Michael Bublé’s conductor got his start in San Jose

During his show at the Berkeley Community Theatre last March, Michael Bublé made a point to introduce Alan Chang as not only a his musical director but as a San Jose native, as well.

“That’s the hometown boy,” Bublé said in a phone interview on Monday.

An Almaden native, an alumnus of Castillero Middle School and a member of Pioneer High School’s class of 1998, pianist Chang has been the leader of Bublé’s touring band for five years. Just after graduating with a degree in jazz studies from USC, he was referred to an audition for the musical director position after someone at Bublé’s record label had heard him perform a student recital.

Chang landed the job, even though he wasn’t Bublés first choice. The two have enjoyed a close working relationship ever since.

“I think Alan’s a great, quiet leader,” said Bublé. “He gained the respect of all of us without having to raise his voice, ever.”

We caught up with Chang at his home in Southern California shortly before the latest leg of Bublé’s tour at the nearby Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It touches down Aug. 25 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Q Did you have the opportunity to gig much while you were living in the San Jose?

A I never played a whole lot of jazz gigs when I was in San Jose. I was just never the guy who went out and self-promoted. I never tried to get my number in people’s hands, and I never tried to get numbers in my hands. That’s just never really been me, though I’m not saying that’s the reason why I didn’t play more. I did do a lot of musical theater when I was in San Jose. I played for my high school musicals. And then I played for Children’s Musical Theatre of San Jose. I did five or six shows with them. Children’s Musical Theatre was really great. When I first started playing with them, that’s kind of when I knew that I wanted to be a professional musician. Everyone was so dedicated and so talented.

Q What are you duties as musical director?

A I’ve been trying to figure that out for five years! I do everything from hiring and firing to running sound checks. Another one of my responsibilities is trying to rein in people if I feel they’re taking too many liberties when they’re soloing. We’re basically there to make Michael comfortable and then sound good.

Q How do you and Michael write songs together?

A It’s funny. We don’t actually sit down and write very often together. The first time we wrote something, he basically had the melody to part of “Home” in his head, and we were in Italy somewhere. And he came up to me and said, “Hey, listen to this.” And I tried to put something to it. I think next, we wrote the verse to “Home” during a break, when we were doing the TV show “Las Vegas.” That song came together very randomly.

Q Michael joked that you wouldn’t be making any money playing the show in Oakland, as you’ve already “bought out most of the theater.”

A Yeah, I bought 60 tickets! These shows are selling out so quickly that I know my friends and family weren’t necessarily going to figure out what day these tickets go on sale. So three months ago, I said, “Oh, yeah. Put me down for 60 tickets. Here’s my credit card number.” And then I got my statement. I was, like, “Whoa!” We do get comp tickets. But I didn’t want to have to say no to any of my friends that wanted to go.

Originally Published: August 22, 2007 at 10:25 AM PDT