Berklee Alumni Nominated Across 19 Categories for 2018 Grammy Awards

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) nominated 27 Berklee College of Music alumni across 19 categories for the Grammy Awards.

November 29, 2017

Berklee alumni will be well represented at the 60th annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday, January 28, 2018. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) nominated 27 alumni across 19 categories. For the seventh year in a row, a Berklee alumnus or alumna is nominated in the Album of the Year category. Matt Schaeffer B.M. ’12 received a nomination for his role in engineering and mixing Kendrick Lamar’s album DAMN, which is nominated for Best Rap Album. Coming off a Tony win earlier this year for Best Orchestrations, Alex Lacamoire B.M. ’95 is nominated for Best Musical Theater Album for the megahit musical Dear Evan Hansen. Lacamoire has previously won Grammys for his work on In the Heights and Hamilton.

The band Imagine Dragons, which includes guitarist Wayne Sermon B.M. ‘08, drummer Daniel Platzman B.M. ‘09, and bassist Ben McKee ‘09, was nominated for two Grammys, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Justin Drew Tranter ’01, who cowrote Julia Michaels’ smash hit “Issues,” was nominated for Song of the Year. Aimee Mann B.M. ’80, a three-time Grammy winner, was nominated for Best Folk Album for Mental Illness. Zac Brown Band musicians Clay Cook ’98 (pianist and guitarist) and Matt Mangano ’00 (bass guitarist) also received nominations for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the song “My Old Man.” Current Associate Professor Claudio Ragazzi B.M. '84 received recognition for his work as guitarist with Pablo Ziegler Trio, nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album. Sara Caswell, an associate professor in the String Department, was nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for "Can't Remember Why" by Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge. Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance Program graduate and 2017 Producer of the Year winner Greg Kurstin is nominated once again for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in recognition of his work with the Foo Fighters, Sia, ZAYN, Kendrick Lamar, Halsey, and Liam Gallagher.

Four Berklee alumni were nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: Alex Han B.M. ’09 for Spirit; Julian Lage B.M. ’08 for Mount Royal with Chris Eldridge; Jeff Lorber ’71 for Prototype with his band Jeff Lorber Fusion; and Antonio Sánchez ’97 for Bad Hombre. Anat Cohen B.M. ’98 received nominations in two categories, Best Latin Jazz Album and Best World Music Album, for her work with Marcello Gonçalves and Trio Brasileiro. Michael Graves ’81 was nominated twice in the Best Historical Album category for his engineering work on the albums Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa and Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams.

The 60th annual Grammy Awards will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, January 28, and will be broadcast on CBS at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Below is a full list of Berklee alumni Grammy Award nominees.

Category 1 – Record of the Year

“Humble” (Kendrick Lamar) – Matt Schaeffer B.M. ‘12, engineer/mixer

"Despacito" (Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber) - Luis "Salda" Saldarriaga B.M. '14, engineer/mixer

Category 2 – Album of the Year

DAMN (Kendrick Lamar) – Matt Schaeffer B.M. ‘12, engineer/mixer

Category 3 – Song of the Year

“Issues” (Julia Michaels) – Justin Drew Tranter ’01, songwriter

Category 6 – Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

“Thunder” (Imagine Dragons) – Wayne Sermon B.M. ’08, guitarist; Daniel Platzman B.M. ‘09, drummer; Ben McKee ’09, bassist

Category 8 – Best Pop Vocal Album

Evolve (Imagine Dragons) – Wayne Sermon B.M. ’08, guitarist; Daniel Platzman B.M. ‘09, drummer; Ben McKee ’09, bassist

Category 11 – Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

Spirit (Alex Han) – Alex Han B.M. ‘09

Prototype (Jeff Lorber Fusion) – Jeff Lorber ’71

Mount Royal (Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge) – Julian Lage B.M. ‘08

Bad Hombre (Antonio Sánchez) – Antonio Sánchez ‘97

Category 14 – Best Rock Song

“Go To War” (Nothing More) – David Pramik ’12, songwriter

Category 27 – Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“My Old Man” (Zac Brown Band) – Clay Cook ’98, pianist and guitarist; Matt Mangano ’00, bass guitarist

Category 31 – Best Improvised Jazz Solo

"Can't Remember Why" (Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge) – Associate Professor Sara Caswell, soloist 

Category 35 – Best Latin Jazz Album

Típico (Miguel Zenón) - Miguel Zenón B.M. ‘98

Outra Coisa: The Music of Moacir Santos (Anat Cohen and Marcello Gonçalves) – Anat Cohen B.M. ‘98

Jazz Tango (Pablo Ziegler Trio) – Associate Professor Claudio Ragazzi B.M. ’84, guitarist

Category 46 – Best American Roots Song

“Cumberland Gap” (David Rawlings) – David Rawlings B.M. ’92, vocalist and songwriter; Gillian Welch B.M. ’92, songwriter

Category 48 – Best Bluegrass Album

Laws of Gravity (The Infamous Stringdusters) – Andy Hall B.M. ’97, dobro player; Chris Pandolfi ’03, banjo player

Category 50 – Best Contemporary Blues Album

Live from the Fox Oakland (Tedeschi Trucks Band) – Susan Tedeschi B.M. '91

Category 51 – Best Folk Album

Mental Illness (Aimee Mann) – Aimee Mann B.M. ‘80

Category 54 – Best World Music Album

Rosa Dos Ventos (Anat Cohen and Trio Brasileiro) – Anat Cohen B.M. ‘98

Category 58 – Best Musical Theater Album

Dear Evan Hansen – Alex Lacamoire B.M. ’95, producer

Category 60 – Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media

Game of Thrones: Season 7 – Ramin Djawadi B.M. ’98, composer

Category 68 – Best Historical Album

Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa (Various Artists) – Michael Graves ’81, mastering engineer

Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams (Washington Phillips) – Michael Graves ’81, mastering engineer

Category 69 – Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

Every Where Is Some Where (K.Flay) – Tony Maserati ‘85, engineer

Category 71 – Best Remixed Recording

“You Move (Latroit Remix)” (Depeche Mode) – Dennis White ‘88, remixer