Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo

The US tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker is the most frequent winner of the Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo to date

The Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo, in German "Grammy Award for the best improvised jazz solo", is a music prize that has been awarded by the Recording Academy in Los Angeles since 1959 . The prize goes to artists for outstanding new jazz - improvisation .

History and background

Since 1959, the Grammy Awards are presented annually in a variety of categories by the Recording Academy in the United States to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency, and overall excellence regardless of album sales or chart position. One of these categories is the Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo .

The prize was awarded for instrumental or vocal performance from 1959 to 1978 and has been limited to instrumental performance since 1979. In addition, the award has undergone several minor name changes during the course of the award ceremony:

• In 1959 the award was named Best Jazz Performance, Individual
• In 1960 the award for Best Jazz Performance Soloist was given
• From 1961 to 1971 the award was combined with the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group . The winners are therefore not included in this overview.
• From 1972 to 1978 the award was Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist
• From 1979 to 1988 he was the Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist awarded
• From 1989 to 1990 he was in the Best Jazz Instrumental Performance Soloist (on a jazz recording) renamed
• In 1991 the award was Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist
• From 1992 to 2008 the designation was Best Jazz Instrumental Solo
• Since 2009 the prize has been called Best Improvised Jazz Solo

Winner and nominated artist

year	winner	nationality	Album or song	Other nominees	Image by the artist
1959	Ella Fitzgerald	United States	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
1960	Ella Fitzgerald	United States	Ella Swings Lightly
1961-1971	From 1961 to 1971 the award was combined with the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group .
1972	Bill Evans	United States	The Bill Evans album
1973	Gary Burton	United States	Alone at Last
1974	Art Tatum	United States	God is in the house
1975	Charlie Parker	United States	First recordings!
1976	Dizzy Gillespie	United States	Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie
1977	Count Basie	United States	Basie & Zoot
1978	Oscar Peterson	Canada	The Giants
1979	Oscar Peterson	Canada	Oscar Peterson Jam - Montreux '77
1980	Oscar Peterson	Canada	Jousts
1981	Bill Evans	United States	I will say goodbye
1982	John Coltrane	United States	Bye bye Blackbird
1983	Miles Davis	United States	We want miles
1984	Wynton Marsalis	United States	Think of One
1985	Wynton Marsalis	United States	Hot House Flowers
1986	Wynton Marsalis	United States	Black Codes (From the Underground)
1987	Miles Davis	United States	Tutu
1988	Dexter Gordon	United States	The Other Side of Round Midnight
1989	Michael Brecker	United States	Don't Try This at Home
1990	Miles Davis	United States	aura
1991	Oscar Peterson	Canada	The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note
1992	Stan Getz	United States	I remember you
1993	Joe Henderson	United States	Lush Life
1994	Joe Henderson	United States	Miles Ahead
1995	Benny Carter	United States	Prelude to a kiss
1996	Michael Brecker	United States	Impressions
1997	Michael Brecker	United States	Cabin fever
1998	Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton	United States	"Stardust"
1999	Gary Burton & Chick Corea	United States	Rhumbata
2000	Wayne Shorter	United States	In Walked Wayne
2001	Pat Metheny	United States	"(Go) Get It"
2002	Michael Brecker	United States	"Chan's Song"
2003	Herbie Hancock	United States	My Ship
2004	Chick Corea	United States	matrix
2005	Herbie Hancock	United States	"Speak Like a Child"
2006	Sonny Rollins	United States	"Why Was I Born?"
2007	Michael Brecker	United States	"Some Skunk Funk"
2008	Michael Brecker	United States	"Anagram"
2009	Terence Blanchard	United States	"Be-Bop"
2010	Terence Blanchard	United States	"Dancin '4 Chicken"
2011	Herbie Hancock	United States	"A Change Is Gonna Come"
2012	Chick Corea	United States	"500 Miles High"
2013	Gary Burton & Chick Corea	United States	"Hot house"
2014	Wayne Shorter	United States	"Orbits"
2015	Chick Corea	United States	"Fingerprints"	Kenny Barron , United States , "The Eye of the Hurricane"  Fred Hersch , United States , "You & the Night & the Music"  Joe Lovano , United States , "Recorda Me"  Brad Mehldau , United States , "Sleeping Giant"
2016	Christian McBride	United States	"Cherokee"	Joey Alexander , Indonesia , "Giant Steps"  Donny McCaslin , United States , "Arbiters of Evolution"  Joshua Redman , United States , "Friend or Foe"  John Scofield , United States , "Past Present"
2017	John Scofield	United States	"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"	Joey Alexander , Indonesia , "Countdown"  Ravi Coltrane , United States , "In Movement"  Fred Hersch , United States , "We See"  Brad Mehldau , United States , "I Concentrate on You"
2018	John McLaughlin	United Kingdom	Miles Beyond	Sara Caswell , United States , - Can't Remember Why  Billy Childs , United States , Dance of Shiva  Fred Hersch , United States , Whisper Not  Chris Potter , United States , Ilimba
2019	John Daversa	United States	Don't Fence Me In	Regina Carter , United States , Some Of That Sunshine  Fred Hersch , United States , We See  Brad Mehldau , United States , De-Dah  Miguel Zenón , United States , Cadenas
2020 January 26th, 2020	Randy Brecker with NDR Bigband	Germany United States	Sozinho	Melissa Aldana , Chile , Elsewhere  Julian Lage , United States , Tomorrow Is the Question  Branford Marsalis , United States , The Windup  Christian McBride , United States , sightseeing

Web links

• Official website of the Grammy Awards - Recording Academy, Los Angeles (English)
• Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo at grammy.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Grammy Awards. Retrieved February 20, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Winners Best Improvised Jazz Solo Performance. Retrieved February 20, 2019 . 
3. ↑ From the album Whispers on the Wind by Chuck Owen & The Jazz Surge