I'm not sure exactly how Kurt Elling and Arooj Aftab belong in the same category, but at least this way Ndegeocello doesn't have to compete with, say, Fred Hersch.
On the one hand, more attention to the diversity of jazz is good, and more attention to jazz with another award is good publicity.
On the other hand, I've never heard that term used or defined before. Isn't pretty much all #jazz "alternative"? Does anyone know of an "alternative jazz" radio station or section in a record store?