Jazz Showcase

Chicago, IL

March 7, 2010

by Dan Locke

Hiromi didn’t just walk onto the Jazz Showcase stage — she hit it like a power surge. One second the room was murmuring over cocktails, the next it felt like someone had plugged the entire South Loop into a live wire. The piano wasn’t an instrument tonight. It was a detonation device, and Hiromi had her finger on the trigger.

From the first downbeat, she played with the kind of velocity that makes you wonder if she’s trying to outrun her own ideas. Her hands blurred. Her hair snapped. Her whole body became a kinetic warning sign. This wasn’t jazz for the polite crowd. This was jazz for people who like their music with scorch marks.

Hiromi attacked the keys like a guitarist raised on stadium rock but trapped inside a Steinway. She built riffs like skyscrapers — fast, reckless, and thrillingly unstable — then tore them down with a single chromatic landslide. Her left hand hammered out bass lines with the authority of a steelworker on overtime, while her right hand flickered like neon refusing to burn out.

Her set moved like a freight train switching tracks at full speed. One moment she was spinning out delicate, crystalline lines; the next she was dropping thunderclaps that rattled the glasses behind the bar. Her trio clung to her like a municipal crew trying to keep up with a runaway power grid.

Even the ballads felt dangerous — like someone whispering secrets next to a live transformer.

Hiromi’s March 7 performance wasn’t a show. It was a controlled explosion. A neon riot. A piano turned weapon. A night where jazz remembered it has teeth.

She left the Jazz Showcase smoking, buzzing, and a little stunned — the way a club should feel after someone rewires the room with nothing but ten fingers and a refusal to behave.

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The 2026 GRAMMYS take place Sunday, Feb. 1, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, broadcasting live on the CBS Television Network and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+. Watch highlights and exclusive GRAMMYS content from the 2026 GRAMMYS all year long on live.GRAMMY.com.

The Recording Academy has officially released the full list of nominees for the 2026 GRAMMYS, marking the start of this year’s GRAMMY season and setting the stage for Music’s Biggest Night.

The nominees were announced today during a livestream, with artists including Chappell Roan, Doechii, KAROL G, Mumford & Sons, Sabrina Carpenter, Sam Smith, and more presenting all 95 GRAMMY Categories. This year’s nominations span a wide range of artists, genres, and projects — from established acts to first-time nominees — across pop, country, rap, R&B, Latin, global, jazz, and beyond, reflecting a year marked by wide-ranging creativity in music.

Winners will be determined by the Recording Academy’s Voting Members — a peer group composed of music creators, including artists, songwriters, producers, engineers, and more. Their GRAMMY votes decide every GRAMMY nominee and GRAMMY winner revealed on Music’s Biggest Night, reinforcing the GRAMMY Award as music’s only industry-recognized, peer-voted honor.

This year also marks a notable update to the GRAMMY Awards process: The 2026 GRAMMYS will introduce two new GRAMMY Categories — Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover. These additions further the Recording Academy’s commitment to recognizing a broader spectrum of artistic craft and honoring the evolving ways music is created and experienced.

The 2026 GRAMMYS will take place Sunday, Feb. 1, live at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, broadcasting live on the CBS Television Network and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+.

Check out the full list of nominees for the 2026 GRAMMY Awards below.

Record Of The Year

Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist.

DtMF

Bad Bunny

Scotty Dittrich, Hydra Hitz, La Paciencia, JULiA LEWiS, MAG & Tyler Spry, producers; Antonio Caraballo, Josh Gudwin, Roberto Rosado & Tyler Spry, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

Manchild

Sabrina Carpenter

Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, producers; Jack Antonoff, Bryce Bordone, Jozef Caldwell, Serban Ghenea, Sean Hutchinson, Oli Jacobs, Michael Riddleberger & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineer

Anxiety

Doechii

Doechii, producer; Jayda Love, engineer/mixer; Nicolas De Porcel, mastering engineer

WILDFLOWER

Billie Eilish

FINNEAS, producer; Jon Castelli, FINNEAS & Aron Forbes, engineers/mixers; Dale Becker, mastering engineer

Abracadabra

Lady Gaga

Cirkut, Lady Gaga & Andrew Watt, producers; Bryce Bordone, Serban Ghenea & Paul LaMalfa, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

luther

Kendrick Lamar With SZA

Jack Antonoff, Bridgeway, M-Tech, roselilah, Sounwave & Kamasi Washington, producers; Jack Antonoff, Ray Charles Brown Jr., Hector Castro, Oli Jacobs, Jack Manning, Sean Matsukawa, Dani Perez, Tony Shepperd, Laura Sisk & Johnathan Turner, engineers/mixers; Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineer

The Subway

Chappell Roan

Daniel Nigro, producer; Chris Kaysch, Mitch McCarthy & Daniel Nigro, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

APT.

ROSÉ, Bruno Mars

Rogét Chahayed, Cirkut, Omer Fedi & Bruno Mars, producers; Serban Ghenea

Category 2

Album Of The Year

Award to Artist(s) and to Featured Artist(s), Songwriter(s) of new material, Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), Mixer(s) and Mastering Engineer(s) credited with 20% or more playing time of the album.

DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS

Bad Bunny

Big Jay, La Paciencia, MAG & Tainy, producers; Antonio Caraballo, Josh Gudwin, Luis Amed Irizarry & Roberto José Rosado Torres, engineers/mixers; Benito Antonio Ocasio Martinez, Roberto José Rosado Torres, Marco Daniel Borrero, Jay Anthony Nuñez & Marcos Efrain Masis, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

SWAG

Justin Bieber

Eddie Benjamin, Justin Bieber, Daniel Chetrit, Dijon, Carter Lang & Dylan Wiggins, producers; Felix Byrne & Josh Gudwin, engineers/mixers; Eddie Benjamin, Justin Bieber, Daniel Chetrit, Dijon Duenas, Tobias Jesso Jr., Carter Lang, Jackson Lee Morgan & Dylan Wiggins, songwriters; Dale Becker, mastering engineer

Man’s Best Friend

Sabrina Carpenter

Jack Antonoff, Sabrina Carpenter & John Ryan, producers; Zem Adu, Jack Antonoff, Bryce Bordone, Jozef Caldwell, Serban Ghenea, Jeff Gunnell, David Hart, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Oli Jacobs, Jack Manning, Joey Miller, Michael Riddleberger, John Ryan, Laura Sisk & Evan Smith, engineers/mixers; Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff, Sabrina Carpenter & John Ryan, songwriters; Nathan Dantzler & Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineers

Let God Sort Em Out

Clipse, Pusha T & Malice

Pharrell Williams, featured artist; Pharrell Williams, producer; Mike Larson, Manny Marroquin, Rob Ulsh & Pharrell Williams, engineers/mixers; Gene Elliott Thornton Jr., Terrence Thornton & Pharrell Williams, songwriters; Zach Pereyra, mastering engineer

MAYHEM

Lady Gaga

Cirkut, Gesaffelstein, Lady Gaga & Andrew Watt, producers; Bryce Bordone, Serban Ghenea & Paul LaMalfa, engineers/mixers; Henry Walter, Mike Lévy, Lady Gaga, Michael Polansky & Andrew Watt, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

GNX

Kendrick Lamar

Jack Antonoff & Sounwave, producers; Jack Antonoff, Ray Charles Brown Jr., Jozef Caldwell, Oli Jacobs, Jack Manning, Dani Perez, Laura Sisk & Johnathan Turner, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, Ink, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Kendrick Lamar, Matthew Bernard & Mark Anthony Spears, songwriters; Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineer

MUTT

Leon Thomas

Freaky Rob, Peter Lee Johnson, D. Phelps & Leon Thomas, producers; Jean-Marie Horvat, engineer/mixer; Lazaro Andres Camejo, Freaky Rob, Peter Lee Johnson, D. Phelps & Leon Thomas, songwriters; Dave Kutch, mastering engineer

CHROMAKOPIA

Tyler, The Creator

Tyler, The Creator, producer; NealHPogue, Tyler Okonma & Vic Wainstein, engineers/mixers; Tyler Okonma, songwriter; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer

Category 3

Song Of The Year

A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Abracadabra

Lady Gaga, Henry Walter & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga)

Anxiety

Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)

**APT. **

Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas & Henry Walter, songwriters (ROSÉ, Bruno Mars)

DtMF

Marco Daniel Borrero, Scott Dittrich, Benjamin Falik, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Hugo René Sención Sanabria, Tyler Thomas Spry & Roberto José Rosado Torres, songwriters (Bad Bunny)

**Golden [From “KPop Demon Hunters”]**

EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X:EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)

luther

Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Ink, Kendrick Lamar, Solána Rowe, Mark Anthony Spears & Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar With SZA)

Manchild

Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)

WILDFLOWER

Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

Category 4

Best New Artist

This category recognizes an artist whose eligibility-year release(s) achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.

Olivia Dean

KATSEYE

The Marias

Addison Rae

sombr

Leon Thomas

Alex Warren

Lola Young

Category 5

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical

A Producer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)

Dan Auerbach

Elegantly Wasted (Hermanos Gutiérrez Featuring Leon Bridges) (S)

Harsh & Exciting (Moonrisers) (A)

Holy Ghost Party (Robert Finley) (S)

Love Is Cruel (Miles Kane) (S)

Medium Raw (Early James) (A)

A Million Knives (The Velveteers) (A)

No Rain, No Flowers (The Black Keys) (A)

Our Time In The Sun (Jeremie Albino) (A)

Cirkut

Abracadabra (Lady Gaga) (S)

AEOMG (Coco Jones) (T)

APT. (ROSÉ & Bruno Mars) (S)

Big Sleep (The Weeknd Featuring Giorgio Moroder) (T)

Disease (Lady Gaga) (S)

IT girl (JADE) (S)

A Little More (Ed Sheeran) (S)

Mayhem (Lady Gaga) (A)

Red Terror (The Weeknd) (T)

Dijon

Baby (Dijon) (A)

DAISIES (Justin Bieber) (T)

DEVOTION (Justin Bieber & Dijon) (T)

THINGS YOU DO (Justin Bieber) (T)

YUKON (Justin Bieber) (T)

Blake Mills

For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) (Japanese Breakfast) (A)

Forever Is A Feeling (Lucy Dacus) (A)

Glory (Perfume Genius) (A)

That Wasn’t A Dream (Pino Palladino And Blake Mills)(A)

Sounwave

GNX (Kendrick Lamar) (A)

Category 6

Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical

A Songwriter’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)

Amy Allen

APT. (ROSÉ & Bruno Mars) (S)

Bad As The Rest (Jessie Murph) (S)

Hail Mary (Shaboozey, Sierra Ferrell) (T)

Handlebars (JENNIE Featuring Dua Lipa) (S)

Just Keep Watching (Tate McRae) (S)

Lost In Translation (Carín León & Kasey Musgraves) (S)

Manchild (Sabrina Carpenter) (S)

Tears (Sabrina Carpenter) (S)

WHY (Jon Bellion Featuring Luke Combs) (S)

Edgar Barrera

Birthday Behavior (BIA, Young Miko) (S)

Coleccionando Heridas (KAROL G, Marco Antonio Solís) (T)

Ese Vato No Te Queda (Carín León, Gabito Ballesteros) (S)

Me Jalo (Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera) (T)

Me Retiro (Santana, Grupo Frontera) (S)

Milagros (KAROL G) (S)

Sigueme Besando Asi (Manuel Turizo) (T)

Soltera (Shakira) (S)

Una Noche Contigo (Juanes) (S)

Jessie Jo Dillon

Bless Your Heart (Megan Moroney) (T)

Bottomland (HARDY) (S)

Dreams Don’t Die (Jelly Roll) (S)

First Rodeo (Kelsea Ballerini) (T)

Happen To Me (Russell Dickerson) (S)

Hello S—ty Day (Jake Worthington, Miranda Lambert)(S)

If You Were Mine (Morgan Wallen) (T)

Patterns (Kelsea Ballerini) (T)

To The Men That Love Women After Heartbreak (Kelsea Ballerini) (T)

**Tobias Jesso Jr.**

Another Baby! (Dijon) (T)

Baby! (Dijon) (T)

Daisies (Justin Bieber) (T)

From (Bon Iver) (T)

Go Baby (Justin Bieber) (T)

Golden Burning Sun (Miley Cyrus) (T)

Man I Need (Olivia Dean) (S)

Relationships (HAIM) (S)

Walking Away (Justin Bieber) (T)

Laura Veltz

About You (BigXthaPlug Featuring Tucker Wetmore) (T)

Blue Strips (Jessie Murph) (S)

Grand Bouquet (Maren Morris) (T)

Leave Me Too (Josh Ross) (S)

Parallel Universe (Lauren Spencer Smith) (T)

Someone In This Room (Jessie Murph Featuring Bailey Zimmerman) (T)

Touch Me Like A Gangster (Jessie Murph) (S)

What Tomorrow’s For (Blessing Offor) (T)

You’ll Be OK, Kid – From The Original Documentary “Child Star” (Demi Lovato) (S)

Field 1: Pop & Dance/Electronic

Category 7

Best Pop Solo Performance

For new vocal or instrumental pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.

DAISIES

Justin Bieber

Manchild

Sabrina Carpenter

Disease

Lady Gaga

The Subway

Chappell Roan

Messy

Lola Young

Category 8

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.

Defying Gravity

Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande

**Golden [From “KPop Demon Hunters”]**

HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI

Gabriela

KATSEYE

**APT.**

ROSÉ, Bruno Mars

30 For 30

SZA Featuring Kendrick Lamar

Category 9

Best Pop Vocal Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new pop vocal recordings.

SWAG

Justin Bieber

Man’s Best Friend

Sabrina Carpenter

Something Beautiful

Miley Cyrus

MAYHEM

Lady Gaga

**I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2)**

Teddy Swims

Category 10

Best Dance/Electronic Recording

For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.

No Cap

Disclosure & Anderson .Paak

Disclosure, producer; Guy Lawrence, mixer

Victory Lap

Fred again.., Skepta, & PlaqueBoyMax

Blake Cascoe, Berwyn Du Bois, Fred again.., Darcy Lewis, Dan Mayo & PlaqueBoyMax, producers; Tom Norris, mixer

SPACE INVADER

KAYTRANADA

KAYTRANADA, producer; KAYTRANADA, mixer

VOLTAGE

Skrillex

John Feldmann & Skrillex, producers; Luca Pretolesi, Skrillex & Virtual Riot, mixers

End Of Summer

Tame Impala

Kevin Parker, producer; Kevin Parker, mixer

Category 11

Best Dance Pop Recording

For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.

Bluest Flame

Selena Gomez & benny blanco

benny blanco, Dylan Brady & Cashmere Cat, producers;benny blanco & Cashmere Cat, mixers

Abracadabra

Lady Gaga

Cirkut, Lady Gaga & Andrew Watt, producers; Serban Ghenea, mixer

Midnight Sun

Zara Larsson

Margo XS & MNEK, producers; Tom Norris, mixer

Just Keep Watching (From F1® The Movie)

Tate McRae

Tyler Spry & Ryan Tedder, producers; Manny Marroquin, mixer

Illegal

PinkPantheress

Aksel Arvid & PinkPantheress, producers; Nickie Jon Pabon

Category 12

Best Dance/Electronic Album

For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.

EUSEXUA

FKA twigs

Ten Days

Fred again..

Fancy That

PinkPantheress

Inhale / Exhale

RÜFÜS DU SOL

F— U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3

Skrillex

Category 13

Best Remixed Recording

A Remixer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses for identification.) Singles or Tracks only.

Abracadabra – Gesaffelstein Remix

Gesaffelstein, remixer (Lady Gaga, Gesaffelstein)

Don’t Forget About Us

FKAYTRANADA, remixer (Mariah Carey & KAYTRANADA)

A Dreams A Dream – Ron Trent Remix

Ron Trent, remixer (Soul II Soul)

Galvanize

Chris Lake, remixer (The Chemical Brothers & Chris Lake)

Golden – David Guetta REM/X

David Guetta, remixer (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)

Field 2: Rock, Metal & Alternative Music

Category 14

Best Rock Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative rock recordings.

U Should Not Be Doing That

Amyl and The Sniffers

The Emptiness Machine

Linkin Park

NEVER ENOUGH

Turnstile

Mirtazapine

Hayley Williams

Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back To The Beginning

YUNGBLUD Featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman, II

Category 15

Best Metal Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative metal recordings.

Night Terror

Dream Theater

Lachryma

Ghost

Emergence

Sleep Token

Soft Spine

Spiritbox

BIRDS

Turnstile

Category 16

Best Rock Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

As Alive As You Need Me To Be

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)

Caramel

Vessel1 & Vessel2, songwriters (Sleep Token)

Glum

Daniel James & Hayley Williams, songwriters (Hayley Williams)

NEVER ENOUGH

Daniel Fang, Franz Lyons, Pat McCrory, Meg Mills & Brendan Yates, songwriters (Turnstile)

Zombie

Dominic Harrison & Matt Schwartz, songwriters (YUNGBLUD)

Category 17

Best Rock Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rock, hard rock or metal recordings.

private music

Deftones

I quit

HAIM

From Zero

Linkin Park

NEVER ENOUGH

Turnstile

Idols

YUNGBLUD

Category 18

Best Alternative Music Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative Alternative music recordings.

Everything Is Peaceful Love

Bon Iver

Alone

The Cure

SEEIN’ STARS

Turnstile

mangetout

Wet Leg

Parachute

Hayley Williams

Category 19

Best Alternative Music Album

Vocal or Instrumental.

SABLE, fABLE

Bon Iver

Songs Of A Lost World

The Cure

DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Tyler, The Creator

moisturizer

Wet Leg

Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party

Hayley Williams

Field 3: R&B, Rap & Spoken Word Poetry

Category 20

Best R&B Performance

For new vocal or instrumental R&B recordings.

YUKON

Justin Bieber

It Depends

Chris Brown Featuring Bryson Tiller

Folded

Kehlani

MUTT — Live From NPR’s Tiny Desk

Leon Thomas

Heart Of A Woman

Summer Walker

Category 21

Best Traditional R&B Performance

For new vocal or instrumental traditional R&B recordings.

Here We Are

Durand Bernarr

UPTOWN

Lalah Hathaway

LOVE YOU TOO

Ledisi

Crybaby

SZA

VIBES DON’T LIE

Leon Thomas

Category 22

Best R&B Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Folded

Darius Dixson, Andre Harris, Donovan Knight, Don Mills, Kehlani Parrish, Khris Riddick-Tynes & Dawit Kamal Wilson, songwriters (Kehlani)

Heart Of A Woman

David Bishop & Summer Walker, songwriters (Summer Walker)

It Depends

Nico Baran, Chris Brown, Ant Clemons, Ephrem Lopez Jr., Ryan Press, Bryson Tiller, Elliott Trent & Dewain Whitmore Jr., songwriters (Chris Brown Featuring Bryson Tiller)

Overqualified

James John Abrahart Jr & Durand Bernarr, songwriters (Durand Bernarr)

YES IT IS

Jariuce Banks, Lazaro Andres Camejo, Mike Hector, Peter Lee Johnson, Rodney Jones Jr., Ali Prawl & Leon Thomas, songwriters (Leon Thomas)

Category 23

Best Progressive R&B Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded progressive vocal tracks derivative of R&B.

BLOOM

Durand Bernarr

Adjust Brightness

Bilal

LOVE ON DIGITAL

Destin Conrad

Access All Areas

FLO

Come As You Are

Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon

Category 24

Best R&B Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new R&B recordings.

BELOVED

GIVĒON

**Why Not More?**

Coco Jones

The Crown

Ledisi

Escape Room

Teyana Taylor

MUTT

Leon Thomas

Category 25

Best Rap Performance

For a Rap performance. Singles or Tracks only.

Outside

Cardi B

Chains & Whips

Clipse, Pusha T & Malice Featuring Kendrick Lamar & Pharrell Williams

Anxiety

Doechii

tv off

Kendrick Lamar Featuring Lefty Gunplay

Darling, I

Tyler, The Creator Featuring Teezo Touchdown

Category 26

Best Melodic Rap Performance

For a solo or collaborative performance containing both elements of R&B melodies and Rap.

