University of Denver music professor Remy Le Boeuf is now Grammy Award-winning D.U. music professor Remy Le Boeuf.
Le Boeuf won his first Grammy Sunday for Best Instrumental Composition for his big band piece, "First Snow," which appears on the album "Silent Course" by Danish ensemble Nordkraft Big Band.
Denver7 anchor Shannon Ogden met with Le Boeuf at the DU campus and asked if the piece was about a first snow in Colorado?
"It is. I just came up with this idea for the first day of snow, October 28th (2023). My sister's birthday. I was sitting at the piano, probably in my pajamas, working out an idea" recalled Le Boeuf.
Ogden asked Le Boeuf how he felt when he heard his name called during the 68th Grammy Awards ceremony at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles last Sunday.
"It was like everything was moving in slow motion and extremely fast at the same time. I just looked at my friends on either side of me and we ran to the stage," said Le Boeuf.
Incredibly, Le Boeuf's twin brother, Pascal, who is also a jazz musician and college professor, won his first Grammy last year in the same category.
"My twin brother won last year in the same category, which is crazy! But he called me that morning and said, 'Don't do this. And don't do this. And be prepared for this.' And I didn't plan to talk about him in my speech but when I won, I just went up there and said a shout out to my brother who won this category last year. Now we're even," said Le Boeuf.
Remy, a saxophonist and composer, is director of Jazz and Commercial Music Studies at DU's Lamont School of Music. He was nominated for two other Grammy's this year. His album "Architect of Storms" was nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. And his arrangement of the song, "Minnesota, WI" for indie rock musician Bon Iver was nominated for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella.
Before coming to Denver, Le Boeuf spent 18 years in New York where he attended the Manhattan School of Music. He has collaborated with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, HAIM, Linda Oh, and with his brother Pascal in the jazz quintet Le Boeuf Brothers.
