NBJP: If you were about to have your last meal, what would it be?
BD: My Grandmother’s pasta with sparerib sauce. Since it would be my last meal to heck with the cholesterol!
NBJP: What’s your favorite jazz club to go to if you’re just going to hang?
BD: It would all depend on the band that is playing, I can have a good time in most environments, but overall I would have to say that Smoke has been the best hang for me.
NBJP: What living musician has influenced you the most?
BD: I’m good friends with John Abercrombie. Besides for the music that we share, it’s good to hear his perspective of the jazz world as a profession. It’s helped me to focus on being myself in a musical sense, and having a personal sound.
NBJP: What instrument, other than the one you play, would you like to be able to play?
BD: Definitely the piano. I’m a big fan of Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea and I’m probably leaving out some of my other favorites.
NBJP: What’s your favorite non-musical pastime?
BD: It’s a tossup between going to art museums with my wife who acts as my personal docent; photography, one of the few activities where I can forget about the musical notes; and high end audio, but I guess that’s a musical pastime.
NBJP: If you weren’t a musician, what would you likely be?
BD: That’s difficult to say, I’ve never had a job outside of being a musician.
NBJP: What quality do you like most about yourself?
BD: I generally have the ability to separate between the things that are important in life and the superficial elements that many people get impressed with.
PLUS ONE: When did you know that you wanted to be a professional jazz musician?
BD: When I began touring as a teenager with the legendary organist Trudy Pitts and realized I was actually a professional jazz guitarist. Things just kind of fell in place for me at that time and there I was, there was no choice that had to be made.