Proud Of Me

Fridayy Featuring Meek Mill

Wholeheartedly

JID Featuring Ty Dolla $ign & 6Lack

luther

Kendrick Lamar With SZA

WeMaj

Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon Featuring Rapsody

SOMEBODY LOVES ME

PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake

Category 27

Best Rap Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Anxiety

Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)

The Birds Don’t Sing

Gene Elliott Thornton Jr., Terrence Thornton, Pharrell Williams & Stevie Wonder, songwriters (Clipse, Pusha T & Malice Featuring John Legend & Voices Of Fire)

Sticky

Aaron Bolton, Dwayne Carter, Jr., Dudley Alexander Duverne, Tyler Okonma, Janae Wherry, Gloria Woods & Rex Zamor, songwriters (Tyler, The Creator Featuring GloRilla, Sexyy Red & Lil Wayne)

TGIF

Lucas Alegria, Dillon Brophy, Yakki Davis, Jess Jackson, Ronnie Jackson, Mario Mims, Jorge M. Taveras & Gloria Woods, songwriters (GloRilla)

tv off

Jack Antonoff, Larry Jayy, Kendrick Lamar, Dijon McFarlane, Sean Momberger, Mark Anthony Spears & Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar Featuring Lefty Gunplay)

Category 28

Best Rap Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rap recordings.

Let God Sort Em Out

Clipse, Pusha T & Malice

GLORIOUS

GloRilla

God Does Like Ugly

JID

GNX

Kendrick Lamar

CHROMAKOPIA

Tyler, The Creator

Category 29

Best Spoken Word Poetry Album

For albums containing greater than 50% playing time of new spoken word poetry recordings.

A Hurricane in Heels: healed people don’t act like that — partially recorded live @City Winery & other places

Queen Sheba

Black Shaman

Marc Marcel

Pages

Omari Hardwick & Anthony Hamilton

Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño & Friends At Treepeople

Saul Williams, Carlos Niño & Friends

Words For Days Vol. 1

Mad Skillz

Field 4: Jazz, Traditional Pop, Contemporary Instrumental & Musical Theater

Category 30

Best Jazz Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative jazz recordings.

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

Category 31

Best Jazz Vocal Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal jazz recordings.

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

Category 32

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new instrumental jazz recordings.

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

Category 33

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new large ensemble jazz recordings.

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

Category 34

Best Latin Jazz Album

For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded material. The intent of this category is to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinian tango music.

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

Category 35

Best Alternative Jazz Album

For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Alternative jazz recordings.

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

Category 36

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new traditional pop recordings.

Wintersongs

Laila Biali

The Gift Of Love

Jennifer Hudson

**Who Believes In Angels?**

Elton John & Brandi Carlile

Harlequin

Lady Gaga

A Matter Of Time

Laufey

The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume 2

Barbra Streisand

Category 37

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new contemporary instrumental recordings.

Brightside

ARKAI

Ones & Twos

Gerald Clayton

BEATrio

Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda, Antonio Sánchez

Just Us

Bob James & Dave Koz

Shayan

Charu Suri

Category 38

Best Musical Theater Album

For albums containing greater than 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principal vocalist(s), and the album producer(s) of 50% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of 50 % or more of a score of a new recording are eligible for an Award if any previous recording of said score has not been nominated in this category.

Buena Vista Social Club

Marco Paguia, Dean Sharenow & David Yazbek, producers (Original Broadway Cast)

Death Becomes Her

Taurean Everett, Megan Hilty, Josh Lamon, Christopher Sieber, Jennifer Simard & Michelle Williams, principal vocalists; Noel Carey, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Julia Mattison & Scott M. Riesett, producers; Noel Carey & Julia Mattison, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)

Gypsy

Danny Burstein, Kevin Csolak, Audra McDonald, Jordan Tyson & Joy Woods, principal vocalists; David Caddick, Andy Einhorn, David Lai & George C. Wolfe, producers (Jule Styne, composer; Stephen Sondheim, lyricist) (2024 Broadway Cast)

Just In Time

Emily Bergl, Jonathan Groff, Erika Henningsen, Gracie Lawrence & Michele Pawk, principal vocalists; Derik Lee, Andrew Resnick & Bill Sherman, producers (Bobby Darin, composer & lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)

Maybe Happy Ending

Marcus Choi, Darren Criss, Dez Duron & Helen J Shen, principal vocalists; Deborah Abramson, Will Aronson, Ian Kagey & Hue Park, producers; Hue Park, lyricist; Will Aronson, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Field 5: Country & American Roots Music

Category 39

Best Country Solo Performance

For new vocal or instrumental solo country recordings.

Nose On The Grindstone

Tyler Childers

Good News

Shaboozey

Bad As I Used To Be [From “F1® The Movie”] Chris Stapleton

I Never Lie

Zach Top

Somewhere Over Laredo

Lainey Wilson

Category 40

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative country recordings.

A Song To Sing

Miranda Lambert And Chris Stapleton

Trailblazer

Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson

Love Me Like You Used To Do

Margo Price & Tyler Childers

Amen

Shaboozey & Jelly Roll

Honky Tonk Hall Of Fame

George Strait, Chris Stapleton

Category 41

Best Country Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Bitin’ List

Tyler Childers, songwriter (Tyler Childers)

Good News

Michael Ross Pollack, Sam Elliot Roman & Jacob Torrey, songwriters (Shaboozey)

I Never Lie

Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols & Zach Top, songwriters (Zach Top)

Somewhere Over Laredo

Andy Albert, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson & Lainey Wilson, songwriters (Lainey Wilson)

A Song To Sing

Jenee Fleenor, Jesse Frasure, Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Miranda Lambert And Chris Stapleton)

Category 42

Best Traditional Country Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new traditional country recordings.

Dollar A Day

Charley Crockett

American Romance

Lukas Nelson

Oh What A Beautiful World

Willie Nelson

Hard Headed Woman

Margo Price

Ain’t In It For My Health

Zach Top

Category 43

Best Contemporary Country Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new contemporary country recordings.

Patterns

Kelsea Ballerini

Snipe Hunter

Tyler Childers

Evangeline Vs. The Machine

Eric Church

Beautifully Broken

Jelly Roll

Postcards From Texas

Miranda Lambert

Category 44

Best American Roots Performance

For new vocal or instrumental American Roots recordings. This is for performances in the style of any of the subgenres encompassed in the American Roots Music field including bluegrass, blues, folk or regional roots. Award to the artist(s).

LONELY AVENUE

Jon Batiste Featuring Randy Newman

Ancient Light

I’m With Her

Crimson And Clay

Jason Isbell

Richmond On The James

Alison Krauss & Union Station

Beautiful Strangers

Mavis Staples

Category 45

Best Americana Performance

For new vocal or instrumental Americana performance. Award to the artist(s).

Boom

Sierra Hull

Poison In My Well

Maggie Rose & Grace Potter

Godspeed

Mavis Staples

That’s Gonna Leave A Mark

Molly Tuttle

Horses

Jesse Welles

Category 46

Best American Roots Song

A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Americana, bluegrass, traditional blues, contemporary blues, folk or regional roots songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Ancient Light

Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan & Sara Watkins, songwriters (I’m With Her)

BIG MONEY

Jon Batiste, Mike Elizondo & Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)

Foxes In The Snow

Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell)

Middle

Jesse Welles, songwriter (Jesse Welles)

Spitfire

Sierra Hull, songwriter (Sierra Hull)

Category 47

Best Americana Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Americana recordings.

BIG MONEY

Jon Batiste

Bloom

Larkin Poe

Last Leaf On The Tree

Willie Nelson

So Long Little Miss Sunshine

Molly Tuttle

Middle

Jesse Welles

Category 48

Best Bluegrass Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental bluegrass recordings.

Carter & Cleveland

Michael Cleveland & Jason Carter

A Tip Toe High Wire

Sierra Hull

Arcadia

Alison Krauss & Union Station

Outrun

The Steeldrivers

Highway Prayers

Billy Strings

Category 49

Best Traditional Blues Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental traditional blues recordings.

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

Category 50

Best Contemporary Blues Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental contemporary blues recordings.

Breakthrough

Joe Bonamassa

Paper Doll

Samantha Fish

A Tribute To LJK

Eric Gales

Preacher Kids

Robert Randolph

Family

Southern Avenue

Category 51

Best Folk Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental folk recordings.

What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow

Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson

Crown Of Roses

Patty Griffin

Wild And Clear And Blue

I’m With Her

Foxes In The Snow

Jason Isbell

Under The Powerlines April 24 – September 24

Jesse Welles

Category 52

Best Regional Roots Music Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental regional roots music recordings.

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)

Field 6: Gospel & Contemporary Christian Music

Category 53

Best Gospel Performance/Song

This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best traditional Christian, roots gospel or contemporary gospel single or track.

Do It Again

Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, songwriter

Church

Tasha Cobbs Leonard, John Legend; Anthony S. Brown, Brunes Charles, Annatoria Chitapa, Kenneth Leonard, Jr., Tasha Cobbs Leonard & Jonas Myrin, songwriters

Still Live

Jonathan McReynolds & Jamal Roberts; Britney Delagraentiss, Jonathan McReynolds, David Lamar Outing III, Orlando Joel Palmer & Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters

Amen

Pastor Mike Jr.; Adia Andrews, Michael McClure Jr., David Lamar Outing II & Terrell Anthony Pettus, songwriters

Come Jesus Come

Cece Winans Featuring Shirley Caesar

Category 54

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best contemporary Christian music single or track, (including pop, rap/hip-hop, Latin, or rock.)

I Know A Name

Elevation Worship, Chris Brown, Brandon Lake; Hank Bentley, Steven Furtick, Brandon Lake & Jacob Sooter, songwriters

YOUR WAY’S BETTER

Forrest Frank; Forrest Frank & Pera, songwriters

Hard Fought Hallelujah

Brandon Lake With Jelly Roll; Chris Brown, Jason Bradley Deford, Steven Furtick, Benjamin William Hastings & Brandon Lake, songwriters

Headphones

Lecrae, Killer Mike, T.I.; Bongo ByTheWay, Clifford Harris, William Roderick Miller, Lecrae Moore, Michael Render & Tyshane Thompson, songwriters

Amazing

Darrel Walls, PJ Morton; PJ Morton & Darrel Walls,songwriters

Category 55

Best Gospel Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional or contemporary/R&B gospel music recordings.

