ARE WE DREAMING THE SAME DREAM | LOOKOUT SANTA CRUZ GRAMMY FEATURE
Santa Cruz native Pascal Le Boeuf wins Grammy, putting him in august company
by: Wallace Baine | February 2025
He is no one’s idea of a pop-culture icon, but for one brief moment on Sunday, Pascal Le Boeuf stood shoulder to shoulder, at least figuratively, with Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga.
Le Boeuf, an accomplished jazz pianist and a Santa Cruz native, was among the winners at the 67th Grammy Awards on Sunday. He won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition, which puts him in the company of another list of musical luminaries. Past winners of that particular Grammy include Duke Ellington, Henry Mancini and John Williams.
“Getting a nomination is award enough for me,” said a still stunned and sleep-deprived Le Boeuf from his home in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife, Molly Herron, and their two children, son Baxter and daughter Io. He had been nominated twice before, but Sunday marked his first Grammy win. Le Boeuf said he didn’t expect to win, and had not planned on an acceptance speech until he was in the cab from the airport where he thought of what he might say, “just in case.”
Le Boeuf won the Grammy for his jazz composition “Strands,” from his 2024 album “Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?,” inspired by the work of many of his musical idols including Geri Allen, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus and Leonard Bernstein. He was joined on stage by his collaborators on the album, the Akropolis Reed Quintet and drummer Christian Euman. In front of an estimated worldwide audience of 15.4 million, Le Boeuf quoted the great American writer Ralph Ellison, “America is woven of many strands. Let us recognize them.”
“I took it slow and walked carefully so I wouldn’t trip,” said Le Boeuf of the moment that he was called to the stage. “Time kinda slowed down.”
Le Boeuf, currently on the faculty of the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, is a well-known figure in Santa Cruz’s rich jazz subculture. He and his identical twin brother, saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf, began performing together as teenagers. They have both said that their love of jazz was deeply influenced by both Cabrillo College professor Ray Brown and the musicians and musical culture surrounding the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Remy Le Boeuf has been nominated for a Grammy Award four times.
Since the Grammy win, Pascal Le Boeuf, 38, has been flooded with calls from well-wishers, many of them old friends from Santa Cruz, including friends from elementary school, friends of his parents and friends from the local music community.
“It’s been a beautiful excuse to reconnect with people,” he said. “Because a lot of people that knew me in the past have taken this opportunity to reach out and say something nice. So I really enjoyed reconnecting with my community.”