Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Awarded forQuality instrumental albums in the pop music genre
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded2001
Currently held byBéla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, Rakesh Chaurasia – As We Speak (2024)
WebsiteGrammy.com

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,[1] 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".[2]

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".[3] As of 2023, Larry Carlton, Booker T. Jones 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.[4]

In 2015, the category was renamed Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and moved from the Pop category field to the Contemporary category field.[5] The category description did not change.

Recipients

Joe Jackson was the first recipient of the award in 2001.
A man in a multi-colored dress shirt with a black guitar strapped around his neck.
2002 award winner, Steve Lukather
A man in a gray shirt with his eyes closed and a black guitar strapped around his neck.
2007 award winner, Peter Frampton
A man wearing a dress shirt and glasses, playing a banjo. A light is shining down on him from above, casting a blue shade over him.
Béla Fleck of the 2009 award-winning group, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Two-time winner Larry Carlton.
A man wearing a black hat and jacket.
2010 award winner, Booker T. Jones
Four-time winners Snarky Puppy.
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Work Nominees Ref.
2001 Joe Jackson Symphony No. 1 [6]
2002 Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather No Substitutions: Live in Osaka [7]
2003 Norman Brown Just Chillin'
[8]
2004 Ry Cooder and Manuel Galban Mambo Sinuendo [9]
2005 Various artists[II] Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar [10]
2006 Burt Bacharach At This Time [11]
2007 Peter Frampton Fingerprints [12]
2008 Beastie Boys The Mix-Up [13]
2009 Béla Fleck and the Flecktones Jingle All the Way [14]
2010 Booker T. Jones Potato Hole [15]
2011 Larry Carlton and Tak Matsumoto (B'z) Take Your Pick
[16]
2012 Booker T. Jones The Road from Memphis [17]
2013 Chris Botti Impressions
[18]
2014 Herb Alpert Steppin' Out [19]
2015 Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer Bass & Mandolin [20]
2016 Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest Sylva [21]
2017 Snarky Puppy Culcha Vulcha [22]
2018 The Jeff Lorber Fusion Prototype [23]
2019 Steve Gadd Band Steve Gadd Band [24]
2020 Rodrigo y Gabriela Mettavolution
2021 Snarky Puppy Live at the Royal Albert Hall
[25]
2022 Taylor Eigsti Tree Falls
[26]
2023 Snarky Puppy Empire Central [27]
2024 Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer ft. Rakesh Chaurasia As We Speak
[28]

^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
^[II] An award was presented to James R. Jensen as the producer of the album.

See also

References

General
  • "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Note: User must select the "Pop" category as the genre under the search feature.
Specific
  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. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 27, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  4. ^ "AWARDS, CERTIFICATES, AND GRAMMY TICKETS" (PDF). Grammy.com. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  5. ^ "Press release". Grammy.com. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  6. ^ "43rd Grammy Awards". CNN. February 21, 2001. Archived from the original on November 6, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  7. ^ "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". CBS News. January 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  8. ^ "Complete list of Grammy nominees; ceremony set for Feb. 23". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. January 8, 2003. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  9. ^ "Nominee list for the 46th Annual Grammy Awards". LiveDaily. December 4, 2003. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  10. ^ "Nominee list for the 47th Annual Grammy Awards". LiveDaily. December 7, 2004. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  11. ^ "The Complete List of Grammy Nominations". The New York Times. December 8, 2005. p. 1. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  12. ^ "49th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 20, 2006. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  13. ^ "50th annual Grammy Awards nominations". Variety. Reed Business Information. December 6, 2007. Archived from the original on December 8, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  14. ^ "The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  15. ^ "The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on September 27, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2010.
  16. ^ "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  17. ^ "54th Grammy Awards nominees list" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  18. ^ "List of 2013 nominees". Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  19. ^ "2014 Nominees" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  20. ^ "List of Nominees 2015" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
  21. ^ "Welcome to nginx". Archived from the original on 2013-02-24. Retrieved 2011-03-05.
  22. ^ "Grammys Nominations List: All of Your 2017 Nominees – Variety". 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-12-14. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  23. ^ [1] [dead link]
  24. ^ Lynch, Joe (December 7, 2018). "Grammys 2019 Nominees: The Complete List". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  25. ^ "2021 Nominations List" (PDF). Grammy.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  26. ^ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List". GRAMMY.com. 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  27. ^ "2023 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List". GRAMMY.com. 2022-11-15. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  28. ^ "2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List | GRAMMY.com". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 2023-11-12.

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