“I love the effect of the music—it just makes people brighten up.”

– Chick Corea

This month marked the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, and some familiar faces from State of the Arts were honored. Here’s a roundup of stories from our archives of Grammy winners we’ve featured over the years.

“With the names like Bach and Beethoven and Mozart… Well, Chick Corea is our living version of that.”

– Christian McBride in 2019

The legendary jazz musician Chick Corea (1941-2021) had a whopping 79 nominations and 29 wins over his illustrious career, including a posthumous win this year for Best Jazz Performance for “Windows” from Trilogy 3 with Christian McBride and Brian Blade. Bassist Christian McBride has 19 nominations and 11 wins himself, including two this year—he’s also the Artistic Director of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS in Montclair.

“I can’t image anyone coming to see [Samara Joy] and not feeling her spirit.”

– Dorthaan Kirk

Samara Joy has had a meteoric rise—at just 26 years old, she’s been nominated seven times and won six Grammys, including for Best Jazz Vocal Album this year. Samara appeared on State of the Arts in 2023, just before she received her first two Grammys, for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Linger Awhile, featured in our story, and for Best New Artist, a major honor.

“When I was 18… I thought… I want to be a songwriter: that seemed to be a very noble profession, and combined the two things I loved most: music and writing.”

– Rosanne Cash

Other legends in our archives have been honored at past years’ Grammy Awards. In the Americana genre, Rosanne Cash has sixteen nominations over her career so far, with four wins—including for Best Americana Album.

“I especially love [Maria Schneider]’s sense of melody—for a singer, this is fab.”

– Dawn Upshaw

Composer Maria Schneider has seven Grammys and Soprano Dawn Upshaw has won five—their Winter Morning Walks, featured in our story above, won Best Contemporary Classical Composition at the 56th Annual Awards.

As you peruse our music archives, you’ll find plenty of other Grammy winners and nominees from over the years, including Ladyship Black Mambazo, Stanley Clarke, and Bill Charlap. Plus, for their legacies in the music world, renowned drummer Max Roach was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, and Marian McPartland was honored with a Trustees Award in 2004.

Here’s to the winners—past, present, and future!