By noon-thirty in Los Angeles Monday, Nicole Zuraitis wasn’t quite sure how many media interviews she’d already done that day. A lot – and that was after a looooong night.

Turns out, hours before, Zuraitis, a 39-year-old singer/pianist who grew up in the Litchfield area and now lives in West Haven, won a Grammy award in the Best Vocal Jazz category for her magnificent “How Love Begins” album.

And though it was her second nomination – in 2019 she was up for Best Arrangement with Vocals but didn’t win — it’s fair to say she had zero expectations she’d win this time either.

“I was leaning back in my chair, waiting to see who won because there were amazing nominees – artists I really look up to,” says Zuraitis by phone. “They called my name. Ordinarily, I’m very comfortable being onstage and I love making an audience feel comfortable. Y’know, lead with a little comedy and be funny. Not last night. I was shaking like a leaf.”

Zuraitis is, not surprisingly, in fine spirits during a 30-minute conversation, though admittedly tired. She trusts in adrenaline and coffee.

She’s also very self-deprecating but completely genuine in admiration for her fellow nominees, who were Patti Austin, Fred Hersch and Esperanza Spalding, Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke and Cécile McLorin Salvant.

Zuraitis doesn’t remember too much of what she said, but she DOES know that she can’t at that moment lay her hands on her trophy. Don’t worry. She hasn’t lost it. “They take it away the moment they give it to you,” she explains. “Then they make the special real one and send it to you in the mail. I’ll see it at some point!”

And folks in southeastern Connecticut can see Zuraitis Friday when she sings in Stonington’s La Grua Center in the latest of the Music Now concerts. It’ll be Zuraitis’s first gig since her Grammy win – suggesting that, as usual, the venue is really good (and sometimes lucky) when finding artists.

“Nicole’s booking was a culmination of careful planning and a deep appreciation for exceptional talent,” Dan Brandl, La Grua’s executive director, says in an email. “Our Program Director, Kelli Rocherolle, and I have been tirelessly curating our programming lineup with emerging and award-winning artists, always with the goal of offering diverse and enriching experiences to our audience. This isn’t the first time we’ve had a Grammy winner – Dashon Burton (Sept. 2022), 123 Andrés (Dec. 2022, Latin-Grammy) and Claudio Ragazzi (Feb. 2023) – these all come to mind in recent years.

Brandl, a fine pianist who worked in the New York City scene for years, remembers Zuraitis from his college days, when her name and artistry were fondly remembered by friends who’d performed with her at the Litchfield Jazz Festival. He also cites her YouTube videos during COVID as a source of great comfort.

“The decision to bring Nicole to La Grua Center was one made with great anticipation and excitement, long before her album release,” he said.

“How Love Begins” is a stylistically ambitious and persistently tuneful album that contains expertly blended elements of post-bop, cabaret and pop. The slower tunes are gorgeous – instantly indelible pieces that feature a side of the artist’s voice that suggests a playfully rising tide of warm honey creeping across a Caribbean beach. “Travel” – the highlight on a recording full of highlights? – “Reverie,” “Like Dew,” “Let Me Love You” and “The Garden” are examples.

But the uptempo stuff — “Burn,” “Two Fish,” “Well Planned, Well Played,” “The Good Ways” — similarly exhilarates with grooves and superb musicianship throughout. Zuraitis wrote or co-wrote all the material and co-produced with legendary bassist and eight-time Grammy winner Christian McBride.

As the album title might suggest, there is a bit of an overarching theme to the work, but maybe not what listeners will anticipate.

“I think a lot of people thought it would be another love song record,” Zuraitis says. “And there IS a narrative throughout. But it’s based on the concept that some of the most beautiful things in life are also the most heartbreaking.”

The significant inspiration in the composition process, Zuraitis says, was running across what she first thought was a painting. When she clicked on the image, she found out it was part of a collection of aerial photographs from environmental artist Daniel Beltrá. Called “Spill,” the photographs capture the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with deceptive beauty. The dark blue waters are vibrantly colored with expansive swirls of orange, rust and gold gradations. They’re breathtakingly pretty – until the viewer realizes the view is of thousands of gallons of oil afloat on the surface.

“And of course there were so many images we saw of animals trapped in that. The irony wasn’t lost on me, and it suggested several ideas about the nature of love and heartbreak that were the basis of songs. I guess the theme would be that you might lose the things you love, but you have to find the courage to start over.”

The album is divided into connectives: Part 1 – oil, and Part 2 — water, and, paying it all forward, “When Love Begins” is dedicated to preservation and conservation of Long Island Sound – Zuraitis calls it “my back yard” – and proceeds of the record are donated to Save the Sound.Org.

On a more personal level, indication of Zuraitis’s commitment to the idea of starting all over after heartbreak was visible as she walked the Red Carpet at the Grammys: She carried a small purse with the phrase “(Heart symbol) my pit bull!” It refers to her dog Bella, a multi-fostered animal who found permanence with Zuraitis.

All told, “When Love Begins” is a mighty testament to the artist’s fascination with stand-alone songs. And having just won a Grammy for a full-length album, Zuraitis laughs when she shares a secret.

“I never listen to an album through and through,” she admits. “I just pick songs and listen to THEM over and over. Stevie Wonder, Ella, Nina Simone ... So many. I’m obsessed with the art of songwriting and the people who do it. Maybe that’s why my music can be hard to categorize. I can listen to ‘Stairway to Heaven’ or ‘Tea for Two’ and be perfectly happy.”

If you go

Who: Nicole Zuraitis

When: 6 p.m. Friday

Where: La Grua Center, 32 Water St., Stonington

Tickets: Sold out, but some may be available for $25 starting at 5 p.m Friday at the door

For more information: lagruacenter.org, (860) 535-2300