An Oklahoma musician with family ties to Seminole recently received his second Grammy Award during the ceremonies on February 2.

Kitt Wakeley was recognized for his production work on the Grammy winning album, “Alkebulan II” by Matt B and featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The album won in the Best Global Music Album category.

Wakeley also produced two other albums that were nominated for a Grammy this year. One was “Impossible Dream,” which featured Broadway actor and singer Aaron Lazar and included Neil Parick Harris, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban and fellow Okies Kelli O’Hara and Kristin Chenoweth. This album was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal album, which was won by Norah Jones for “Visions.”

The other Grammy nominated album Wakeley produced was “Mythologies II” by Danaë Xanthe Vlasse, which was nominated for Best Classical Compendium album. This award was presented to Gabriela Ortiz for the album “Revolución Diiamantina.”

Wakeley had previously worked as producer with Matt B on his “Alkebulan” album, which Wakeley believed should have been nominated for a Grammy but wasn’t. While working on “Alkebulan II,” Wakeley and Matt B decided to add an orchestral touch, which is fairly rare for global music. However, Wakeley has gained considerable experience working with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the legendary Abbey Road Studio in London while producing his own music. As the Grammy award shows, this idea turned out to be a success.

This latest Grammy Award is yet another milestone in the saga of a musician whose career took an unusual detour just as it was getting started.

Kitt began teaching himself how to play keyboards after he realized it helped him get attention from the girls. By the time he was 16 he had recorded a song that received regional recognition on the radio.

He continued playing keyboards and synthesizers in various bands while in college, opening for major acts such as Motley Crew, Warrant, Dokken, etc while also experimenting with mixing different music genres such as electronica and rock.

At the same time Kitt and a partner started their own company that dealt with medical billing, consulting and cost reporting services. In 1997 he was 27 and was forced to make a decision - music or business? A number of clients had failed to pay their bills, and Kitt had an employee payroll to meet. After weighing the facts that he was starting a family and the music business demanded a lot of time away from home, he chose to sell his music equipment so he would be able to pay his employees.

Kitt remained out of the music business for approximately ten years while the company he founded, now know as Valir Health, has continued to expand.

Encouraged by his wife, Melissa, to return to music, he has quickly made up for lost time. His solo work includes the albums “Cinematic Chaos,” “Midnight in Macedonia,” “Symphony of Sinners and Saints,” and “Adoption Story.” He has worked with some of the most outstanding musicians in a wide variety of styles, from rock to classical and all points in between. He has also become familiar working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Beatles Abby Road Studios in London.

In 2023 Wakeley won his first Grammy award, in the Classical Compendium, for his album “An Adoption Story.” The album is an instrumental expression of Wakeley’s real life story, which includes entering the foster system and being separated from his sister when he was 5 and she was 4 years old. Kitt was later told his sister had died in an accident with an adopted family.

After being rescued from an abusive foster family, Kitt was adopted by Linda and Jack Wakeley when he was six years old. He grew up in Holdenville, where the Wakeley’s encouraged him to pursue his dreams, which included his love of music.

His adopted family includes his uncle, Seminole resident Ernie Willis, who Wakeley says is someone he’s looked up to all his life. He recalls Willis as “the cool uncle” he couldn’t wait to see on holidays and at family events. He also credits Willis as one of the people who taught him the value of hard work and how to treat others along the way.

While working on the “Midnight in Macedonia” album Kitt was reunited after forty years with the sister he had long mistakenly thought was dead, Tasha Henderson. As they became reacquainted, they were stunned to discover the had actually been living about a mile apart for years.

Bringing the story full circle, Kitt and Melissa have adopted three siblings to prevent them from being separated like he was.

Following his Grammy for “Adoption Story,” Wakeley was approached to produce a number of other albums. Although this is a role he hadn’t anticipated, he was honored and thrilled for the opportunities.

And even though he if finding surprising success producing other artists, Kitt hasn’t abandoned his own music. He is currently working on his next solo project, “Seven Season,” which he plans to release later this year.

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