In 1982, Klein began working as a bassist on Joni Mitchell'sWild Things Run Fast.[11][13] During the sessions, the two became romantically involved and married the same year.[13] It was during his marriage with Mitchell that Klein established himself as a record producer, and began to branch out beyond jazz into pop, rock, soul, and alternative genres.[5][10][13]
Klein and Mitchell separated while in the midst of making Mitchell's Turbulent Indigo album.[8][13] The two continued to work together through their divorce in 1994, and Turbulent Indigo would win the 1995 Grammy for Best Pop Album.[9][13] Despite their divorce, they collaborated on the 2000 album Both Sides Now, which won the 2000 Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.[1][9] They also collaborated on Mitchell's 2002 album Travelogue, which was composed entirely of orchestral explorations of songs taken from Mitchell's body of work.[1]
In 2009, Klein produced Madeleine Peyroux's Bare Bones and produced a duet with Celine Dion and Zachary Richard on Richard's album Last Kiss.[22] He was nominated for Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) at the 52nd Grammy Awards for his work on albums including Melody Gardot'sMy One and Only Thrill.[23]
Klein continued his work with Herbie Hancock, producing The Imagine Project.[24] The album won the 2010 Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.[25]
Klein produced Pidgeon's Slingshot and Curtis Stigers' Let's Go Out Tonight in 2012.[1] In 2013, he produced Thomas Dybdahl's What's Left is Forever, Madeleine Peyroux's The Blue Room, Florence K's I'm Leaving You, Alfie Boe's Trust, Ana Moura's Desfado,[10] and Eddy Mitchell's Heros.[1][28][29]
In 2019, he received his third Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year, for producing Madeleine Peyroux's Anthem, The Book of Longing by Luciana Souza, Junk by Hailey Tuck, Thomas Dybdahl's All These Things, and actor Jeff Goldblum's debut jazz album The Capitol Studios Sessions.[5] Also in 2019, Klein produced the collaborative album Same Sky, bringing together 23 artists from 17 countries, with the musicians gathering in France.[34]
Awards
Klein has won four Grammys: Best Pop Album in 1996 for Joni Mitchell's Turbulent Indigo, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Mitchell's Both Sides Now in 2001, Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album for Herbie Hancock's album, River: The Joni Letters in 2008.[6][1][7][35][36]
