Near the conclusion of an album project being recorded in New York City at Sear Sound, I was overdubbing a simple shaker part to a track we had just recorded. Unnoticed by me, the arranger and pianist Alan Broadbent was watching me intently. As soon as the red light went off — meaning that the microphone was no longer feeding audio into the Pro Tools session — Alan opened the sliding door of the drum room and came up to me with tears in his eyes. “I love your seriousness,” he said, and then he walked out of the room. Wow. Several months later, I confessed to my analyst that I was feeling “fragile,” as if the slightest emotional provocation might bring me to tears. By this, I don’t mean that I was afraid of (for example,) a confrontation; I seemed more ready than ever to voice my displeasure about musical […]

September 2024 Issue