The OSB, honored for an orchestral setting of Bizet's Carmen (Bis Music) arranged by conductor Jos_ Serebrier, shared the best classical album award with Jobim Sinfêänico (Biscoito Fino), a collection of Antonio Carlos Jobim compositions adapted for orchestra by Jobim's son Paulo and composer Mario Adnet and featuring conductor Roberto Minczuk and the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra.

Vald_s won the best Latin jazz album award for New Conceptions (Blue Note), a mix of standard and orginals. Vald_s, who helped found the Cuban supergroup Irakere in the 1970s, augmented his quartet with guests including Irakere saxophonist Irving Luichel Acao Tierra.

Ma won best instrumental album for Obrigado Brazil: Live in Concert (Sony Classical), a follow-up to his 2003 Obrigado Brazil that was recorded at Carnegie Hall's new Zankel Hall. Like its predecessor, Live mixes classical music with samba, tango, and other Brazilian forms. The all-star lineup includes percussionist Cryo Baptista, the guitar-playing Assad brothers, and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, the Irakere alumnus who won in both the jazz and classical categories at the 2003 awards.