‘A beautiful two weeks’: Jazz vocalist Laila Biali talks working on ‘Wintersongs’ in Banff

Juno-winner Laila Biali is up for a Grammy this year, and the album for which she's nominated was written during her stay at the Banff Centre.

When jazz vocalist Laila Biali and her husband first learned she was nominated for a Grammy, she wasn’t sure if it was real.

“We thought it was a technical error. People started texting us, and Ben, my husband, was saying, ‘Don’t post. Don’t post. We have to verify.’” Biali told CTV News.

“There are six nominees in this particular category as opposed to the usual five. So, that was a bit of a headscratcher as well,” the Juno-winner said.

Those nominees for best traditional pop vocal album are impressive, to say the least—Barbra Streisand, Elton John and Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Hudson and Laufey.

“The fact that I got across that nominee line is so extraordinary to me, so now I’m just dreaming big, really big!” Biali said.

Biali’s Grammy-nominated album—Wintersongs—got its start at the Banff Centre.

“It was a beautiful two weeks at their Ian Davidson Studio in the woods, looking out on the mountains, and that’s how Wintersongs was born,” she said.

Once Biali knew the nomination was real, she reached out to Sting, for whom she sang backup vocals on a project several years ago.

Sting sings Fragile in a duet with Streisand on her Grammy-nominated album, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2.

“I did text Sting once I got the nomination, and he very generously wrote back, ‘You’ve got my vote.’ I thought that was so generous,” she said.