Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement (and its subsequent name changes) has been awarded since 1963. The award is presented to the arranger(s) of the music. Only songs or tracks are eligible, no longer works (e.g. albums). The performing artist does not receive a Grammy, except if they are also the arranger.

Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
Awarded forQuality arrangements of instrumental or a cappella compositions
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1963
Currently held byJohn Carter Cash, Tommy Emmanuel, Markus Illko, Janet Robin & Roberto Luis Rodriguez, "Folsom Prison Blues" (2024)
Websitegrammy.com

There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:

  • From 1963 to 1981 the award was known as Best Instrumental Arrangement
  • From 1982 to 1983 it was awarded as Best Arrangement on an Instrumental Recording
  • From 1984 to 1994 it was awarded as Best Arrangement on an Instrumental
  • From 1995 to 2014 it was again awarded as Best Instrumental Arrangement
  • From 2015 it has been awarded as Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, which also includes vocal arrangements for a cappella performances.[1]

Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.

Recipients

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Year[I] Composer(s) Work Performing artist(s) Nominees
Performers are in parentheses
Ref.
1963 Henry Mancini "Baby Elephant Walk" Henry Mancini
1964 Quincy Jones "I Can't Stop Loving You" Count Basie
1965 Henry Mancini "The Pink Panther Theme" Henry Mancini
1966 Herb Alpert "A Taste of Honey" Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
1967 "What Now My Love"
1968 Burt Bacharach "Alfie" Burt Bacharach
1969 Mike Post "Classical Gas" Mason Williams
1970 Henry Mancini "Love Theme" from Romeo and Juliet Henry Mancini
1971 Theme from Z
1972 Isaac Hayes & Johnny Allen Theme from Shaft Isaac Hayes
1973 Don Ellis Theme from The French Connection Don Ellis Big Band
1974 Quincy Jones "Summer in the City" Quincy Jones
1975 Pat Williams Threshold Pat Williams
1976 Pete Clarence Carpenter & Mike Post "The Rockford Files" Mike Post
1977 Chick Corea "Leprechaun's Dream" Chick Corea
1978 Harry Betts, Perry Botkin Jr. & Barry De Vorzon "Nadia's Theme" from The Young and the Restless Barry De Vorzon
1979 Quincy Jones & Robert Freedman "Main Title - Overture Part One" from The Wiz Various artists
1980 Claus Ogerman "Soulful Strut" George Benson
1981 Jerry Hey & Quincy Jones "Dinorah, Dinorah"
1982 Quincy Jones & Johnny Mandel "Velas" Quincy Jones
1983 John Williams "Flying" – Theme from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial John Williams
1984 Dave Grusin "Summer Sketches '82" Dave Grusin
1985 Jeremy Lubbock & Quincy Jones "Grace (Gymnastics Theme)" Quincy Jones
1986 Dave Grusin & Lee Ritenour "Early A.M. Attitude" Dave Grusin & Lee Ritenour
1987 Patrick Williams "Suite Memories" Bill Watrous & Patrick Williams
1988 Bill Holman "Take The "A" Train" The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen
1989 Roger Kellaway "Memos from Paradise" Eddie Daniels
1990 Dave Grusin "Suite" from The Milagro Beanfield War Dave Grusin
1991 Jerry Hey, Quincy Jones, Ian Prince & Rod Temperton "Birdland" Quincy Jones
1992 Dave Grusin "Medley: Bess You Is My Woman/I Loves You Porgy" Dave Grusin
1993 Rob McConnell "Strike Up the Band" Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass
1994 Dave Grusin "Mood Indigo" Dave Grusin
1995 "Three Cowboy Songs"
1996 Robert Farnon "Lament" J. J. Johnson & the Robert Farnon Orchestra
1997 Michael Kamen "An American Symphony (Mr. Holland's Opus)" Michael Kamen
1998 Bill Holman "Straight, No Chaser" The Bill Holman Band
1999 Don Sebesky "Waltz for Debby" Don Sebesky
  • Michel Legrand – "Where or When"
  • Rob McConnell – "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" (Rob McConnell and The Boss Brass)
  • Bill Holman – "Moon of Manakoorah" (Bill Holman and The Netherlands Metropole Orchestra)
  • Patrick Williams – "In the Still of the Night" (Patrick Williams and His Big Band)
2000 Don Sebesky "Chelsea Bridge" Don Sebesky
2001 Chick Corea "Spain for Sextet & Orchestra" Chick Corea
2002 Béla Fleck & Edgar Meyer "Debussy: Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum" Béla Fleck with Joshua Bell & Gary Hoffmann
2003 Thomas Newman "Title Theme" from Six Feet Under Thomas Newman
