VERVE LABEL GROUP CELEBRATES 21 GRAMMY® NOMINATIONS FOR THE 64th ANNUAL GRAMMY® AWARDS
JON BATISTE LEADS ALL NOMINEES WITH 11 NOMINATIONS
INCLUDING ALBUM OF THE YEAR, RECORD OF THE YEAR AND BEST R&B ALBUM
HARRY CONNICK, JR. NOMINATED FOR BEST ROOTS GOSPEL ALBUM
ÓLAFUR ARNALDS NOMINATED FOR BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC RECORDING,
AND BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTALS AND VOCALS
MADISON CUNNINGHAM NOMINATED FOR BEST FOLK ALBUM
AROOJ AFTAB NOMINATED FOR BEST NEW ARTIST
AND MANY MORE
24 NOVEMBER 2021 (TORONTO, ON) – Verve Label Group is proud to celebrate 21 GRAMMY® nominations for the forthcoming 64th Annual GRAMMY® Awards. The nominations span various imprints and genres and include celebrated musician and composer Jon Batiste, who leads all nominees with 11 nominations including Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, and Best R&B Album for his critically lauded album and cultural touchstone, WE ARE (Verve Records). Batiste’s diverse nominations show the limitless range of his talent and music, as he is shortlisted across multiple categories: jazz, classical, R&B, American Roots, score, music video, as well as in two of the highly competitive general categories. This is the first time Batiste has been nominated in the prestigious Record and Album of the Year categories (for “FREEDOM” and WE ARE, respectively) and the most nominations ever received by a Verve artist in a single year. The GRAMMY® Awards ceremony will be held on January 31, 2022.
Multi-instrumentalist and producer Ólafur Arnalds marks his first ever nominations with Best Dance/Electronic Recording for “Loom” (feat. Bonobo) and Best Arrangement, Instrumentals and Vocals for “The Bottom Line” (feat. Josin) both from his breakout 2020 release, some kind of peace (Mercury KX).
Harry Connick, Jr. is nominated for Best Roots Gospel Album for his deeply personal and reflective album Alone With My Faith (Verve Records/Capitol CMG).
Burgeoning musicians within Verve Label Group are also making their mark. Nominated for a GRAMMY® in 2020, singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham scores another nomination for Best Folk Album for Wednesday (Extended Edition) (Verve Forecast). Recent signee Arooj Aftab garners a coveted Best New Artist nomination as well as Best Global Music Performance for the intensely emotional “Mohabbat” from her album Vulture Prince, and harpist extraordinaire Brandee Younger garners Best Instrumental Composition for “Beautiful is Black” from her major label debut Somewhere Different (Impulse! Records).
Additionally, four-time GRAMMY® winner Angélique Kidjo receives two GRAMMY® nominations, Best Global Music Album for the Pan-African collaborative effort Mother Nature (Decca Records France) and Best Global Performance for the standout track with Burna Boy “Do Yourself.”
On the nominations Dickon Stainer, President and CEO of Global Classics and Jazz and Verve Label Group says, “The staggering breadth of artistry recognized by the Recording Academy showcases the exceptional talent of the artists we represent at Verve Label Group. We are honored by the acknowledgement and congratulate our artists on their stellar achievements.”
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel receives a nomination for Best Choral Performance for his exhilarating rendition of Mahler: Symphony No. 8, “Symphony of a Thousand,” (Deutsche Grammophon), and the recording garners a nomination for Best Engineered Album, Classical. Distinguished musicians Blake Mills and Pino Palladino receive a nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for their well-received collaborative effort Notes With Attachments (Impulse! Records/New Deal Records). Conductor and Musical Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin is nominated for Best Orchestral Performance for the critically significant recording Florence Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 (Deutsche Grammophon).
Verve Label Group
The Verve Label Group (VLG), a division of Universal Music Group, comprises some of the greatest label imprints in jazz, classical, and beyond including Decca Records US, Decca Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, Impulse! Records, Verve Records, and Verve Forecast, among others. VLG’s current roster includes Kurt Vile, Max Richter, Jon Batiste, Diana Krall, Ólafur Arnalds, Ludovico Einaudi, Tank and the Bangas, Lang Lang, Ondara, S.G. Goodman, Blake Mills, Shabaka Hutchings, Madison Cunningham and many more.