Ledisi, Nate Smith and Terri Lyne Carrington alongside Christie Dashiell are among the jazz artists nominated for this year’s NAACP Image Awards.
They are nominated for Outstanding Jazz Album for Smith’s LIVE-ACTION, Ledisi’s tribute album For Dinah and We Insist 2025!, Carrington and Dashiell’s reimagining of We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Suite. Other nominees include vocalist-composer Nnenna Freelon for her latest release Beneath the Skin and composer-arranger Omar Thomas for the large ensemble album Griot Songs.
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Madison McFerrin (daughter of Bobby McFerrin) is nominated for Outstanding New Artist for her sophomore effort, SCORPIO.
Two jazz/blues fusion soundtracks have been nominated for Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album, Ryan Coogler’s horror film Sinners and Spike Lee’s crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest. Both films lead in the motion picture categories with 18 nominations for Sinners and nine nominations for Highest 2 Lowest.
The 2026 NAACP Image Awards, celebrating its 57th year, continues the tradition of excellence, uplifting values that inspire equality, justice, and progressive change, and highlighting artists committed to that purpose.