Sunny Days

Yolanda Adams

Tasha

Tasha Cobbs Leonard

Live Breathe Fight

Tamela Mann

Only On The Road Live

Tye Tribbett

Heart Of Mine

Darrel Walls, PJ Morton

Category 56

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, contemporary Christian music, including pop, rap/hip hop, Latin, or rock recordings.

CHILD OF GOD II

Forrest Frank

Coritos Vol. 1

Israel & New Breed

King Of Hearts

Brandon Lake

Reconstruction

Lecrae

Let The Church Sing

Tauren Wells

Category 57

Best Roots Gospel Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional/roots gospel music, including country, Southern gospel, bluegrass, and Americana recordings.

I Will Not Be Moved — Live

The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Then Came The Morning

Gaither Vocal Band

Praise & Worship: More Than A Hollow Hallelujah

The Isaacs

Good Answers

Karen Peck & New River

Back To My Roots

Candi Staton

Field 7: Latin, Global, Reggae & New Age, Ambient, or Chant

Category 58

Best Latin Pop Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin pop recordings.

Cosa Nuestra

Rauw Alejandro

BOGOTÁ DELUXE

Andrés Cepeda

Tropicoqueta

KAROL G

Cancionera

Natalia Lafourcade

**¿Y ahora qué?**

Alejandro Sanz

Category 59

Best Música Urbana Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Música Urbana recordings.

DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS

Bad Bunny

Mixteip

J Balvin

FERXXO VOL X: Sagrado

Feid

NAIKI

Nicki Nicole

EUB DELUXE

Trueno

SINFÓNICO — En Vivo

Yandel

Category 60

Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin rock or alternative recordings.

Genes Rebeldes

Aterciopelados

ASTROPICAL

Bomba Estéreo, Rawayana, ASTROPICAL

PAPOTA

CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso

ALGORHYTHM

Los Wizzards

Novela

Fito Paez

Category 61

Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new regional Mexican (banda, norteño, corridos, gruperos, mariachi, ranchera and Tejano) recordings.

MALA MÍA

Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera

Y Lo Que Viene

Grupo Frontera

Sin Rodeos

Paola Jara

**Palabra De To’s [Seca]**

Carín León

**Bobby Pulido & Friends Una Tuya Y Una Mía – Por La Puerta Grande [En Vivo]**

Bobby Pulido

Category 62

Best Tropical Latin Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new tropical Latin recordings.

Fotografías

Rubén Blades, Roberto Delgado & Orquesta

Raíces

Gloria Estefan

Clásicos 1.0

Grupo Niche

Bingo

Alain Pérez

Debut y Segunda Tanda, Vol. 2

Gilberto Santa Rosa

Category 63

Best Global Music Performance

For new vocal or instrumental Global music recordings.

EoO

Bad Bunny

Cantando en el Camino

Ciro Hurtado

JERUSALEMA

Angélique Kidjo

**Inmigrante Y Que?**

Yeisy Rojas

**Shrini’s Dream [Live]**

Shakti

Daybreak

Anoushka Shankar Featuring Alam Khan & Sarathy Korwar

Category 64

Best African Music Performance

Love

Burna Boy

With You

Davido Featuring Omah Lay

Hope & Love

Eddy Kenzo & Mehran Matin

Gimme Dat

Ayra Starr Featuring Wizkid

PUSH 2 START

Tyla

Category 65

Best Global Music Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Global Music recordings.

Sounds Of Kumbha

Siddhant Bhatia

No Sign of Weakness

Burna Boy

Eclairer le monde – Light the World

Youssou N’Dour

**Mind Explosion [50th Anniversary Tour Live]**

Shakti

Chapter III: We Return To Light

Anoushka Shankar Featuring Alam Khan & Sarathy Korwar

Caetano e Bethânia Ao Vivo

Caetano Veloso And Maria Bethânia

Category 66

Best Reggae Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new reggae recordings.

Treasure Self Love

Lila Iké

Heart & Soul

Vybz Kartel

BLXXD & FYAH

Keznamdi

From Within

Mortimer

No Place Like Home

Jesse Royal

Category 67

Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental new age recordings.

Kuruvinda

Kirsten Agresta-Copely

According To The Moon

Cheryl B. Engelhardt, GEM, Dallas String Quartet

Into The Forest

Jahnavi Harrison

NOMADICA

Carla Patullo Featuring The Scorchio Quartet & Tonality

The Colors In My Mind

Chris Redding

Field 8: Children’s, Comedy, Audio Books, Visual Media & Music Video/Film

Category 68

Best Children’s Music Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new musical or spoken word recordings that are created and intended specifically for children.

Ageless: 100 Years Young

Joanie Leeds & Joya

Buddy’s Magic Tree House

Mega Ran

Harmony

FYÜTCH & Aura V

Herstory

Flor Bromley

The Music Of Tori And The Muses

Tori Amos

Category 69

Best Comedy Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new recordings.

Drop Dead Years

Bill Burr

PostMortem

Sarah Silverman

Single Lady

Ali Wong

What Had Happened Was…

Jamie Foxx

Your Friend, Nate Bargatze

Nate Bargatze

Category 70

Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording

Elvis, Rocky & Me: The Carol Connors Story

Kathy Garver

Into The Uncut Grass

Trevor Noah

Lovely One: A Memoir

Ketanji Brown Jackson

Meditations: The Reflections Of His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

You Know It’s True: The Real Story Of Milli Vanilli

Fab Morvan

Category 71

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media

Award to the principal artist(s) and/or ‘in studio’ producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album. In the absence of both, award to the one or two individuals proactively responsible for the concept and musical direction of the album and for the selection of artists, songs and producers, as applicable. Award also goes to appropriately credited music supervisor(s).

A Complete Unknown

Timothée Chalamet

F1® The Album

(Various Artists)

KPop Demon Hunters

(Various Artists)

Sinners

(Various Artists)

Wicked

(Various Artists)

Category 72

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television)

Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current legitimate motion picture, television show or series, or other visual media.

How To Train Your Dragon

John Powell, composer

Severance: Season 2

Theodore Shapiro, composer

Sinners

Ludwig Göransson, composer

Wicked

John Powell & Stephen Schwartz, composers

The Wild Robot

Kris Bowers, composer

Category 73

Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media

Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, video games and other interactive media.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – Secrets of the Spires

Pinar Toprak, composer

Helldivers 2

Wilbert Roget, II, composer

Indiana Jones And The Great Circle

Gordy Haab, composer

Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card & A Pirate’s Fortune

Cody Matthew Johnson & Wilbert Roget, II, composers

Sword of the Sea

Austin Wintory, composer

Category 74

Best Song Written For Visual Media

A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video games or other visual media, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

**As Alive As You Need Me To Be — From “TRON: Ares”**

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)

**Golden — From “KPop Demon Hunters”**

EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)

**I Lied to You — From “Sinners”**

Ludwig Göransson & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Miles Caton)

**Never Too Late — From “Elton John: Never Too Late”**

Brandi Carlile, Elton John, Bernie Taupin & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Elton John, Brandi Carlile)

**Pale, Pale Moon — From “Sinners”**

Ludwig Göransson & Brittany Howard, songwriters (Jayme Lawson)

**Sinners — From “Sinners”**

Leonard Denisenko, Rodarius Green, Travis Harrington, Tarkan Kozluklu, Kyris Mingo & Darius Povilinus, songwriters (Rod Wave)

Category 75

Best Music Video

Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.

Manchild

Sabrina Carpenter

Vania Heymann & Gal Muggia, video directors; Aiden Magarian, Nathan Scherrer & Natan Schottenfels, video producers

So Be It

Clipse

Hannan Hussain, video director; Daniel Order, video producer

Anxiety

Doechii

James Mackel, video director; Pablo Feldman, Jolene Mendes & Sophia Sabella, video producers

Love

OK Go

Aaron Duffy, Miguel Espada & Damian Kulash Jr., video directors; Petra Ahmann, video producer

Young Lion

Sade

Sophie Muller, video director; Aaron Taylor Dean & Sade, video producers

Category 76

Best Music Film

For concert/performance films or music documentaries. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.

Devo

Devo

Chris Smith, video director; Danny Gabai, Anita Greenspan, Chris Holmes & Chris Smith, video producers

Live At The Royal Albert Hall

Raye

Paul Dugdale, video director; Stefan Demetriou & Amy James, video producers

Relentless

Diane Warren

Bess Kargman, video director; Peggy Drexler, Michele Farinola & Kat Nguyen, video producers

Music By John Williams

John Williams

Laurent Bouzereau, video director; Sara Bernstein, Laurent Bouzereau, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Meredith Kaulfers, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg & Justin Wilkes, video producers

Piece By Piece

Pharrell Williams

Morgan Neville, video director; Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Mimi Valdes & Pharrell Williams, video producers

Field 9: Package, Notes & Historical

Category 77

Best Recording Package

And The Adjacent Possible

Hà Trinh Quoc Bao, Damian Kulash, Jr., Claudio Ripol, Wombi Rose & Yuri Suzuki, art directors (OK Go)

Balloonerism

Bráulio Amado & Alim Smith, art directors (Mac Miller)

Danse Macabre: De Luxe

Rory McCartney, art director (Duran Duran)

Loud Is As

Farbod Kokabi & Emily Sneddon, art directors (Tsunami)

Sequoia

Tim Breen & Ken Shipley, art directors (Various Artists)

The Spins — Picture Disc Vinyl

Miller McCormick, art director (Mac Miller)

Tracks II: The Lost Albums

Meghan Foley & Michelle Holme, art directors (Bruce Springsteen)

Category 78

Best Album Cover

CHROMAKOPIA

Shaun Llewellyn & Luis “Panch” Perez, art directors (Tyler, The Creator)

The Crux

William Wesley II, art director (Djo)

Debí Tirar Más Fotos

Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, art director (Bad Bunny)

