Grammy Award for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album

Grammy Award for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album
Awarded forQuality albums in the new-age music genre
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Formerly calledGrammy Award for Best New Age Album (1992–2022); others
First awarded1987
Currently held byCarla Patullo, So She Howls (2023)
Websitegrammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album is presented to recording artists for quality albums in the new-age music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.[1] 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 New Age Recording, the honor was first presented to Swiss musician Andreas Vollenweider at the 29th Grammy Awards in 1987 for his album Down to the Moon. Two compilation albums featuring Windham Hill Records artists were nominated that same year.[3] The record label was founded by William Ackerman,[4] later an award nominee and 2005 winner for the album Returning. From 1988 to 1991 the category was known as Best New Age Performance. from 1992 to 2023, the award was presented as Best New Age Album. Beginning in 2001, award recipients included the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists.[5] As of 2023, the category will be known as Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album.[6]

While "new-age" music can be difficult to define, journalist Steven Rea described the genre as "music that is acoustic, electronic, jazzy, folky and incorporates classical and pop elements, Eastern and Latin influences, exotic instrumentation and environmental sound effects."[7] According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented for instrumental or vocal new-age albums "containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded material", with seasonal recordings not being eligible.[8] The addition of the award category reflected a "coming of age" of the music genre, though some musicians classified as new age dislike the term "new age" and some of its negative connotations.[7]

  1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  3. ^ "Veterans top Grammy nominations". The Herald. The McClatchy Company. January 8, 1987. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  4. ^ Conner, Thomas (August 28, 2010). "Windham Hill founder Will Ackerman in Chicago for benefit". Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media Group. Archived from the original on January 9, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  5. ^ "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010. Note: User must select the "New Age" category as the genre under the search feature.
  6. ^ Aswad, Jem (June 9, 2022). "Grammys Add New Awards: Songwriter of the Year, Song for Social Change, More". Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Rea, Steven (February 22, 1987). "New-age Music: Hard To Define, But It Sells It Even Has A Grammy Category Of Its Own". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia Media Network. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  8. ^ "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 March 10, 2011.