Jazz Articles about Randy Brecker

About Randy Brecker

Album Review

There is something comforting about the way Mike Catalano's A Trio Affair brings his musical trilogy to a close. This release returns to where the story began in 1989 with A Rio Affair, followed 18 years later by A Manhattan Affair. Listening to this album, it feels as if Catalano is less interested in revisiting those albums than in recalling what he liked about them, namely the meeting of New York jazz and Brazilian rhythms. Catalano has also ...

Album Review

Kathy Ingraham: Jazz Dreams

Read "Jazz Dreams" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
April 10, 2026

Occasionally an album comes along that is different and original, but not contrived. It can be unusual, but somehow familiar. Jazz Dreams is that kind of recording, a blues treatment of several canonical rock tunes that evokes shades of Blossom Dearie and Nina Simone with a touch of Steve Winwood's Traffic. Kathy Ingraham--who has imagination, chops and pipes to spare--manages this alchemy, doubtlessly a big part of her talent. Putting players like Randy Brecker and Evan Christopher into the mix ...

Album Review

Brian Culbertson: Day Trip

Read "Day Trip" reviewed by Bridget A. Arnwine

by Bridget A. Arnwine
February 17, 2026

Multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson is a musician with a vision, and on his Day Trip, he sets out to share that vision with his listeners. What is that vision? It is that of an artist who understands what music is capable of and his role as an artist to bring that all to fruition: the slow groove that evokes romantic love, the toe-tapper that stirs nostalgic memories, the funk-fueled jam that moves bodies out of their seats. Day Trip feels like ...

Album Review

Gabriele Comeglio: The Journey

Read "The Journey" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
November 12, 2025

In un ruolo più appartato rispetto a jazzisti italiani della generazione precedente, divenuti celebri anche al grande pubblico, Gabriele Comeglio ha svolto continuative esperienze anche nella musica leggera, producendo ed orchestrando numerosi dischi di Mina, collaborando con Battiato, Dalla, De Gregori, Daniele, Antoniacci e altri, scrivendo musiche per teatro, cinema e televisione. La sua carriera di professionista nel mondo del jazz è iniziata nei primi anni ottanta dopo il diploma alla Berklee School di Boston e tre lauree ...

Album Review

Dave Kikoski: Weekend At Smalls

Read "Weekend At Smalls" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
October 6, 2025

Few pianists capture the resilient spirit of the New York City jazz scene as convincingly as Dave Kikoski. With his release Weekend At Smalls, he affirms his reputation as one of post-bop's most energetic stylists. Recorded live at the renowned West Village club Smalls, the album features Kikoski engaging in lively conversation with bassist Joe Martin, veteran drummer Billy Hart and longtime friend and collaborator trumpeter Randy Brecker. The result is a vibrant record of straight-ahead fluency that both revisits ...

Album Review

Mike Pope: The Parts You Keep

Read "The Parts You Keep" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 2025

You have to admire a bandleader who enhances an album by dedicating one of his compositions to an Uber driver and inviting his 85-year-old mother to play piano on the last two numbers. That is exactly what bassist Mike Pope does on The Parts You Keep, and they are two of the recording's more pleasing episodes. Pope also adds a four-member string section on the standard “That Old Feeling" and his quirky composition “Past Is Prologue" (both of which encompass ...

Album Review

Charles Chen: Building Characters

Read "Building Characters" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 15, 2025

San Francisco-based pianist and educator Charles Chen returns with Building Characters, his second recording in as many years, and as on his debut album, Charles, Play! (Cellar Music, 2024), he is backed by an all-star supporting cast that includes a front line of trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxophonists Bob Sheppard and Lawrence Feldman. They bolster a sharp and powerful rhythm section consisting of bassist Mike Richmond and drummer Adam Nussbaum. Missing are the members of Chen's quartet ...