Glory

Cody Critcheloe & Andrew J.S., art directors (Perfume Genius)

moisturizer

Hester Chambers, Ellis Durand, Henry Holmes, Matt de Jong, Jamie-James Medina, Joshua Mobaraki & Rhian Teasdale, art directors (Wet Leg)

Category 79

Best Album Notes

Adios, Farewell, Goodbye, Good Luck, So Long: On Stage 1964-1974

Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Buck Owens And His Buckaroos)

After The Last Sky

Adam Shatz, album notes writer (Anouar Brahem, Anja Lechner, Django Bates, Dave Holland)

Árabe

Amanda Ekery, album notes writer (Amanda Ekery)

The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967

Alec Palao, album notes writer (Sly & The Family Stone)

A Ghost Is Born — 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Bob Mehr, album notes writer (Wilco)

Miles ’55: The Prestige Recordings

Ashley Kahn, album notes writer (Miles Davis)

Category 80

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)

The Making Of Five Leaves Left

Cally Callomon & Johnny Chandler, compilation producers; Simon Heyworth & John Wood, mastering engineers (Nick Drake)

Roots Rocking Zimbabwe – The Modern Sound Of Harare’ Townships 1975-1980 — Analog Africa No.41

Samy Ben Redjeb, compilation producer; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists)

Super Disco Pirata – De Tepito Para El Mundo 1965-1980 — Analog Africa No. 39

Samy Ben Redjeb, compilation producer; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists)

You Can’t Hip A Square: The Doc Pomus Songwriting Demos

Will Bratton, Sharyn Felder & Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Doc Pomus)

Field 10: Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement

Category 81

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

An Engineer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)

All Things Light

Jesse Brock, Jon Castelli, Tyler Johnson, Nick Lobel, Simon Maartensson, Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, Anders Mouridsen, Ryan Nasci, Ernesto Olivera-Lapier, Ethan Schneiderman & Owen Stoutt, engineers; Dale Becker, mastering engineer (Cam)

Arcadia

Neal Cappellino & Gary Paczosa, engineers; Brad Blackwood, mastering engineer (Alison Krauss & Union Station)

For Melancholy Brunettes & sad women

Joseph Lorge, Blake Mills & Sebastian Reunert, engineers; Patricia Sullivan, mastering engineer (Japanese Breakfast)

That Wasn’t A Dream

Joseph Lorge & Blake Mills, engineers; Patricia Sullivan, mastering engineer (Pino Palladino, Blake Mills)

Category 82

Best Engineered Album, Classical

An Engineer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

Cerrone: Don’t Look Down

Mike Tierney, engineer; Alan Silverman, mastering engineer (Sandbox Percussion)

Eastman: Symphony No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2

Gintas Norvila, engineer; Jennifer Nulsen, mastering engineer (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra)

Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District

Shawn Murphy & Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Andris Nelsons, Kristine Opolais, Günther Groissböck, Peter Hoare, Brenden Gunnell & Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Standard Stoppages

Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, Bill Maylone, Judith Sherman & David Skidmore, engineers; Joe Lambert, mastering engineer (Third Coast Percussion)

Yule

Morten Lindberg, engineer; Morten Lindberg, mastering engineer (Trio Mediæval)

Category 83

Producer Of The Year, Classical

A Producer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)

Blanton Alspaugh

All Is Miracle – The Choral Music Of Kyle Pederson (Timothy J. Campbell & Transept) (A)

Heggie: Intelligence (Kwame Ryan, Janai Brugger, Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges & Houston Grand Opera) (A)

Marsalis: Blues Symphony (Jader Bignamini & Detroit Symphony Orchestra) (A)

Massenet: Werther (Robert Spano, Matthew Polenzani, sabel Leonard & Houston Grand Opera) (A)

The Mirage Calls (Charles Bruffy & Kansas City Chorale) (A)

Sheehan: Ukrainian War Requiem (Michael Zaugg, Axios Men’s Ensemble & Pro Coro Canada) (A)

Sun, Moon, Stars, Rain (Christopher Gabbitas & Phoenix Chorale) (A)

Sergei Kvitko

Biedenbender: Enigma; River Of Time (Kevin L. Sedatole & Michigan State University Wind Symphony) (A)

Chiaroscuro (Vedrana Subotic) (A)

Dancing In A Still Life (Tasha Warren) (A)

Excursions (Vuorovesi Trio) (A)

Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope. Ukrainian And American Music For Piano Duo (Mykhailo Diordiiev & Anastasiia Larchikova) (A)

Here And Now – Trumpet Music By Virginia Composers (Jason Crafton, Richard Masters, Annie Stevens & Paul Langosch) (A)

Lansky: Touch And Go (Gwendolyn Dease) (A)

Orbiting Garden (William Hobbs) (A)

Would That Loving Were Enough (Haven Trio) (A)

Morten Lindberg

Fred Over Jorden (Peace To The World) (Elisabeth Holte, Kjetil Bjerkestrand & Uranienborg Vokalensemble) (A)

Stjernebru (Anne Karin Sundal-Ask & Det Norske Jentekor) (A)

Yule (Trio Mediæval) (A)

Dmitriy Lipay

Heggie: Before It All Goes Dark (Joseph Mechavich, Megan Marino, Ryan McKinny & Music Of Remembrance Ensemble) (A)

Odyssey (Jorge Glem, Gustavo Dudamel & Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela) (A)

Ortiz: Yanga (Gustavo Dudamel, Alisa Weilerstein & Los Angeles Philharmonic) (A)

Elaine Martone

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)

Chopin & Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonatas (Brian Thornton & Spencer Myer) (A)

Dear Mrs. Kennedy (Ryan Townsend Strand) (A)

Eastman: Symphony No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)

LeFrak: Romántico (Sharon Isbin, Lopez-Yañez & Orchestra Of St. Luke’s) (A)

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 & Symphony No. 29 (Garrick Ohlsson, Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestrea) (A)

The Poet & The Prodigy (Debra Nagy & Mark Edwards) (A)

Shapes In Collective Space (Tallā Rouge) (A)

Songs Of Orpheus (Kelley O’Connor) (A)

Category 84

Best Immersive Audio Album

For vocal or instrumental albums in any genre. Must be commercially released for physical sale or on an eligible streaming or download service and must provide a new immersive mix of four or more channels. Award to the immersive mix engineer, immersive producer (if any) and immersive mastering engineer (if any).

All American F—boy

Andrew Law, immersive mix engineer (Duckwrth)

Immersed

Justin Gray, immersive mix engineer; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; Justin Gray, Drew Jurecka & Morten Lindberg, immersive producers (Justin Gray)

An Immersive Tribute To Astor Piazzolla — Live

Andrés Mayo & Martín Muscatello, immersive mix engineers; Andrés Mayo & Martín Muscatello, immersive producers (Various Artists)

Tearjerkers

Hans-Martin Buff, immersive mix engineer; Hans-Martin Buff, immersive producer (Tearjerkers)

Yule

Morten Lindberg, immersive mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, immersive mastering engineer; Arve Henriksen & Morten Lindberg, immersive producers (Trio Mediæval)

Category 85

Best Instrumental Composition

A Composer’s Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only

First Snow

Remy Le Boeuf, composer (Nordkraft Big Band, Remy Le Boeuf & Danielle Wertz)

Live Life This Day: Movement I

Miho Hazama, composer (Miho Hazama, Danish Radio Big Band & Danish National Symphony Orchestra)

Lord, That’s A Long Way

Sierra Hull, composer (Sierra Hull)

Opening

Zain Effendi, composer (Zain Effendi)

Train To Emerald City

John Powell & Stephen Schwartz, composers (John Powell & Stephen Schwartz)

Why You Here / Before The Sun Went Down

Ludwig Göransson, composer (Ludwig Göransson Featuring Miles Caton)

Category 86

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

An Arranger’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Be Okay

Cynthia Erivo, arranger (Cynthia Erivo)

A Child Is Born

Remy Le Boeuf, arranger (Nordkraft Big Band & Remy Le Boeuf)

Fight On

Andy Clausen, Addison Maye-Saxon, Riley Mulherkar & Chloe Rowlands, arrangers (The Westerlies)

Super Mario Praise Break

Bryan Carter, Charlie Rosen & Matthew Whitaker, arrangers (The 8-Bit Big Band)

Category 87

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

An Arranger’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

Big Fish

Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick, Nate Smith & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (Nate Smith Featuring säje)

**How Did She Look?**

Nelson Riddle, arranger (Seth MacFarlane)

Keep An Eye On Summer

Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier)

Something In The Water — Acoustic-Ish

Clyde Lawrence, Gracie Lawrence & Linus Lawrence, arrangers (Lawrence)

What A Wonderful World

Cody Fry, arranger (Cody Fry)

Field 11: Classical

Category 88

Best Orchestral Performance

Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.

**Coleridge-Taylor: Toussaint L’Ouverture, Ballade Op. 4, Suites From ’24 Negro Melodies’**

Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)

Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie

Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Ravel: Boléro, M. 81

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela)

Still & Bonds

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)

Stravinsky: Symphony In Three Movements

Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)

Category 89

Best Opera Recording

Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere Opera recording only.

Heggie: Intelligence

Kwamé Ryan, conductor; Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges & Janai Brugger; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Houston Grand Opera; Gene Scheer)

Huang Ruo: An American Soldier

Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Hannah Cho, Alex DeSocio, Nina Yoshida Nelsen & Brian Vu; Adam Abeshouse, Silas Brown & Doron Schachter, producers (American Composers Orchestra; David Henry Hwang)

Kouyoumdjian: Adoration

Alan Pierson, conductor; Miriam Khalil, Marc Kudisch, David Adam Moore, Omar Najmi, Naomi Louisa O’Connell & Karim Sulayman; Mary Kouyoumdjian, producer (Silvana Quartet; The Choir Of Trinity Wall Street)

O’Halloran: Trade & Mary Motorhead

Elaine Kelly, conductor; Oisín Ó Dálaigh & John Molloy; Alex Dowling & Emma O’Halloran, producers (Irish National Opera Orchestra; Mark O’Halloran)

Tesori: Grounded

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ben Bliss, Emily D’Angelo, Greer Grimsley & Kyle Miller; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus; George Brant)

Category 90

Best Choral Performance

Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.

