Alan Broadbent

The Jazz Bakery is thrilled to present double Grammy-winning pianist Alan Broadbent on Sunday, January 7, at 7 p.m. at the UCLA Nimoy Theater in West Los Angeles. This is a rare opportunity to hear this New York-based master pianist on the West coast.

Two-time Grammy-winning pianist Alan Broadbent’s elegant artistic sensibility has led him to an illustrious career alongside many of the most heralded artists of our time. Described by LA Times as “one of the greatest living pianists,” the native New Zealander has shared the stage with Chet Baker, Woody Herman, and Natalie Cole. He is also an in-demand arranger and conductor, writing string arrangements for Paul McCartney’s “Kisses on the Bottom” and conducting for Diana Krall’s “Live in Paris” DVD.

Broadbent’s lifelong goal – to discover deeper feelings of communication and love through music – radiates through his playing and personality. His solo piano is rich in harmonic sophistication with a delicate touch, enveloped by an alluring warmth. With a career spanning five decades around the globe, his musical maturity has reached an echelon achieved by only a very few jazz masters. 

Broadbent was born in Auckland, NZ, and in 1966 received a Downbeat Magazine Scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. He also studied with the great jazz pianist, Lennie Tristano, at that time. In 1969 he joined the Woody Herman band as pianist and arranger for three years, after which he settled in Los Angeles. There he became associated with many well known musicians and artists including Irene Kral, Ruth Price, Natalie Cole, Nelson Riddle and Johnny Mandel. In the late 1980s he became a member of Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, touring and recording for 25 years. Alan has won two Grammys as an arranger for Natalie Cole and Shirley Horn and has been nominated fourteen times, including piano solo and trio recordings. Besides his orchestral works for the London Metropolitan Orchestra, “Developing Story” and “Broadbent Plays Brubeck”, he has recently recorded three trio albums with Harvie S and Billy Mintz. “New York Notes”, “Trio In Motion” and his most recent “Like Minds” (Savant Records). In April of 2024, the great WDR big band of Cologne, Germany, has invited him to arrange and perform an evening of music dedicated to Miles Davis’s compositions of the 1950s, an era of jazz he is particularly fond of. He is currently Professor of Jazz Studies at NYU and resides with his wife and son in New Jersey.

SPECIAL OFFER: In light of our maiden voyage at the wonderful Nimoy, we have a special introductory offer … 2 concerts, 20% off. $48 will bring you two back-to-back nights of Jazz Bakery performance at this exquisite new venue. Click here to read more about the concert on Jan. 6 featuring electrifying jazz tapper Joseph Wiggan.