The Best Jazz Vocal Album category is reserved "for albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal jazz recordings." Dashiell's album will compete against "Wildflowers Vol. 1" by Kurt Elling & Sullivan Fortner, "A Joyful Holiday," by Samara Joy, "Milton + esperanza," by Milton Nascimento & esperanza spalding, and "My Ideal," by Catherine Russell & Sean Mason.

"Journey in Black" is just that — a reflection on Dashiell's experiences as a woman of color and her observations of the world around her. Leaning on her uniquely signature style, encompassing both traditional and improvisational vocals, she tells stories of joys and pains, grief and friendships, and fulfillment and longing. While she hopes all audiences can relate, she definitely wants Black people to see themselves in the songs. For Dashiell, authenticity is important

"The human themes of love, loss, grief, joy, friendship — all of us can relate to that — Black, white, brown, whatever," Dashiell told NPR's 'All Things Considered.'" "And so I wanted to really paint a picture of the humanity of blackness, the expansiveness of the Black experience. It's not just one thing."

Dashiell is the recipient of DownBeat magazine’s Best College Graduate Jazz Vocalist and Outstanding Soloist awards. She has performed all over the country. Her debut solo album, "Time All Mine," debuted at #13 on Billboard’s Jazz Album charts.

As a Howard student, Dashiell sung in the university's elite vocal jazz ensemble, Afro-Blue. Today, she helps other artists hone their talents even as she sticks close to her own guiding voice. Her father, acclaimed musician Carroll Dashiell, Jr. is chair and professor in the university's music department.

You may also be interested in:

• NPR: Christie Dashiell became a musician at school. Then, she became an artist.
• NBC4 Washington: Howard professor nominated for Grammy award.