Advena – Liturgies For A Broken World

Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Simon Barrad, Emily Yocum Black & Michael Hawes; Conspirare)

Childs: In The Arms Of The Beloved

Grant Gershon, conductor (Billy Childs, Dan Chmielinski, Christian Euman, Larry Koonse, Lyris Quartet, Anne Akiko Meyers, Carol Robbins & Luciana Souza; Los Angeles Master Chorale)

Lang: Poor Hymnal

Donald Nally, conductor (Steven Bradshaw, Michael Hawes, Lauren Kelly, Rebecca Siler & Elisa Sutherland; The Crossing)

Ortiz: Yanga

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Grant Gershon, chorus master (Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Master Chorale)

Requiem Of Light

Steven Fox, conductor; Emily Drennan & Patti Drennan, chorus masters (Brian Giebler & Sangeeta Kaur; The Clarion Choir)

Category 91

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.

Dennehy: Land Of Winter

Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound

La Mer – French Piano Trios

Neave Trio

Lullabies For The Brokenhearted

Lili Haydn & Paul Cantelon

Slavic Sessions

Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Standard Stoppages

Third Coast Percussion

Category 92

Best Classical Instrumental Solo

Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.

**Coleridge-Taylor: 3 Selections From ’24 Negro Melodies’**

Curtis Stewart; Michael Repper, conductor (National Philharmonic)

Hope Orchestrated

Mary Dawood Catlin; Jesús David Medina & Raniero Palm, conductors (Venezuela Strings Recording Ensemble)

Inheritances

Adam Tendler

Price: Piano Concerto In One Movement In D Minor

Han Chen; John Jeter, conductor (Malmö Opera Orchestra)

Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos

Yo-Yo Ma; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works

Yuja Wang; Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)

Category 93

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album

Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with greater than 50% playing time of new material.

Alike – My Mother’s Dream

Allison Charney, soloist; Benjamin Loeb, conductor (National Symphonia Orchestra)

Black Pierrot

Sidney Outlaw, soloist; Warren Jones, pianist

In This Short Life

Devony Smith, soloist; Danny Zelibor, pianist; Michael Nicolas, artist

Kurtág: Kafka Fragments

Susan Narucki, soloist; Curtis Macomber, artist

Schubert Beatles

Theo Hoffman, soloist; Steven Blier, pianist (Rupert Boyd, Julia Bullock, Alex Levine, Andrew Owens, Rubén Rengel & Sam Weber)

Telemann: Ino – Opera Arias For Soprano

Amanda Forsythe, soloist; Robert Mealy, Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors (Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra)

Category 94

Best Classical Compendium

Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 50% playing time of the album, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) with over 50% playing time of a world premiere recording only.

Cerrone: Don’t Look Down

Sandbox Percussion; Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Christopher Cerrone, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney & Mike Tierney, producers

The Dunbar/Moore Sessions, Vol. II

Will Liverman; Jonathan Estabrooks, producer

Ortiz: Yanga

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer

Seven Seasons

Janai Brugger, Isolde Fair, MB Gordy & Starr Parodi; Nicholas Dodd, conductor; Jeff Fair, Starr Parodi & Kitt Wakeley, producers

Tombeaux

Christina Sandsengen; Shaun Drew & Christina Sandsengen, producers

Category 95

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.

Cerrone: Don’t Look Down

Christopher Cerrone, composer (Conor Hanick & Sandbox Percussion)

Dennehy: Land Of Winter

Donnacha Dennehy, composer (Alan Pierson & Alarm Will Sound)

León: Raíces — Origins

Tania León, composer (Edward Gardner & London Philharmonic Orchestra)

Okpebholo: Songs In Flight

Shawn E. Okpebholo, composer (Will Liverman, Paul Sánchez & Various Artists)

Ortiz: Dzonot

Gabriela Ortiz, composer (Alisa Weilerstein, Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)

Wise men say only fools rush in, and Brit reggae rockers UB40 seem content to let things simmer and saunter, like the smooth sway of MC Gilly G and backing singer Matt Campbell.
That sway is infectious.

In a recent tour stop at Cleveland’s House of Blues, the sway was the way.
Soon not just everyone on the crowded stage – a 10-piece band featuring saxophones, trumpet, guitars, bass, keys, and even a WX7 wind synthesizer take up a lot of space – but everyone in the crowd were swaying along.
A band, perhaps unjustly, most known for putting their own unique sound on other artists’ songs, the set at HOB featured the radio hits “Red Red Wine” (a Neil Diamond cover) and “Can’t Help Falling In love” (an Elvis Presley cover) at the tail end of a 90-minute set, with the latter the show closer in a three-song encore.
But the set also featured covers of songs by Al Green (“Here I Am”), The Jacksons (“Maybe Tomorrow”), The Temptations (“The Way You Do the Things You Do”) and lesser-known artists like The Chi-Lites (“Homely Girl”), Brenton Wood (“Gimme Little Sign”), Eric Donaldson (“Cherry Oh Baby”), The Slickers (“Johnny Too Bad”) and Lord Creator (“Kingston Town”). Mixed in with the 11 covers were six originals across the band’s 21 studio albums since forming in 1980.
New lead singer, 38-year-old Matt Doyle, with the band only since 2022, still seems to be finding his own groove with the band, and doesn’t quite match the energy or tone of original frontman Ali Campbell, who left the band in 2008. But original members Jimmy Brown (drums), Robin Campbell (guitar), Earl Falconer (bass), Norman Lamont Hassan (percussion), as well as more recent joiners Martin Meredith (keys, sax, WX7), Laurence Parry (trumpet, trombone, flugal), Ian Thompson (sax, keyboard, percussion), and Jahred Gordon (keys, guitar, bass, sax) bring an electricity that matches that of the robust light show put on by the stage crew.
And Gilly G, whether he’s singing backup side-stage or taking over lead vocals centerstage, is hard to look away from, really seeming to set much of the tone and tempo of this band’s live performance.
It’s all in the sway, after all, and Gilly G is king of the sway.

Checkout UB 40 and friends bring Red Red Wine to Tucson

Interview with Jimmy Brown of UB40

Rob McCune is Every_Thing_After_Photo on Instagram, where he shares his concert photography and reviews, as well as clips from his “Every.Thing.After” podcast, with interviews with musicians and bands.

UB40 Website | Facebook | YouTube | Tik Tok | Twitter | Instagram |

,CITY WINERY,CHICAGO,

APRIL 24

BY MAJA RIOS

Lady Blackbird, the stage name of Marley Monroe—a vocalist and songwriter—performed on April 24, 2025, at Chicago’s City Winery, marking her first performance in the city. She hails from the West Coast, and I had been looking forward to the show. She performed with her music partner, guitarist, and songwriter Chris Seefried, who is also based on the West Coast, as a vocal-and-guitar duo. Together, they created magic. Though they usually record and perform as a quintet—with piano, bass, and drums—the intimate nature of a duo served the songs well. A mixture of folk, blues, soul, pop, gospel, and a touch of jazz is the hallmark of Lady Blackbird’s sound. The crowd was just as diverse in age and ethnicity.

They started the set with a brief riff on Summertime before launching into a blues number by Sam Cooke called Lost and Looking. Lady Blackbird has a rich, powerful, soulful voice that easily handles these kinds of songs. Her album, Black Acid Soul, is full of such retro-soul numbers. Chris Seefried, her music partner, added reverb and looping effects to his guitar, making the duo sound much larger.

Next, they performed one of my favorite songs that Chris wrote, Woman. It sounded incredible as a duo—an uptempo, minor-blues piece. Their road manager, who also served as a guest vocalist, known as “Peaches,” joined them on the next number, Sweethearts No More. This song and other originals were performed from Lady Blackbird’s second album, Slang Spirituals, which has a more folksy feel compared to her debut, Black Acid Soul. The Slang Spirituals cuts they performed included Man on a Boat, Like a Woman, and a few others.

Toward the end of the approximately hour-and-a-half set, she performed my favorite song—a cover of a Tim Hardin piece called It Will Never Happen Again, a jazzy, slow, melancholic ballad that I love. In closing, she sang I Am What I Am from a Broadway musical—a song of self-discovery and self-acceptance that felt perfect for an artist as unique as Lady Blackbird, with her incredible voice. A great time was had by all

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Photos and Review by Anita Maree

Earth, Wind & Fire – Timeless Grooves Ignite the Night

Attending an Earth, Wind & Fire concert is like stepping into a vibrant time machine that traverses decades of musical excellence. On a balmy summer night, the iconic band graced the stage at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL, delivering a performance that was nothing short of spectacular. From the moment the lights dimmed and the first notes of “Shining Star” filled the air, it was clear that the evening would be an unforgettable celebration of soul, funk, and R&B.

The energy in the venue was electric as the band, fronted by original members Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson, effortlessly captivated the audience. Their stage presence was dynamic, and their performance tight and polished, a testament to their decades of experience and undeniable talent. Bailey’s falsetto was as smooth and powerful as ever, especially during classics like “Reasons” and “After the Love Has Gone,” where his vocal prowess left the crowd in awe.

Verdine White, with his boundless energy and signature bass grooves, was a spectacle unto himself. His infectious enthusiasm and masterful playing were a driving force behind the band’s irresistible rhythms. Ralph Johnson’s impeccable drumming and charismatic stage persona added another layer of depth to the performance, showcasing the band’s versatility and cohesive sound.

One of the highlights of the evening was the seamless blend of timeless hits and contemporary flair. Songs like “Let Your Feelings Show,” “Devotion,” “Let’s Groove,” and “Boogie Wonderland,” had the audience on their feet, dancing and singing along with joyful abandon. The band’s tight harmonies and intricate arrangements were complemented by an impressive light show and vibrant visual effects, creating a sensory experience that was both nostalgic and refreshingly modern.

Earth, Wind & Fire’s ability to transcend generations was evident as the crowd was a diverse mix of ages, all united by a shared love for the band’s music. From seasoned fans who have followed the band for decades to younger attendees experiencing their magic for the first time, the universal appeal of their sound was undeniable.