2004 Michael Brecker & Gil Goldstein "Timbuktu" Michael Brecker Quindectet
2005 Slide Hampton "Past Present and Future" The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
2006 Gordon Goodwin "The Incredits" from The Incredibles Michael Giacchino
2007 Chick Corea "Three Ghouls" Chick Corea
2008 Vince Mendoza "In A Silent Way" Joe Zawinul
2009 Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel "Define Dancing" from WALL-E Thomas Newman
2010 Bill Cunliffe "West Side Story Medley" Resonance Big Band
2011 Vince Mendoza "Carlos" John Scofield, Vince Mendoza and Metropole Orchestra
2012 Gordon Goodwin "Rhapsody in Blue" Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
2013 Gil Evans "How About You" The Gil Evans Project
2014 Gordon Goodwin "On Green Dolphin Street" Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
2015 Ben Bram, Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Avi Kaplan, Kirstin Maldonado & Kevin Olusola "Daft Punk" Pentatonix [2]
2016 "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"
  • Paul Allen, Troy Hayes, Evin Martin & J Moss – "Bruno Mars" (Vocally Challenged)
  • Armand Hutton – "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (Committed)
  • Bob James – "Ghost of a Chance" (Bob James & Nathan East)
  • John Fedchock – "You and the Night and the Music" (John Fedchock New York Big Band)
[3]
2017 Jacob Collier "You and I" Jacob Collier [4]
2018 John Williams "Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra from Catch Me If You Can" John Williams
  • Chuck Owen – "All Hat, No Saddle" (Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge)
  • Nate Smith – "Home Free (For Peter Joe)"
  • John Beasley – "Ugly Beauty/Pannonica"
  • Chris Walden – "White Christmas" (Herb Alpert)
[5]
2019 John Daversa "Stars and Stripes Forever" John Daversa Big Band featuring DACA Artists [6]
2020 Jacob Collier "Moon River" Jacob Collier [7]
2021 John Beasley "Donna Lee" John Beasley
  • Hildur Guðnadóttir – "Bathroom Dance"
  • Remy Le Boeuf – "Honeymooners" (Remy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows)
  • Alvin Chea & Jarrett Johnson – "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (Jarrett Johnson Featuring Alvin Chea)
  • Jeremy Levy – "Uranus: The Magician" (Jeremy Levy Jazz Orchestra)
[8]
2022 Charlie Rosen & Jake Silverman "Meta Knight's Revenge" from Kirby Super Star The 8-Bit Big Band featuring Button Masher [9]
2023 John Beasley "Scrapple From the Apple" Magnus Lindgren, John Beasley & The SWR Big Band ft. Martin Auer [10]
2024 John Carter Cash, Tommy Emmanuel, Markus Illko, Janet Robin & Roberto Luis Rodriguez "Folsom Prison Blues" The String Revolution ft. Tommy Emmanuel
2025 Winner TBA on 2 February 2025 [11]

Multiple wins

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Wins Arranger
6
Dave Grusin
Quincy Jones
4
Henry Mancini
3
Gordon Goodwin
2
Herb Alpert
John Beasley
Jacob Collier
Chick Corea
Jerry Hey
Bill Holman
Vince Mendoza
Pentatonix
Mike Post
Don Sebesky
John Williams
Patrick Williams

References

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  1. ^ Grammy.com, 12 June 2014
  2. ^ "57th Grammy Nominees". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  3. ^ "Grammy Nominations 2016: See the Full List of Nominees". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 7, 2015. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  4. ^ "Grammy Nominations 2017: See the Full List of Nominees". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 6, 2016. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  5. ^ Lynch, Joe (November 28, 2017). "Grammys 2018: See the Complete List of Nominees". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  6. ^ "61st Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  7. ^ "Grammy Awards Nominations: The Complete List". Variety. November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  8. ^ Grammy.com, 24 November 2020
  9. ^ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List". GRAMMY.com. November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  10. ^ "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List". www.grammy.com. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  11. ^ "2025 GRAMMYs: See The OFFICIAL Full Nominations List | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved November 10, 2024.