Alan Broadbent

Alan Broadbent (born 1947) left school at 15 and worked as an apprentice signwriter, while gigging at night. While still a teenager, he managed to send an acetate of the trio he led to Downbeat Magazine, and as a result he was offered a scholarship to study for a semester at Berklee College of Music. At 22, he was recruited to join Woody Herman‘s Orchestra initially as a pianist, but he quickly took the opportunity to hone his skills as a writer and arranger. After three years touring with the big band, he settled in Los Angeles, and was soon working with the singer Irene Kral, with whom he recorded two excellent duo albums, Where Is Love? (1974) and Gentle Rain (1978). Since this time, Broadbent has been recognised as one of the finest of all accompanists for singers. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, he also worked with many of the West Coast’s top jazz musicians, including Jack Sheldon, Bud Shank and Shelley Manne. From 1987, he was a member of Charlie Haden’s Quartet West and remained with the band until Haden’s death in 2014. He worked with Natalie Cole from her 1991 multi-platinum Unforgettable album, winning the first of his two Grammys (so far) as an arranger for the video of ‘When I Fall In Love’.

He is much in demand as an arranger, having been sought out by Paul McCartney, Kristin Chenowerth, Diana Krall, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli and Michael Buble among many others. His skills as a composer were highlighted in a collaborative 2015 album Songbook, with British singer Georgia Mancio providing lyrics to a number of his instrumental compositions. In 2008, he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to jazz.

Key Recordings:

With Irene Kral, Charlie Haden Quartet West
Personal Standards (Concord 1996)
‘Round Midnight (Artistry 2005)