By Steve Newton

Last month I interviewed bass-guitar superstar Tal Wilkenfeld on the phone before going to see her gig at the Biltmore Cabaret in Vancouver–which was wicked, by the way. What a band she’s got!

At one point in the conversation I asked Tal–realizing that she’d already accomplished a helluva lot for someone still in her twenties–if she could pick one highlight of her career so far.

What followed was really cool, I thought, and said a lot about Wilkenfeld as a serious musician. She thought about that question really hard–so hard that it took her over half-a-minute to respond. Now, I’ve been interviewing musicians steadily since the early ’80s, and I’ve never had anyone take nearly that long to answer a question. She really caught me off guard.

God bless Tal Wilkenfeld.

Have a listen: