Kitt Wakeley Wins His Second Grammy

To say Kitt Wakeley’s career is on a positive trajectory would be an understatement. In 2023 he won his first Grammy® and two years later, in 2025 he produced 3 Grammy nominated projects and was on a 4th Grammy nominated album as an arranger for Radhika Vekaria’s New Age project, “Warriors of Light.” In a bittersweet moment, Kitt only walked away with 1 Grammy for Matt B’s Global Album “ALKEBULAN II” for 2025 out of the total 4 nominated projects. 

One of the four nominated projects for 2025 was the highly acclaimed, “The Impossible Dream”, which featured Aaron Lazar as the primary artist. The project included duets with A-List artists such as Josh Groban, Sting, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Leslie Odom Jr, Kelli O’Hara, Kate Baldwin, Lin-Manuel Miranda and a finale which included over 40 Broadway stars and legends. When Kitt was asked by the national media “What’s it like to produce Broadway history?” he was quick to point out that “it was Aaron Lazar’s inspiration and the Broadway community that made the project come to life. I’m blessed to be a part of it.”

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Another nomination for 2025 came via the composing talents of Danaë Vlasse, sopranos Sangeeta Kaur and Hila Plitmann, tenor Omar Najmi, and pianist Robert Thies. Once again, Kitt found himself in his familiar setting of Abbey Road, working alongside a myriad of talented team members assembled by Danaë. As usual, Kitt downplayed his role as a producer and was quick to point out the brilliance of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and an all-star group of music creatives that the brought the project to fruition. 

However, that wasn’t the only trip to Abbey Road Studios in 2024. Kitt helped produce Matt B’s Grammy winning album “ALKEBULAN II”. The vision for the project included adding orchestral elements to Matt’s music. So, they enlisted the world renowned “Royal Philharmonic Orchestra”. Kitt commented that “Matt and his wife, Angela V. Benson had a vision for the project. They wanted to create something different. This included things such as the format of the album, the album’s message, the creative music team and the Royal Philharmonic. It all came together by their design. I’ve never witnessed two people work harder. They work together brilliantly. Angela shined as one of the producers on the album and helped forge the path for its success. When I heard Matt’s name announced at the Grammys, I was at peace knowing that he and Angela were able to celebrate a much-deserved win. They are two of the purest souls I’ve ever met, and karma prevailed.”

Not only was 2024 a successful year for Grammy® status, Kitt also accumulated another Billboard #1 album for a choral project he produced “Echoes of Grace: The Compositions of Patti Drennan” which featured the Sterling Ensemble Los Angeles and “Impossible Dream” hit #2 on the Crossover Classical Billboard Charts. This makes a total of 7 #1 Billboard Albums and over 15 top 10 Billboard charting projects that Kitt has either produced or recorded as an artist. 

Kitt’s brilliance and versatility is well documented amongst numerous genres. Aside from the projects already referenced, you can find him listed as a producer on Jazz projects such Noshir Mody’s albums “A Love Song” and “Abstractions” and Vahagn Stepanyan’s #5 Charting Jazz album, “A New Chapter”.  Within that same period, he was listed as a producer for Chuck Leah’s Americana album “Lola Montana”, and on the dance track “Perfect” by Kim Cameron’s. After working with rock music’s most notable legends, A-list superstars and Broadway legends, Kitt is excited about his next album “Seven Seasons,” which is based on the seven stages that people navigate when faced with tragedy or trauma. The concept is very similar to the five stages of grief. Kitt’s new album takes the listener on a deeply intimate reflection of all stages of trauma. Rumors of Kitt’s compositions started surfacing after his latest recording sessions in London. The word is out, Seven Seasons is a groundbreaking album and one of Kitt’s best projects to date. Kitt has yet to disappoint his audience and there’s no sign of that momentum slowing down.

SPIN Magazine newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.

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