Career
Broadbent studied piano and music theory in his own country, but in 1966 went to the US to study at the Berklee College of Music. Alan 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. The club was owned and operated by film producer David Hannay. When the club closed Hannay gave him the Beale baby grand he had been playing at the club, and helped raise money for him to go to the US to study.
In the 1970s Broadbent did both classical and jazz work, but from the eighties onwards he accompanied singers on piano. Later he gained note as an arranger of music and won two Grammies for arrangements he did with Natalie Cole and Shirley Horn.
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").
During the 1990s Broadbent was part of Charlie Haden's "Quartet West."
Read more about this topic: Alan Broadbent
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