About Bob Bralove
In 1980 when computer synchronization of music was just starting to come into focus, and before digital development had successfully made a laptop computer, Bob Bralove found himself working at a computer company on the edge of the Silicon Valley. Stevie Wonder’s chief engineer called a friend of his who worked in technical support. Stevie owned one of that company’s computers and needed some help. When Bralove heard of the call he asked if he could be the contact point for the Wonder organization. Though he was not in that department, the request was approved and within weeks Bralove was in Los Angeles visiting “Wonderland”, Stevie’s LA studio.
Wonder, who has one of the most advanced technical minds in the music business, wanted his synthesizers to talk to him. Soon Bralove was learning to program Stevie’s synthesizers to learn what information was important to be rendered into speech.
“At first I worked in the studio when Stevie wasn’t there. I didn’t want to interfere with his recording sessions. He would arrive to the studio for a session and I would have 5 or 6 synths set up working on them modulating, and tweaking the sounds. He would listen for a bit and then I would stop and let him work. Then one day he said ‘Do you want to stay for the session I think we could use you?’ Well I didn’t have to be asked twice. I stayed for the session and helped him get the sounds he wanted.“ says Bralove.
And that is how an eight year relationship between the two of them started. Bralove became the de facto synth guy for Stevie. Working in the studio, on the road, television appearances and a myriad of other projects.
“It is well established that Stevie Wonder is a musical genius. He is an incredibly prolific writer and an amazingly versatile musician. Just to watch him work was an education. But to be involved in his productions was an honor.,” Bralove recalls.
While working on a Grammy performance featuring Stevie, Herbie Hancock, Thomas Dolby, and Howard Jones ( all keyboard players with hits that year) Bralove met Bay Area singer and keyboard player Merle Saunders. Merle, impressed with the array of keyboards that Bralove was responsible for, asked “You know how to work all of these keyboards?” Bralove responded in the affirmative and Merle invited him to work on the soundtrack of the CBS remake of “The Twilight Zone” a new TV show for which Merle had been chosen to be musical director.
Bralove notes, “ Merle was the musical director but he was sharing the musical role with the Grateful Dead. Merle introduced me to the band as we started to work on the episodes. So I like to say that I met the Grateful Dead in ‘The Twilight Zone.’ Mickey Hart was in charge of sound design and Merle in charge of the music. I was the only member of the production that worked on both teams. In that position I worked with all members of the band – though I didn’t work on their fantastic reimagining of the theme music I got to see how each one of them approached the music. All differently but with the same heart.” From there, eventually Bralove was invited to join the production team and help the band explore synthesizers. First it was for Mickey and Brent but as each band member got interested they asked Bralove to give them some Sonic juice. They initially explored the new sounds in the “Drums and Space” sections of the show which which led Bralove to produce “Infrared Roses” but by the 1990s they were integrating synths to all aspects of their performance. The musical connection he had with the band led to song writing credits on “Picasso Moon”, “Easy Answers” and “Way to Go Home”.
At the end of the Grateful Dead with the death of Jerry Garcia, Bralove committed to working on his own music. Initially he put together a band called “Second Sight” with Henry Kaiser, Bobby Strickland, the Van Wageningen brothers, Marc and Paul and Vince Welnick. He established his relationships with Tom Constanten, Henry Kaiser and many other musicians as well as producing “Stories in Black and White” a solo piano CD.