I spent the better part of the day just playing. It was a really joyful process. I had total freedom. But on the other hand, I had a lot of boundaries and restrictions. I sent the music on Friday.

Did you know what it was for?

All I knew at that point is that it was a spoken-word thing that Bob was doing. I had a hunch it might have something to do with the Nobel. When I sent it to the business manager, I said, “Can you fill me in on what I’m doing here?” He said, “Yeah, this is for Bob’s speech for the Nobel.” I was like, “Oh God, what an honor!” I just thought it was a really cool gig.

Did you have access to the speech while you were working?

I did not.

How much music did you record?

They wanted 30 minutes. I decided that rather than give them one 30-minute block, it would probably be more beneficial to do smaller chunks. So I did five- to six-minute pieces. I sent them half a dozen of those.

I was treating it almost as a movie score. There has to be interest in the musical content, but it could not compete with Bob’s speech, his words. And I also thought about the sound of his voice, and where on the piano I should be playing so it wouldn’t be competing with him sonically.

It’s like accompanying a singer, except on this he’s speaking. Same deal.

You were in Mr. Dylan’s band in 1978. Is this the first time you’ve worked with him since then?

Yes. I think there were a couple of really roundabout things that may have happened between now and then, but that’s pretty foggy. I was a good friend of Steve Douglas, who was the saxophone player in Bob’s band back then. We did some things, but I never recorded anything else for Bob that was ever released.