Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album

Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album
Awarded forQuality performances in the Latin jazz music genre
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1995
Currently held byMiguel Zenon & Luis Perdomo – The Art of The Bolero Vol. 2 (2024)
Websitegrammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,[1] to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the Latin jazz 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".[2]

Originally called the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance, the award was first presented to Arturo Sandoval in 1995. The name of the category was changed to Best Latin Jazz Album in 2001, the same year producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the winning work became award recipients in addition to the recording artists. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented to "vocal or instrumental albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded material", with the intent to recognize the "blending" of jazz music with Argentinian, Brazilian, Iberian-American, and Latin tango music.[3] Beginning in 1998, members of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS) are eligible to vote in the Latin categories including Best Latin Jazz Album.[4]

As of 2023, Chucho Valdés has the most wins in this category, with five. Arturo O’Farrill has won four, Paquito D'Rivera has won three, and two-time recipients include Sandoval, Eliane Elias, Charlie Haden, and Eddie Palmieri (once as a collaboration called The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project). Since its inception, the award has been presented to musicians or groups originating from Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. The Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band holds the record for the most nominations without a win in the category, with five.

The award was not presented in 2012 as part of a major overhaul of Grammy categories; Latin jazz recordings were shifted to either the Best Jazz Instrumental Album or Best Jazz Vocal Album categories. However following protests and a lawsuit made by Latin jazz musicians Bobby Sanabria, Eugene Marlow, Ben Lapidus, and Mark Levine filed by attorney Roger Maldonado, the Recording Academy reinstated the category the following year 2013 for the 55th Grammy Awards.[5]

  1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  3. ^ "52nd OEP Category Description Guide" (PDF). National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 27, 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  4. ^ Lannert, John (August 29, 1998). "Mauricio Abaroa". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 35. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. LMQ-4. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  5. ^ Fekadu, Mesfin (8 June 2012). "Grammys add changes to jazz, Latin, R&B fields". Salon Media Group. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2012.