In conclusion, an Earth, Wind & Fire concert is more than just a musical performance; it’s a joyous celebration of life, love, and the enduring power of music. Their unwavering passion, exceptional musicianship, and timeless hits make for a concert experience that leaves a lasting impression, proving that Earth, Wind & Fire remains as relevant and captivating as ever.

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Chicago – A Night of Classic Rock Brilliance at Allstate Arena

Chicago, the legendary rock band, delivered an unforgettable performance at the Allstate Arena tonight, solidifying their status as icons of the music industry. The atmosphere was charged with excitement as fans of all ages filled the venue, eager to experience the magic of a band that has been a staple of the music scene for over five decades.

From the moment the band took the stage, it was clear that this would be a night to remember. Kicking off with the electrifying “Introduction,” Chicago immediately showcased their signature blend of rock, jazz, and soul. The band’s energy was palpable, and their tight musicianship set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Original members Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, and James Pankow were in top form, their chemistry and camaraderie evident in every note. Lamm’s soulful vocals and keyboard prowess shone brightly on classics like “Saturday in the Park” Loughnane’s trumpet solos were crisp and exhilarating, while Pankow’s trombone added a rich, dynamic layer to the band’s sound.

The band’s powerful rendition had the entire arena on its feet, singing along and reveling in the iconic guitar riff. Neil Donell, the band’s lead vocalist and newest member, delivered a flawless performance, his voice seamlessly blending with the band’s harmonies and adding a fresh yet familiar touch to the beloved classics.

The evening was a masterful mix of greatest hits and deeper cuts, pleasing both die-hard fans and newer listeners. Songs like “If You Leave Me Now” and “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” brought a wave of nostalgia, while tracks like “I’m a Man” showcased the band’s versatility and ability to rock out with t

he best of them. The horn section, a defining element of Chicago’s sound, was particularly impressive, their synchrony and skill elevating every song.

In conclusion, Chicago’s performance at the Allstate Arena was a testament to their enduring appeal and musical prowess. Their ability to blend timeless hits with high-energy performances ensures that they remain as relevant and captivating as ever. For those lucky enough to attend, it was a night of classic rock brilliance that will be remembered for years to come.

Now, let’s talk about the exciting encore. These two legendary bands came together on stage performing each other’s songs.  It certainly was a high-energy finale that left the fans dancing in their seats.

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AVA Amphitheatre 

Tucson, AZ 

August 5, 2024

by Mary Andrews

Reggae music was the star of the evening at AVA Amphitheatre on Sunday with UB40, Third World and Inner Circle sparkling on greater than 100 degrees dominating the night. It’s not unusual to have such oppressive heat in August. It was surprising to see the amphitheatre filled tot he brim with fans dancing in place.

Reggae music has remained a viable genre of music throughout the years, unlike other genre of music. There seemed to be a blend of music and a comrodery between the bands during the evening. Third World consisted of five musicians, three of which shared the center spotlight. Stephen ‘Cat’ Core did the lion’s share of the vocals, guitar, and cello performance during the 30 minute set. Favorite songs included “1865 (96 Degrees in the Shade),” and the O’Jay’s “Now That We found Love.”

Inner Circle was the second Jamaican band to perform for the evening. The Kinston band has been known as the bad boys of Reggae, but i’m not sure why. In (the 1980s had several hit single including “Sweat (A La La La La La Long and “Bad Boys.” I think I answered my own question. “Bad Boys” was the theme to the American TV show COPS. Brothers Ian and Roger Lewis have been the band’s most consistant members;. Add 

Bernard ‘Touler” Harvey and Lancelot Hall to the list of longterm performers. All are members from the 1970s. The band is completed by singer Trevor :Sketta” Bonnick and lead guitartist Andre Philips.The insistant professionalism and the taut musicianship add up to engaging performance not to be missed.

The headliners of the night were UB40. They are the legends of reggae without a doubt bringing reggae music to the main stream in Britain. Hailing from Birminham, England, they’ve been doing this for 45 years and its been a way of life. It’s hard to make a living being creative when the main source of income in Birmingham is working in a Jaguar factory. Somehow five members of the band managed to do just that. UB40 still boasts of 3-4 original members and that is quite a feat.

For many years Ali Campbell was the lead singer. When Ali left 15 years ago, he was replaced by Duncan, his brother. He was recently replaced due to ill health by Matt Doyle. They call him Hollywood Doyle because all the ladies love him. This tour is a way to introduce him to the public and has earned him the reputation of being a great replacement. 

The band had been touring with Chrissy Hynde years ago, and had a huge hit record of “Red Red Wine” by the end of that tour and things have never been the same since. The tour boasts songs from the old days as well as new songs. They recently released a new album, UB45, introducing the new lead singer with new arrangements of the old songs and new material as well. 

The set started with”Here I Am(Come and Take Me)” each horn player had an opportunity to solo and show their skills. Needless to say, each one’s skills was phenomenal. It was a well-orchestrated performance. They covered “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Gimme’ Some Kind of Sign,”  “Red Red Wine” and Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

It was a performance well-worth enduring the heat by a band that has defined Reggae music.

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The Mann Center

Philadelphia, PA

Shrithik Karthik 

Roots Picnic is held in Philadelphia every year in the first week of June. This year, it returned to The Mann Center in Philadelphia with an absolutely killer lineup. It is more than just a music festival; it is a celebration of art, music, and culture. The lineup covered so many genres: R&B, Rap, Hip-Hop, Pop, and more. Over 30,000 people were in attendance, and they completely sold out on Saturday. People came from all over the country for this music festival, and it was definitely worth it.

There is a lot to talk about, but the organization was the most notable. Many of the artists could get on and off the main stage quickly, and on the main stage, there were very few delays on both days. For a music festival, this is a considerable feat. The festival organizers did an excellent job setting up the stages, food vendors, free water stations, and other attractions throughout the festival space, which added to the area’s livelihood. Overall, it was such a fun experience, and I had a great time. I was invited to check out the VIPee Restroom Experience hosted by Charmin. This experience included a DJ, a Charmin mascot, and, most notably, a phenomenal bathroom experience, which was such a treat and infinitely better than the porta potties available at most festival grounds. It was spotless and very high quality, and the toilet paper was also very comfortable. It was open to all festival goers; they would have to RSVP, and when their time came, they would be allowed to use the restroom. This was a great touch and should definitely be included at future festivals.

I really enjoyed a few sets: Sexyy Red, Smino, Lil Wayne and the Roots, and more. Including two main stages just a short distance from one another with two very different feels made the experience fun and new. The Presser Stage and The Fairmount Park Stage were the two stages I frequented the most, with the centennial stage being more like a podcast stage where people would talk more than perform. The presser stage gave the vibe of an outdoor pavilion, while the Fairmount Park Stage was more like a main stage at a festival with a very high stage, perfect lighting, huge visuals, and more. All the headliners performed on this stage, which was obviously very fitting.

Sexyy Red was my favorite performance, though it was only around 30 minutes; it had great energy, visuals, set design, backup dancers, and more, and it was just so much fun. She gave it her all in those 30 minutes, and from a photographer’s perspective, my best pictures came from her set. Another artist I absolutely love is Gunna; however, his set was concise, mainly due to the massive delay in switching the set to his. The artist before him was running very late, so as a result, his set was cut very short, which was very unfortunate. Besides him, everything was relatively smooth when changing the sets for new artists, and the turnaround time was quick.

Another artist I enjoyed was Smino, who gave a captivating performance. He had very crowd control, engaged with everyone in the audience, and was so much fun. I really enjoyed his set, and he is an absolute must-see live.

The two main headliners, Jill Scott and Lil Wayne gave a headline performance. What they did live was incredible and very deserving of the headline spot. Lil Wayne rapped on an infectious beat, and the CO2 jets added a nice touch, accentuating his performance well. Jill Scott’s flowery set design with immaculate visuals was a fantastic touch for her headlining performance.

This was a phenomenal weekend with so much music and fun. Shoutout to all those who made this weekend happen. This is a must-see festival if you’re in Philadelphia or the surrounding areas. Make sure to come check it out next year!

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Second weekend

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots

 New Orleans, LA, USA

May 2-5, 2024

by Mary Aandrews

The performance of the Rolling Stones may well be the reason that attendance records almost topped one half a million people this year. The first weekend had a respectable attendance, but Thursday of the second weekend smashed all records with the second highest attendance in jazz festival history. Festival producer, Quint Davis, remarked, “Watching the Rolling Stones perform with New Orleans and Louisiana stars Irma Thomas and Dwayne Dopsie was to witness the power of the festival to demonstrate the connection of our culture to the greatest music of our time.”

There had been two other attempts to bring the Stones to New Orleans Jazz Festival in the past, but due to health and personal issues it had not come to pass. Jagger needed heart surgery and an entire leg of that tour was postponed. Their appearance was rescheduled for 2020, only to have that cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Thursday was atypical from the standpoint that the other 13 stages closed out when the Rolling Stones took the stage at five pm. The Stones concert was simulcasted on the screens at the other larger stages during the concert. The band delivered an 18-song set that included the Stones first performance of “Time is on my Side” with Irma Thomas. Thomas had the first hit with the song in 1964. 

There was a large runway that reached into the crowd that Mick Jagger used frequently with vigor throughout the set. Jagger at age 80 exhibits as much energy and athleticism as any lead singer much younger.  Jagger began the set wearing a glittery turquoise jacket with a red tuxedo shirt underneath, but the jacket didn’t survive past the second song, “Get Off of My Cloud.” The weather was warm and muggy.  Jagger soon stripped down to a long-sleeved black t-shirt, guitarist Ronnie Wood abandoned a layer of sparkles, and drummer Steve Jordan had to give up on his elegant suit jacket.

 Keith Richards’ solo spot went to “Little T&A” from 1981’s “Tattoo You,” in a version that included the NOLA horn section.  Richards was one of the few musicians onstage who remained in his full regalia of long-sleeve satin shirt (in various colors) as well as a red knit beanie all night. Richards was grinning ear to ear all afternoon long.

“Honky Tonk Women” and “Paint It Black” felt fresh and vibrant, and Richards was dominant during “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” He always seems to find a new way to hit those unmistakable chords. It was a moment where you realize you are hearing the writer of the song that you have heard hundreds, even thousands of times, play the chords live. The show ended with “Satisfaction,” which generated excitement both onstage and in the audience. The band returned to the stage for a two-song encore of “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” and “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” The set was well worth the time and effort to experience the legendary band and the third time was a charm.

