Wayne Shorter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Gregory Porter, and Snarky Puppy among Jazz Grammy winners

There were two breakthrough wins for emerging artists too firstly for soulful jazz singer Gregory Porter and his debut Blue Note album Liquid Spirit, which won the Best Jazz Vocal Album category. Porter has toured extensively outside the US and built a significant following in the UK and across Europe but has had to work hard for such acknowledgement back home. He’s garnered previous nominations for his debut album on Motéma, Water, and its follow up, Be Good, yet this win should significantly raise his profile in the US.

The other breakthrough win of the night for Best R&B Performance came for Brooklyn-based collective Snarky Puppy (pictured left) for their collaborative song 'Something' featuring Lalah Hathaway on vocals, from their most recent album Family Dinner Vol.1. A breathless Michael League, the band’s bassist and leader, said of the win “I was shocked. I was completely blown away.” The band have won a large global fan base through relentless touring over the last ten years, and this win in the Best R&B Performance category, their first Grammy nomination and win, caps a frantic 2013 that saw them play 184 gigs and also record their new instrumental album, We Like It Here, which is set for release in February followed by a series of tour dates that include two nights at Scala, London and a headline appearance at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

See the March issue of Jazzwise, out on 20 February, for an exclusive interview with Michael League

Here’s a complete list of this year’s jazz-related Grammy Award winners:

Best Pop Instrumental Album: Herb Albert Steppin’ Out

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Michael Bublé To Be Loved

Best Instrumental Composition: Clare Fischer 'Pensamientos For Solo Alto Saxophone And Chamber Orchestra'

Best Instrumental Arrangement: Gordon Goodwin 'On Green Dolphin Street' (Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band)

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): Gil Goldstein 'Swing Low' (Bobby McFerrin & Esperanza Spalding)

Best Album Notes: Neil Tesser Afro Blue Impressions (Remastered & Expanded) (John Coltrane)

Best Jazz Instrumental Album: Terri Lyne Carrington Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Randy Brecker, W Odek Pawlik Trio & Kalisz Philharmonic Night In Calisia

Best Improvised Jazz Solo: Wayne Shorter, soloist “Orbits”

Best Jazz Vocal Album: Gregory Porter Liquid Spirit

Best Latin Jazz Album: Paquito D’Rivera and Trio Corrente Song For Maura

Best R&B Performance: Snarky Puppy with Lalah Hathaway "Something" (Track from: Family Dinner Volume One)

Best Classical Vocal Solo: Dawn Upshaw (Maria Schneider; Jay Anderson, Frank Kimbrough & Scott Robinson; Australian Chamber Orchestra & St. Paul Chamber Orchestra) Winter Morning Walks

– Mike Flynn