Rob, what are you listening to, and what inspires you most besides music?

I am listening to Laura Marling’s new project (she is our greatest songwriter, I think–check out her masterpiece “Once I Was An Eagle”) and Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in a magnificent new recording by this blazing Norwegian Violinist named Vilde Frang. Stravinsky’s Concerto is one of the critical works in my development as a musician. I am also enjoying the astonishing Chappell Roan record and Lizzy McAlpine’s “Doomsday.” Raye is one of the greatest geniuses on our scene now, just remarkable! Listen to her “Genesis.” It moves through styles with no sense of cheap genre-hopping and complete and utter authority. My youngest daughter, Lily, turned me on to her. I love my middle daughter Sarah’s EP “People, Places, and Things.” She goes under the name Mathes, and her vibe is this rich, emotional RnB-inflected modern pop – a million things going on and buckets and buckets of heart. Nate Smith is one of the finest drummers in the world, and his Kinfolk project is fantastic. Check out the song “Square Wheel” with Michael Mayo. There is so much extraordinary work out there now. Caroline Polachek, The Smile, Tyler, The Creator, the last Kendrick Lamar record, especially the song “Savior.” Music is commodified and doesn’t make its artists enough money anymore. It has never been more exciting talent-wise, though.
Outside of music, I am a passionate reader of poetry and fiction. My main heroes are Melville (I have read Moby Dick a half dozen times and memorized a bunch of excerpts–it is endlessly moving and rich—a philosophical treatise.) and Detroit poet Philip Levine (Check out “To Cipriano, in the Wind” and “What Work Is.”). I adored Richard Powers’ novel The Overstory and Paul Auster’s 4321 this year.

What are your favorite bands and composers, both classical and contemporary?

My favorite band of all time used to be the predictable one (John, Paul, George, and Ringo), but they have been replaced by Radiohead. Radiohead is endlessly inspiring, and between Thom Yorke’s incandescent voice and lyricism and Jonny Greenwood’s inventive harmony and orchestration, it is just a font of magnificence. The big five composers are Mahler, Stravinsky, Duke Ellington, Beethoven, and J.S. Bach. (If I had a sixth, it would be Benjamin Britten.) The Desert Island five are Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto and Le Sacre du Printemps, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mahler Symphony No. 9 (The first movement is the reason I am not an agnostic), and Duke’s Such Sweet Thunder and Blues on Orbit Records. Maybe Bach’s Mass In B Minor over everything. He set “Gratias agimus tibi” (we give thanks to you) and “Dona nobis pacem” (grant us peace) to the same music in the Mass, and that music is the most moving music ever written, in my opinion. Here is the YouTube link to a live performance by the Monteverdi Choir. Unbelievable. It never fails to bring me to my knees.

With computers and AI, where do you think the music business is going?

It is a dangerous time, and soon, a lot of dance music and sound design will be fully AI. People want to hear art and creativity made by humans, though. I have faith in that. But very soon, fantastic pop songs with huge hooks will be created, and our favorite singers will be sampled and used, and it will sound like they are singing and recording it live. Unless this is managed and controlled positively, it could be a mess. However, AI may cure cancer and do many other incredible things, so the trade-off is immense. Young people are brilliant, and I have faith they will figure it out. I can’t say I am not a bit worried, but love remains, love for music, art, and human expression.

You teach graduate students at BerkleeNYC and are guest lecturing at NYU Steinhardt.

How do your students feel about the music of your generation, such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc.?

My kids are great and are really into anything good. I love that. They even have listened to some of my best record, Evening Train, and love it. That is tremendously encouraging. They just don’t ask enough questions about how it’s made. That’s ok, though. Their openness and enthusiasm for the great music of the past are fantastic! Stevie Wonder’s Songs in The Key Of Life is often the record I put up as perhaps the greatest ever made. My kids LOVE that music.