As a veteran composer, record producer and film scorer, Todd Cochran has collaborated on projects with Maya Angelou, Burt Bacharach and Neil Diamond. He’s produced and composed for jazz giants Freddie Hubbard and Bobby Hutcherson. His concert at SFJAZZ on May 18 will be a homecoming, in that Cochran was born and raised in San Francisco.
He spoke with CapRadio’s Gary G. Vercelli about growing up in San Francisco , performing live and his creative process.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Interview Highlights
Reflecting on San Francisco in the ‘60s & ‘70s
I learned my art in San Francisco and everything since leaving San Francisco has been like finishing school. What I learned in San Francisco was that there was a standard of being relevant and advocating for the things that you believe in. There was an energy of having perspective but not being forceful with that. That is, allowing the voices of others. San Francisco was a truly cosmopolitan environment.
On the importance of and influence of his father
My dad wrote beautifully and he spoke beautifully, but I guess he had what they call it now EQ. My dad had a very high emotional Intelligence and he was a wonderful communicator and I think that was his greatest asset. He was very sensitive to other people’s outlooks and one of the things he shared with me, which was really something, he said he had not met a person that he could not find or see one thing in them that he liked. And just seeing that one thing allowed him to have relationships across the spectrum and I think that’s something that I have absorbed from him.
Studio work vs. live
Everything that I do in the studios, because I’ve spent years and years in that environment, comes from the experience that I’ve gained and gathered from live performance. Live performance for me is really at the pinnacle of musical expression.
On the creative process
It’s really thrilling and challenging to reexamine my feelings about coming back to the Bay Area and playing. And I’m at this point now where this is my utter focus … to create and record, and to perform this music live. It’s a call for me and I’m not revisiting somewhere where I have been, I’m doing things that I have yet to do. I’m very thrilled about that! We’re not on repeat, we are expanding!
