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Jazz Articles about Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker: Pilgrimage
by C. Michael Bailey
The importance of saxophonist Michael Brecker's final recording, Pilgrimage, is densely multidimensional. The romantically inclined will attach significance to the fact that the nine compositions were conceived and recorded while Brecker was aware of the gravity of his final illness. Pilgrimage falls into an artistic/musical category that includes such disparate music as Mozart's Requiem, Puccini's Turandot, Billie Holiday's Lady In Satin and Johnny Cash's American Recordings, Volumes 5 & 6. All of these examples were conceived during the artists' autumnal ...
Continue ReadingMichael Brecker: Pilgrimage
by John Kelman
Michael Brecker's tragic death in January 2007, at the age of fifty-seven, robbed the world of perhaps the most influential saxophonist to emerge since the equally untimely passing of John Coltrane. It's easy to forget that he was one of the pop/rock world's most called-upon studio players, recording on hundreds of albums with artists including James Taylor, Paul Simon and Eric Clapton. But it's his prodigious body of work in the jazz realm that will be his most enduring legacy.
Continue ReadingMichael Brecker: Celebration of a Healer
by Bill Siegel
Michael Brecker Memorial Town Hall, New York February 20, 2007Town Hall was the scene for a spirited memorial service for Michael Brecker, universally acclaimed as one of the most influential jazz sax players since John Coltrane—and certainly among the most productive and ubiquitous: think of a name in innovative jazz or pop, and chances are Brecker's sax has been in the studio or on stage with them—from McCoy Tyner to Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock ...
Continue ReadingMemories of Michael Brecker: Town Hall Tribute
by Ralph A. Miriello
Michael Brecker Memorial Town Hall, Manhattan February 20, 2007Last night, my companion Stefania and I took a train ride from Connecticut into Manhattan to pay homage to a fallen musician. Michael Brecker, the prolific and well respected saxophonist, had passed away five weeks prior at a hospital in New York after a long-standing battle with MDS (myelodyplastic syndrome). It was a little publicized memorial at Town Hall in midtown Manhattan, and I for one, ...
Continue ReadingEssential Michael Brecker
by Jason West
This article was originally published at All About Jazz in November 1999. Michael Brecker's contributions to music are generous and, like the pregnant ideas that flow from his tenor horn, they continue to grow. At 50, the saxophonist has found acceptance in a wide variety of musical settings, having performed with pop stars like John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, and jazz heavyweights the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Charles Mingus, and Jaco Pastorius. Brecker's resume includes extensive work ...
Continue ReadingMichael Brecker: Wide Angles
by Elliott Simon
Assembling fifteen top jazz musicians to play complex original material is risky business. The session could turn into a repetitive solo showcase or conversely lose its sharpness amidst overproduced arrangements. However, Wide Angles, from tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, comes off as an adventurous presentation of new music in a format rife with possibilities. With a string section, English horn, bass clarinet, flute, French horn and oboe among the traditional big band mix of drums, bass and brass, Brecker keeps things ...
Continue ReadingMike Pope: The Lay of the Land
by Alexander M. Stern
In a year that has already produced a number of excellent recordings, Mike Pope's The Lay of the Land may well be one of the best. It's certainly one of the most exciting new albums this reviewer has heard in a long time. Pope, who excels on both acoustic and electric bass, has surrounded himself with major label talent for this indie label release: both Randy and Michael Brecker make appearances, saxophonist Seamus Blake appears on two tracks; guitarist Mike ...
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