At the 66th GRAMMY Awards, on Sunday, Feb. 4, two 2024 Spoleto performing acts won big.
Jason Isbell: Best American Roots Song and Best Americana Album
Now a six-time GRAMMY Award winner, Jason Isbell’s ninth studio album, Weathervanes earned the nod for Best Americana Album and the album’s song “Cast Iron Skillet” won for Best American Roots Song.
A Jason Isbell record always lands like a decoder ring in the ears and hearts of his audience, a soundtrack to his world and magically to theirs, too. Weathervanes carries the same revelatory power. A storyteller at the peak of his craft, Isbell, perceives our innermost thoughts, and reduces a universe to four minutes, shrinking life small enough to name the fear and then strip it away. His music helps us make peace with outcomes that don’t add up — and appreciate the scars we carry.
See Jason Isbell live on June 8 & 9 in the College of Charleston Cistern Yard.
El Arte Del Bolero: Best Latin Jazz Album
Puerto Rican saxophonist and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón’s and acclaimed Venezuelan pianist Luis Perdomo’s acclaimed album El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2 took home the GRAMMY for Best Latin Jazz Album.
A few years ago, Luis and Miguel got together to play a few of their favorite tunes during an impromptu duo session. They enjoyed the session so much that they decided to release it as an album, settling eventually on the title El Arte Del Bolero in reference to the beauty of the Latin-American Songbook and to Bolero in particular as a genre. The album was so well received that they decided to record Volume 2 to extend the concept: to more songs that they knew and loved. El Arte Del Bolero Volume 1 was also nominated for a GRAMMY in 2022.
See Zenón and Perdomo perform this two-album project in five intimate engagements on June 6, 7, & 8.
Other 2024 Spoleto artists nominated for a 2024 GRAMMY include:
Old Crow Medicine Show (Best Folk Album)
Seth Parker Woods (Best Classical Instrumental Solo)
Yo-Yo Ma (Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance)