When the stars align for the 68th Grammy Awards on Feb. 1, the world's attention will mostly fall on the likes of Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, and KATSEYE.

But there's a sporting chance that good fortune will fall on Michael Mayo, who's in the running for two awards: Best Jazz Performance, for his suavely assured take on “Four,” and Best Jazz Vocal Album, for his second solo release, Fly. Both nominations confirm what some of us have known for a while now: Mayo is major talent, one of the most creative and commanding singers now working in the realm of improvised music.

This interview was originally featured in a 2024 episode of The Late Set podcast, co-hosted by Greg Bryant and Nate Chinen.

Listen back to our episode of The Late Set Radio Hour featuring excerpts from this interview, and music by Michael Mayo and his collaborators: wrti.org/jazz-archive-sunday-rotation

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