Years active 1974–present | Name Alan Broadbent Website alanbroadbent.com Genres Jazz | |
 | ||
Occupation(s) Musician, arranger, composer Albums The Music of Eric Von Essen, Heart to Heart: Solo Piano Awards Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals Similar People | ||
Alan Broadbent Trio live at The Kitano, New York, USA - Jazz Piano
Alan Leonard Broadbent MNZM (born 23 April 1947) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, arranger, and composer known for his work with artists such as Charlie Haden, Woody Herman, Chet Baker, Irene Kral, Sheila Jordan, Natalie Cole, Warne Marsh, Bud Shank, and many others.
Contents
- Alan Broadbent Trio live at The Kitano New York USA Jazz Piano
- Alan broadbent solo piano ankara jazz festival turkey 2013 body soul
- Early life
- Later life and career
- As a trio duo or solo artist
- As sideman
- References
Alan broadbent solo piano ankara jazz festival turkey 2013 body soul
Early life
Born in Auckland in 1947, Broadbent studied piano and music theory in his own country, but in 1966 went to the United States to study at the Berklee College of Music.
Later life and career
Broadbent's first professional gig was in a jazz trio with bassist Kevin Haines and drummer Tony Hopkins at Club 81 in Auckland New Zealand in the mid-1960s.
Broadbent's first two albums, Song of Home and Further Down the Road, were recorded in 1985 in New Zealand on the Tartar label (respectively TRL-043 and TRL-052). Broadbent is joined on those recordings by Andy Brown (bass) and Frank Gibson, Jr. (drums). Those early albums show a fascination (which still characterizes Broadbent's work) with reinterpreting a broad range of standards; he covers material as diverse as "What is this Thing Called Love?" (Cole Porter) and "Oleo" (Sonny Rollins). Further Down the Road also shows Broadbent's increasing confidence as a composer (the title tune, "Nictation" and "Don't Ask Why").
Broadbent's first U.S. release, Everything I Love, was recorded in Hollywood in April 1986 and released on the Discovery label (DS-929). In this set, Putter Smith replaces Brown on bass; Frank Gibson, Jr. continues with the trio. Again, Broadbent covers standards ranging from Oscar Hammerstein ("Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise") to John Coltrane ("Lazy Bird"), and contributes two original compositions ("Continuity" and "Mendocino Nights").
In the early 1990s he was asked to be a part of Natalie Cole's Unforgettable... with Love album, at which time he toured as her pianist and, a little while later, as her conductor. At this time he wrote an orchestral arrangement for her second video with her father, "When I Fall in Love", which won him his first Grammy for "Best Orchestral Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal".
During the 1990s Broadbent was part of Charlie Haden's Quartet West.
It was while he was with Haden that he won his second Grammy, an orchestral accompaniment written for Shirley Horn of Leonard Bernstein's "Lonely Town". As a soloist and with his jazz trio, Broadbent has been nominated for Grammys twice for best instrumental performance, in the company of such artists as Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins and Keith Jarrett.
Broadbent is Diana Krall's conductor for her occasional orchestra concerts and is the conductor on her Live in Paris DVD. Recently he has been the arranger on Glenn Frey's cd with strings, After Hours, and wrote six string arrangements for Paul McCartney's Kisses on the Bottom with the London Symphony. He has just returned from solo piano concerts in the UK, Poland and France. It has been his lifelong goal, through his orchestral arrangements and jazz improvisations, to discover, in popular music and standard songs, deeper feelings of communication and love.
In the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours Broadbent was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to jazz.
In the November 2013 issue of Down Beat magazine, his trio CD Heart to Heart garnered a rare 5-star rating.
As a trio, duo or solo artist
As sideman
With Natalie Cole:
With Charlie Haden:
With Irene Kral:
With Bud Shank