Grammy Winners 2020

Brian Lynch’s The Omni-American Book Club Wins GRAMMY® Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

On Sunday, January 26th, trumpeter, composer and recording artist Brian Lynch won the second GRAMMY® Award of his career. Lynch’s The Omni-American Book Club: My Journey Through Literature in Music was named Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album at the GRAMMY Premiere Award Ceremony, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. This win is particularly momentous as The Omni-American Book Club is a fully independent project, self-released and self-funded on Lynch’s own label Hollistic MusicWorks. This win serves as a landmark for independent artists everywhere.

Following his win, Lynch stated:

“What an amazing weekend in L.A. at The Grammy Awards! To be in the company of so many celebrated artists and esteemed friends in the music community, and then to be singled out and bestowed with one of the most prestigious accolades in our field – well, it strains even my florid vocabulary to convey the elation I feel! What an honor to receive my second Grammy and my fifth and sixth nominations in this year’s awards. I salute all the nominees and winners for a year of incredible music.

I want to give thanks and gratitude to my whole production team, the incredible guest artists on the record, and in particular my students, former students and colleagues at the Frost School Of Music, University Of Miami, who along with the outstanding musicians of South Florida made up a recording ensemble second to none. I also want to thank my Frost School family for sabbatical support that allowed the creative juices to flow, access to their world class recording facilities, and in general their encouragement and help every step of the way. This project was indeed “Frost Built”!”

During his acceptance speech, Lynch also gave thanks to: “…my wife Marissa and beloved doggie Finnegan, my parents for instilling a love for reading in me; and thanks to all the authors whose books inspired this album, most especially the immortal Albert Murray. I first read his The Omni-Americans almost 50 years ago, at the very start of my journey into my life in music. His vision, and the vision of the other authors paid tribute to in this project, continue to provide me with hope that the day will come where we can live together, and create together, in justice, equality, respect and regard, both in our own land and as citizens of the world.”

To date, Brian Lynch has been nominated for six GRAMMY® Awards. In addition to his nomination for best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, Lynch’s composition off the album “Crucible for Crisis” was nominated for Best Instrumental Composition (John Williams ultimately won that category). In 2006, Lynch won the GRAMMY® for Best Latin Jazz Album for his release Simpático.

 The Omni-American Book Club: My Journey Through Literature in Music, released on Hollistic MusicWorks on August 29th, 2019,  is an expansive album of music for large ensemble (“big band”) composed and arranged by Lynch and featuring his work as soloist alongside an all star cast of special guests including Regina Carter, Donald Harrison, NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman, GRAMMY® Award winner Dafnis Prieto, Orlando “Maraca” Valle, and Jim Snidero.

On his first-ever big band recording, Lynch connects his lifelong passion for reading and the books that have shaped his life with his original music. The books that have shaped Lynch’s consciousness, and thus his music, have been myriad, and his dedications for the music of The Omni-American Book Club reflect both the diversity and the focus of his reading interests. The Omni-American Book Club was co-produced by Kabir Sehgal, who Lynch describes as having been instrumental in helping to define the album’s overall theme, and Doug Davis.

Photo: Getty Images North America