3. Nicole Zuraitis: A trained opera singer, she was a late bloomer to jazz. In 2015, at age 30, she was runner-up in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and one of the judges, jazz bass major domo Christian McBride, remembered her later at an encounter at a New York City restaurant. They collaborated on last year’s “How Love Begins,” a deeply felt collection of striking originals that deservedly earned the Grammy for best jazz vocal album over more famous singers like Patti Austin, Esperanza Spalding and Cecile McLorin Salvant. While that was Zuraitis’ fifth album as a leader, the singer/pianist established her prowess as a vocal stylist on earlier recordings of Prince’s overbaked “I Would Die 4 U” and Dolly Parton’s hauntingly jazzy “Jolene,” which received a Grammy nomination for best arrangement.