One of the biggest challenges when you attend the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is picking and choosing the artists to attend. It’s a difficult task when there are some 500 acts over two weekends. Many folks go and just follow their nose or ears. Personally, this reviewer studies the announced lineup well ahead of the festival and creates a list of no miss performers. Sometimes that works, other times not so much.

Blues rocker, Samantha Fish, performed on the same stage as the Rolling Stones earlier in the day on Thursday. She stepped out on stage dressed in a black leather-like suit ready to strutt her stuff. Fish was well aware that she was ‘opening’ for the Rolling Stones and seemed nervous. “Bulletproof” and “Better Be Lonely” were standout songs. It’s always a delight to see Fish perform. Fish was seen in the crowd after her set to personally experience the Stones’ set. 

Dumpstaphunk played a set of NOLA funk on the Festival Stage ahead of The Stones and paid tribute to late bassist Nick Daniels, who died on Saturday. New Breed Brass Band with Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews also played a great Festival Stage show.

Other second weekend highlights included sets of Foo Fighters, Hozier, Allison Russell, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, and Queen Latiifah to name a few.

Foo Fighters was another rock band that had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 at Jazz Festival. Their two-hour show included hits like “All My Life,” “ MonkeyWrench,” and “The Pretender.” The 30-year old band really knows how to work a crowd and that they did it well. Frontman Dave Grohl was extremely personable and talked a lot about playing New Orleans in the past and having love for the city. They had previously performed at fest in 2015.

Due to the continuous showers on Friday, the early part of the day was spent in the interview portion of Jazz Festival. Christone “ Kingfish’ Ingram gave a very enlightening look at the 25 year old guitar wizard.

He revealed that he had two choices as to what to do with his life, either play football or play the blues. The Mississippi native came to the conclusion that he could only play football for a short period of his life whereas he could play the blues until he died. His choice was a no brainer. And it was a major benefit for the fans.

American jazz singer, Samara Joy, also gave us an indepth look at her introduction to jazz  The 24 year old was raised in a musical family from a very early age. Her paternal grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, were founders of Philadelphia gospel group The Savettes. She attended Fordham High School for the Arts and performed in its jazz band. Joy enrolled in the jazz program at SUNY’s Purchase College as a voice major and was named an Ella Fitzgerald Scholar. She revealed that a new album is forth-coming. Joy is indeed the future of jazz and a must to experience if she comes your way.

The major highlight on the last Saturday was more living legends including Neil Young and Crazy Horse and Queen Latifah.

Young and Crazy Horse’s set was chrisened as their first tour together since 2019. He told the massive crowd that “I’ve been in a musical desert. I haven’t played in a while and I miss it.”A major highlight of the set was an extended version of “Cortez the Killer.”

They are only a few dates into a tour, and though they’ just released the album, “FU##IN’ UP.”  The album features live re-recordings of most of the songs on their landmark 1990 album Ragged Glory, but with new names. The album is named for a song on Ragged Glory, but now it’s called “Heart of Steel.” They played “Cinnamon Girl” and “Everybody Knows this is Nowhere,” from the 1969 album Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.  Off the same album, they dug into a an 11-minute version of the fever dream “Down by the River,” with its long instrumental interludes. Much of the crowd joined in for the chorus.

It’s been 35 years since Queen Latifah dropped her first record that crowned her the Queen of hip-hop and her career has been going strong since. She has become a major star of television, movies, and really any medium of entertainment over the years and she maintains that status. Not only did she get her start as a rapper, her singing talent is unparalelled. Her first half of her set included much of her singing. Her duet of “Say So” with PJ Morton, an unfortunately brief snippet of Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” and Aretha Franklin’s “Mercy Me” was exemplary. She also performed an amazing version of “California Dreaming.”

On songs like “Just Another Day,” “Come into My House,” the Living Single theme and her classic “Wrath of My Madness” Queen Latifah’s mic control was in full force. Her flows and breath control remain amazing, despite not performing much as a rapper over the last decades.

MC Lyte and Yo-Yo then appeared on stage to rap Brandy’s “I Want to Be Down” with Latifah before then being given center stage to perform their on bangers: “Cha Cha Cha” for MC Lyte, “You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo” for Yo-Yo.

Queen Latifah ended the set in a fitting way with her anti-domestic abuse and pro-Black women anthem “U.N.I.T.Y.”

The last day of jazz festival highlights included a Jimmy Buffett tribute featured Irma Thomas having the time of her life singing “I Will Play for Gumbo.” “ It’s a little like religion and a lot like sex, you should never know where you are going to get it next.” Other participants included Sonny Landreth, Trombone Shorty, and some of the Preservation Hall Band. It was a ‘Parrothead’s’ delight.

Each year, there is a responding exclamation that this was the best fest yet! It’s also true this year, but each year has something special to take away for your memory bank. One cannot deny wondering what next year will bring. Jazz fest is like an addiction leaving you wanting more. It is a feast like no other. Here’s a toast to next year and what it will bring.

Rolling Stone Setlist: Start Me Up / Get Off of My Cloud / Out Of Time / Angry / Let It Bleed / Time Is On My Side / Whole Wide World / Tumbling Dice / You Can’t Always Get What You Want / Little T&A / Sympathy For The Devil / Honky Tonk Women / Miss You / Gimme Shelter / Paint It Black / Jumpin’ Jack Flash / encore: Sweet Sounds of Heaven / Satisfaction

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This year the lineup of artists contains some of the biggest names in the music industry with Post Malone, Rauw Alejandro, The Killers, 21 Savage, SZA, and Peso Pluma. Post Malone was one of the headliners in 2021 and he returns this year with three more albums added to his catalog and he will definitely put on an incredible show. SZA has been on an incredible run recently going on a huge extended world tour this year and last year, and her songs have garnered well over a billion plays in 2023 alone. Peso Pluma has gained heavy traction only recently in 2023 with the release of his song Ella Baila Sola which has gone viral on practically every major platform. 21 Savage also returns to Gov Ball this year as the headliner after performing in 2021. With his new release of his album “american dream” he will put on a performance you will not want to miss out. These artists cover a huge range of music including Latin R&B, Rap, Rock, and more.

Incredible food options exist all around the festival this year with over 50 food options in 2023 and even more expected this year. Located in the heart of New York City, Governors Ball will be three days of fantastic energy and fun. With a beautiful park and so much to explore there will be lots of room to move around. Getting to the festival is very simple and convenient with options such as trains, buses, and the airport is close by as well. This year comes with the addition of one-day, two-day and three-day tickets which allow people to choose which days they want to attend and get the most bang for their back. Be sure to bring your best friends, your best energy, sing your heart out, and get ready to have the time of your life this year at Governors Ball 2024. Grab your tickets right now on the official website governorsballmusicfestival.com/ 

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The Grand Sierra Resort

Reno, NV

December 11, 2023

By Dan Locke

During the first part of the Christmas Holiday Season, Artown brought the 13-piece orchestra Pink Martini to the Grand Sierra Resort.Season. Artown provides opportunities for hundreds of artists and organizations throughout the year, creating a real presentation of arts and culture for the Reno community, which they had never had before.

Pink Martini is led by Thomas Lauderdale, who created Pink Martini to showcase a rotating collection of eclectic musicians. Playing classical and jazz, Latin and pop, what threads the performances together is a light-hearted, jazz vibe that commands you to dance and enjoy the night.

Twenty years after their inception, Pink Martini featuring China Forbes still tours the world, singing in 22 languages at opera houses, concert halls, film festivals, museums and fashion shows. In 2014, Pink Martini was inducted into both the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. 

The night started off with an introduction by Beth Macmillan and Abbey Stephenson giving us a fun view of how Pink Martini and Artown have become part of the holiday season in Reno.

Pink Martini set was a true Christmas show with music basic off their Christmas album (Joy to the World) and a sparkle of other Christmas and Hanukkah songs from their music catalogue.

What was nice was they took timeless songs (give them a fresh sound) and a great explain was a trio of Christmas songs: “Do You Hear What I Hear” featuring full Latin percussion rhythms and trumpet solos, with China Forbes’ amazing voice putting it to the top. Next was an updated version of “Santa Baby” reflecting our political correctness society. And last was a jazzed version of “We Three Kings” which I have included within the slide show.

The best song of the night was “Hey Eugene” while it was not a Christmas song it was a love song about a boy China met at a party and she gave him her number and never called her. I am sure if he ever heard the song he would say what a fool I was. But to China, it was his loss.

For your information you may wonder has Pink Martini ever had a hit?

Hey Eugene! Debuted at number 30 on the US Billboard 200, selling 19,000 copies in its first week. As of 2009, 140,000 copies had been sold in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In 2014 it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, denoting sales in excess of 200,000 copies across Europe. According to Pink Martini, the album has sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide.

They closed out the night with Auld Lang Syne. What a night for a party. There was dancing all through the place.  And not a dry eye at the end.

Setlist

• Tempo Perdido
• Amado Mio
• Little Drummer Boy
• Merry Little Christmas
• Congratulations
• Ocho Kandelikas
• Destino
• Patapan
• Elohai
• Jingle Bells
• Talj Talj
• The Flying Squirrel
• Sympathique
• Do You Hear What I Hear
• Santa Baby
• We Three Kings
• Hey Eugene
• Dansez-vous

Encore

• White Christmas
• Ixim Ixoq
• Tomorrow
• Auld Lang Syne

The band

• Thomas Lauderdale – Leader, Piano 
• China Forbes – Lead Vocals
• Jimmie Herrod – Vocals
• Edna Vasquez – Vocals, Guitar
• Timothy Nishimoto – Vocals, Percussion
• Phil Baker – Upright Bass
• Tom Barber – Trumpet
• Antonis Andreu – Trombone
• Nicholas Crosa – Violin
• Dan Faehnle – Guitar
• Brian Lavern Davis – Congas, Drums, Percussion
• Miguel Bernal – Congas, Percussion
• Reinhardt Merz – Drums, Percussion

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