists	The Mosaic Project	Karrin Allyson – Round Midnight Kurt Elling – The Gate Tierney Sutton Band – American Road Roseanna Vitro – The Music of Randy Newman	^[27]
2013	Esperanza Spalding	Radio Music Society	Denise Donatelli – Soul Shadows Kurt Elling – 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project Al Jarreau & Metropole Orchestra – Live Luciana Souza – The Book of Chet	^[28]
2014	Gregory Porter	Liquid Spirit	Andy Bey – The World According to Andy Bey Lorraine Feather – Attachments Cécile McLorin Salvant – Womanchild Tierney Sutton – After Blue	^[29]
2015	Dianne Reeves	Beautiful Life	Billy Childs and others – Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro René Marie – I Wanna Be Evil (With Love to Eartha Kitt Gretchen Parlato – Live in NYC Tierney Sutton – Paris Sessions	^[30]
2016	Cécile McLorin Salvant	For One to Love	Karrin Allyson – Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein Denise Donatelli – Find a Heart Lorraine Feather – Flirting with Disaster Jamison Ross – Jamison	^[31]
2017	Gregory Porter	Take Me to the Alley	René Marie – Sound of Red Branford Marsalis Quartet & Kurt Elling – Upward Spiral Catherine Russell – Harlem on My Mind The Tierney Sutton Band – The Sting Variations	^[32]
2018	Cécile McLorin Salvant	Dreams and Daggers	The Baylor Project - The Journey Jazzmeia Horn - A Social Call Raul Midón - Bad Ass and Blind Randy Porter Trio & Nancy King - Porter Plays Porter	^[33]
2019	Cécile McLorin Salvant	The Window	Freddy Cole - My Mood Is You Kurt Elling - The Questions Kate McGarry with Keith Ganz & Gary Versace - The Subject Tonight Is Love Raul Midón with the Metropole Orkest conducted by Vince Mendoza - If You Really Want	^[34]
2020	Esperanza Spalding	12 Little Spells	Sara Gazarek - Thirsty Ghost Jazzmeia Horn - Love & Liberation Catherine Russell - Alone Together The Tierney Sutton Band - ScreenPlay	^[35]
2021	Kurt Elling ft. Danilo Pérez	Secrets Are the Best Stories	Thana Alexa - ONA Carmen Lundy - Modern Ancestors Somi with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band - Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper Kenny Washington - What's the Hurry	^[36]
2022	Esperanza Spalding	Songwrights Apothecary Lab	The Baylor Project – Generations Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter – SuperBlue Nnenna Freelon – Time Traveler Gretchen Parlato – Flor	^[37]
2023	Samara Joy	Linger Awhile	The Baylor Project – The Evening: Live at APPARATUS Carmen Lundy – Fade to Black The Manhattan Transfer with the WDR Funkhausorchester – Fifty Cécile McLorin Salvant – Ghost Song	^[38]
2024	Nicole Zuraitis	How Love Begins	Patti Austin ft. Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - For Ella 2 Fred Hersch & Esperanza Spalding - Alive at the Village Vanguard Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke - Lean In Cécile McLorin Salvant - Mélusine	^[39]
2025	Samara Joy	A Joyful Holiday	Christie Dashiell - Journey in Black Kurt Elling and Sullivan Fortner - Wildflowers Vol 1 Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding - Milton + Esperanza Catherine Russell & Sean Mason - My Ideal	^[40]
2026	Samara Joy	Portrait	Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap – Elemental Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell ft. Weedie Braimah, Milena Casado, Morgan Guerin, Simon Moulier & Matthew Stevens – We Insist 2025! Michael Mayo – Fly Nicole Zuraitis, Dan Pugach, Tom Scott, Idan Morim, Keyon Harrold, and Rachel Eckroth – Live at Vic's Las Vegas	^[41]

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album

History

Recipients

Artists with multiple wins

Artists with multiple nominations

References

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