Home » Jazz Articles » Randy Brecker
Jazz Articles about Randy Brecker
Al Di Meola: Across the Universe
by Doug Collette
Al Di Meola's Across The Universe reaffirms how ideally the music of the Beatles translates into the eclectic style he forged early in his career. It's not as if the multi-instrumentalist/composer hadn't already made the point with All Your Life (inakustik, 2013), but this second, similarly conceived album is not only worth savoring repeatedly on its own terms, but as a reliable point of departure to rediscover both the source material and Di Meola's own discography. The mix ...
Continue ReadingSilvio Amato: Variations Of Relevance
by Jim Worsley
Silvio Amato has a well-established career as a composer, arranger, and film scorer. Amongst other projects, the Italian-born pianist has written soundtracks for major motion pictures, a multitude of pieces for children's television programming, theme songs for a variety of television shows, and has been highly successful with ice ballets. His compositions for Peter Pan, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast have been taken to the ice all over Europe. He has also composed pop music. Coupled with a ...
Continue ReadingTom Kennedy: Stories
by Jim Worsley
It's commonplace that an artist will have a concept or theme in mind when starting a record project. To build from the ground up without any preconceptions could be a recipe for a disaster. However, if it didn't crash and burn and, in fact, went the other direction, the possibilities then become infinite. With no boundaries and nothing to be tethered to, the sky's the limit. Tom Kennedy boldly took that approach to his new record. He took flight with ...
Continue ReadingRandy Brecker: Rocks
by Angelo Leonardi
A 73 anni Randy Brecker rilegge il repertorio dei Brecker Brothers con l'esuberanza di quando ne aveva trenta. Il risultato è un album ricco di tensione, pur senza la presenza del grande Michael, scomparso dodici anni fa. Il coinvolgimento di quella perfetta macchina di suoni che è la NDR Big Band e la presenza dei sassofonisti David Sanborn e Ada Rovatti rende quell'assenza sopportabile. Cinque delle nove tracce appartengono al repertorio storico dei Brecker Brothers, tre ("First Tune ...
Continue ReadingSteve Khan: Patchwork
by John Kelman
Amongst the many myths out there about music-making—especially in jazz, where the improvisation quotient is often so high—is that composing may, indeed, be work, but doesn't require the kind of relentless attention to detail that far more truthfully defines how many artists write and arrange their music. These days, one need only look to music by artists including Pat Metheny, Antonio Sanchez and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah to find music conceived with intimate and painstaking detail while, at the same ...
Continue ReadingRandy Brecker: Rocks
by Chris M. Slawecki
The easiest answer isn't always the best answer, but sometimes it is. So it's both easy and proper to point out that trumpet and flugelhorn master, composer, and bandleader Randy Brecker was kind enough to simultaneously review his release with the NDR Bigband, the Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra, when he titled it Rocks. Assembled for the recording studio after Brecker finished two acclaimed tours of Europe with the NDR Bigband, Rocks recapitulates tunes that Brecker has written through ...
Continue ReadingBig Bands, Orchestras and Soft Machines
by Chris M. Slawecki
Randy Brecker & NDR Bigband Rocks Piloo Records & Productions LLC 2019 The easiest answer isn't always the best answer, but sometimes it is. So it's both easy and proper to point out that trumpet and flugelhorn master, composer, and bandleader Randy Brecker was kind enough to simultaneously review his release with the NDR Bigband, the Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra, when he titled it Rocks. Assembled for the ...
Continue Reading
