The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album (previously: Best Pop Instrumental Album) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality instrumental albums in the pop music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
The award was first presented to Joe Jackson in 2001. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented to albums containing "at least 51% playing time of newly recorded pop instrumental tracks". As of 2025, Larry Carlton, Taylor Eigsti, Béla Fleck, Booker T. Jones, Edgar Meyer and Snarky Puppy are the only musicians to receive the award more than once. (Snarky Puppy has had the most wins, with 4.) Gerald Albright has received the most nominations, with six.
The award goes to the artist, producer and engineer/mixer of more than 50% of playing time on the winning album. A producer or engineer/mixer who worked on less than 50% of playing time, as well as the mastering engineer, can apply for a Winners Certificate.
In 2015, the category was renamed Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and moved from the Pop category field to the Contemporary category field. The category description did not change.
Recipients
2000s Year Work Artist2001 Symphony No. 1 Joe Jackson Audio Blue Man Group Faith: A Holiday Album Kenny G Hymns in the Garden Kirk Whalum Pieces in a Modern Style William Orbit2002 No Substitutions: Live in Osaka Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather AArt Acoustic Alchemy A Smooth Jazz Christmas Dave Koz and Friends Unconditional Kirk Whalum Voice Neal Schon2003 Just Chillin' Norman Brown The Christmas Message Kirk Whalum Paradise Kenny G The Power of Love John Tesh Ride Boney James2004 Mambo Sinuendo Ry Cooder and Manuel Galban N.E.W.S Prince Night Divides the Day – The Music of the Doors George Winston Peace Jim Brickman Wishes: A Holiday Album Kenny G2005 Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar Various Artists EP 2003: Music for the Epicurean Harkener Mason Williams Forever, for Always, for Luther Various Artists Pure Boney James Saxophonic Dave Koz2006 At This Time Burt Bacharach Belladonna Daniel Lanois Bloom Eric Johnson Flipside Jeff Lorber Naked Guitar Earl Klugh2007 Fingerprints Peter Frampton Fire Wire Larry Carlton New Beginnings Gerald Albright Wrapped in a Dream Spyro Gyra X Fourplay2008 The Mix-Up Beastie Boys At the Movies Dave Koz Good to Go-Go Spyro Gyra Italia Chris Botti Roundtrip Kirk Whalum2009 Jingle All the Way Béla Fleck and the Flecktones Greatest Hits Rerecorded, Volume One Larry Carlton A Night Before Christmas Spyro Gyra Sax for Stax Gerald Albright The Spice of Life Earl Klugh
2010s Year Work Artist2010 Potato Hole Booker T. Jones In Boston Chris Botti Down the Wire Spyro Gyra Legacy Hiroshima Modern Art The Rippingtons featuring Russ Freeman2011 Take Your Pick Larry Carlton and Tak Matsumoto Everything Is Everything: The Music of Donny Hathaway Kirk Whalum Heart and Soul Kenny G Pushing the Envelope Gerald Albright Singularity Robby Krieger2012 The Road from Memphis Booker T. Jones E Kahe Malie Daniel Ho Hello Tomorrow Dave Koz Setzer Goes Instru-Mental! Brian Setzer Wish Upon a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Walt Disney Jenny Oaks Baker2013 Impressions Chris Botti 24/7 Gerald Albright and Norman Brown Four Hands and a Heart, Volume One Larry Carlton Live at the Blue Note Tokyo Dave Koz Rumbadoodle Arun Shenoy2014 Steppin' Out Herb Alpert The Beat Boney James Hacienda Jeff Lorber Fusion HandPicked Earl Klugh Summer Horns Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair and Richard Elliot2015 Bass & Mandolin Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer Jazz Funk Soul Jeff Lorber, Chuck Loeb and Everette Harp Nathan East Nathan East Slam Dunk Gerald Albright Wild Heart Mindi Abair2016 Sylva Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest Afrodeezia Marcus Miller The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter IV Kirk Whalum Guitar in the Space Age! Bill Frisell Love Language Wouter Kellerman2017 Culcha Vulcha Snarky Puppy Human Nature Herb Alpert Unspoken Chuck Loeb Way Back Home: Live from Rochester, NY Steve Gadd Band When You Wish Upon a Star Bill Frisell2018 Prototype Jeff Lorber Fusion Bad Hombre Antonio Sánchez Mount Royal Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge Spirit Alex Han What If The Jerry Douglas Band2019 Steve Gadd Band Steve Gadd Band The Emancipation Procrastination Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Modern Lore Julian Lage Laid Black Marcus Miller Protocol 4 Simon Phillips featuring Greg Howe, Ernest Tibbs and Dennis Hamm
2020s Year Work Artist2020 Mettavolution Rodrigo y Gabriela Ancestral Recall Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Beat Music! Beat Music! Beat Music! Mark Guiliana Elevate Lettuce Star People Nation Theo Croker2021 Live at the Royal Albert Hall Snarky Puppy Americana Grégoire Maret, Romain Collin and Bill Frisell Axiom Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Chronology of a Dream: Live at the Village Vanguard Jon Batiste Take the Stairs Black Violin2022 Tree Falls Taylor Eigsti At Blue Note Tokyo Steve Gadd Band Deep: The Baritone Sessions, Vol. 2 Mark Lettieri Double Dealin''' | Randy Brecker and Eric Marienthal |- | The Garden| Rachel Eckroth |- |- style="background:#FAEB86;" ! rowspan=5, style="text-align:center;"|2023 | Empire Central| Snarky Puppy |- | Between Dreaming and Joy| Jeff Coffin |- | Blooz| Grant Geissman |- | Jacob's Ladder| Brad Mehldau |- | Not Tight| DOMi & JD Beck |- |- style="background:#FAEB86;" ! rowspan=5, style="text-align:center;"|2024 | As We Speak| Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer featuring Rakesh Chaurasia |- | All One| Ben Wendel |- | Jazz Hands| Bob James |- | The Layers| Julian Lage |- | On Becoming| House of Waters |- |- style="background:#FAEB86;" ! rowspan=5, style="text-align:center;"|2025 | Plot Armor| Taylor Eigsti |- | MARK| Mark Guiliana |- | Orchestras (Live)| Bill Frisell featuring Alexander Hanson, Brussels Philharmonic, Rudy Royston and Thomas Morgan |- | Rhapsody in Blue| Béla Fleck |- | Speak to Me| Julian Lage |- |- style="background:#FAEB86;" ! rowspan=5, style="text-align:center;"|2026 | Brightside| ARKAI |- | BEATrio| Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sánchez |- | Just Us| Bob James and Dave Koz |- | Ones & Twos| Gerald Clayton |- | Shayan'' Charu Suri Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
Artists with multiple wins
4 wins Snarky Puppy
2 wins Larry Carlton Taylor Eigsti Béla Fleck Booker T. Jones Edgar Meyer
Artists with multiple nominations
7 nominations Dave Koz
6 nominations Gerald Albright Kirk Whalum
5 nominations Larry Carlton
4 nominations Bill Frisell Béla Fleck Kenny G Julian Lage Jeff Lorber Snarky Puppy Spyro Gyra
3 nominations Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah Chris Botti Steve Gadd Band Boney James Earl Klugh
2 nominations Mindi Abair Herb Alpert Norman Brown Taylor Eigsti Mark Guiliana Bob James Booker T. Jones Chuck Loeb Edgar Meyer Marcus Miller Antonio Sánchez
See also
Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance List of Grammy Award categories
References
General Note: User must select the "Pop" category as the genre under the search feature.
Specific