The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album is an award that was first presented in 1959.
History From 1959 to 2011, the award was called Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Individual or Group. In 2012, it was shortened to Best Jazz Instrumental Album, encompassing albums that previously fell under the categories Best Contemporary Jazz Album and Best Latin Jazz Album (both defunct as of 2012). A year later, the Best Latin Jazz Album category returned, disallowing albums in that category to be nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
This category is meant for albums containing greater than 50% playing time of new instrumental jazz recordings.
Years listed indicate the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented for works released in the previous year. Before 1962 and from 1972 to 1978, the award title did not specify instrumental performances and was presented for instrumental or vocal performances. The award has had several name changes.
Name changes 1959–1960: Best Jazz Performance, Group 1961: Best Jazz Performance Solo or Small Group 1962–1963: Best Jazz Performance Solo or Small Group (Instrumental) 1964: Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Soloist or Small Group 1965–1966: Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Small Group or Soloist 1967: Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Group or Soloist with Group 1968–1971: Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Small Group or Soloist with Small Group 1972–1978: Best Jazz Performance by a Group 1979–1992: Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group 1993–2000: Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group 2001–2011: Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
Recipients
Year Performing artist(s) WorkNomineesRef.1959 Count Basie Basie 1960 Jonah Jones I Dig Chicks 1961André Previn West Side Story 1962 André Previn Plays Songs by Harold Arlen 1963 Stan Getz Desafinado 1964 Bill Evans Conversations with Myself 1965 Stan Getz Getz/Gilberto 1966 Ramsey Lewis The In Crowd 1967 Wes Montgomery Goin' Out of My Head 1968 Cannonball Adderley Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at 'The Club' 1969 Bill Evans Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1970 Wes Montgomery Willow Weep for Me 1971 Bill Evans Alone 1972 Bill Evans Trio The Bill Evans Album 1973 Freddie Hubbard First Light 1974 Supersax Supersax Plays Bird 1975 Joe Pass, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Oscar Peterson The Trio 1976 Chick Corea & Return to Forever No Mystery 1977 Chick Corea The Leprechaun 1978 Phil Woods The Phil Woods Six – Live from the Showboat 1979 Chick Corea Friends 1980 Chick Corea & Gary Burton Duet 1981 Bill Evans We Will Meet Again 1982 Chick Corea & Gary Burton Chick Corea & Gary Burton in Concert - Zurich, October 28, 1979 1983Phil Woods "More" Live 1984 At the Vanguard 1985 Art Blakey New York Scene 1986Wynton Marsalis Black Codes (From the Underground) 1987 J Mood 1988 Marsalis Standard Time, Vol. I 1989 Roy Haynes, Cecil McBee, David Murray, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner Blues for Coltrane: A Tribute to John Coltrane 1990 Chick Corea Chick Corea Akoustic Band 1991Oscar Peterson Trio The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note 1992 Saturday Night at the Blue Note 1993 Branford Marsalis I Heard You Twice the First Time 1994 Joe Henderson So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles) 1995 Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Wallace Roney, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams A Tribute to Miles 1996 McCoy Tyner Trio & Michael Brecker Infinity 1997 Michael Brecker Tales from the Hudson 1998 Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories) 1999 Herbie Hancock Gershwin's World 2000 Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland and Pat Metheny Like Minds2001 Branford Marsalis Contemporary Jazz2002 Sonny Rollins This Is What I Do2003 Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker and Roy Hargrove Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall2004 Wayne Shorter Alegría2005 McCoy Tyner with Gary Bartz, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride and Lewis Nash Illuminations2006 Wayne Shorter Beyond the Sound Barrier2007 Chick Corea The Ultimate Adventure2008 Michael Brecker Pilgrimage2009 Chick Corea & Gary Burton The New Crystal Silence2010 Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band Live2011 James Moody Moody 4B2012 Corea, Clarke & White Forever2013 Pat Metheny Unity Band2014 Terri Lyne Carrington Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue2015 Chick Corea TrilogyList of Nominees 20152016 John Scofield Past Present2017 John Scofield Country for Old MenList of Nominees 20172018 Billy Childs RebirthGrammy.com, 28 November 20172019 Wayne Shorter Quartet EmanonGrammy.com, 7 December 20182020 Brad Mehldau Finding Gabriel 2021 Chick Corea (posthumous), Christian McBride & Brian Blade Trilogy 22021 Nominations List2022 Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette and Gonzalo Rubalcaba SkylineGrammy.com, 23 November 20212023 Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Linda May Han Oh, Nicholas Payton, and Matthew Stevens New Standards Vol. 12024Billy ChildsThe Winds of Change2025 Chick Corea and Béla Fleck Remembrance 2026Sullivan Fortner ft. Peter Washington & Marcus GilmoreSouthern Nights Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade – Trilogy 3 — Live Branford Marsalis Quartet – Belonging John Patitucci ft. Chris Potter & Brian Blade – Spirit Fall Yellowjackets – Fasten Up
See also Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album
References