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Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Over a four‑decade career, he recorded widely in jazz and popular music and appeared on more than 900 albums as a leader and sideman. He received 15 Grammy Awards from the Recording Academy, was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 2007, and received an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in 2004. He died in New York City in 2007 from complications of leukemia following a 2005 diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome.
Brecker was born in Philadelphia and raised in the local suburb of Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania. He was raised in an artistic family: his father, Bob (Bobby), was a lawyer who played jazz piano and his mother, Sylvia, was a portrait artist. Michael was exposed to jazz at an early age by his father. He began studying clarinet at age 6, then moved to the alto saxophone in the eighth grade, settling on the tenor saxophone as his primary instrument in his sophomore year of high school.
He graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1967 and spent that summer at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In Fall 1967, he followed his older brother, Randy, to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he formed a jazz rock group with trumpet player Randy Sandke and others called Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band, named after a dormitory official who disliked longhaired students.
Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band were finalists in the competition at the Spring 1968 Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival, but were disqualified for their interpretation of The Doors song "Light My Fire". The band also performed outdoors on campus in a benefit for presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy in that year's presidential election. Following that semester, the band accepted a management offer and moved to Chicago, where drugs and a love triangle led to a suicide, which brought Chicago police to the manager's apartment, where all of the band except Sandke and Brecker, neither of whom were at the scene, were arrested. More trauma followed, and according to Randy Sandke, these events had an adverse psychological impact on Brecker which led to later substance abuse.
During the fall 1968 semester at Indiana University, Brecker formed a trio, which included the drummer from Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band, and played gigs at a church basement club called The Owl. Some of that was recorded. He dropped out before the end of the semester, spent a month in Mexico City, then returned to Philadelphia, where he played with Eric Gravatt, Billy Paul, and others.
Brecker moved to New York City in 1969, where he carved out a niche for himself as a dynamic and exciting jazz soloist. He first made his mark at age 20 as a member of the jazz-rock band Dreams, a band that included his older brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker, trombonist Barry Rogers, drummer Billy Cobham, keyboardist Jeff Kent and bassist Doug Lubahn. Dreams was short-lived, lasting only from 1969 through 1972, but Miles Davis was seen at some gigs prior to his recording Jack Johnson.
Most of Brecker's early work is marked by an approach informed as much by rock guitar as by R&B saxophone.[citation needed] After Dreams, he worked with Horace Silver and then Billy Cobham before once again teaming up with his brother Randy to form the Brecker Brothers. The band followed jazz-funk trends of the time, but with more attention to structured arrangements, a heavier backbeat, and a stronger rock influence.[citation needed] The band stayed together from 1975 to 1982, with consistent success and musicality. In 1977 he founded the Seventh Avenue South jazz club with his brother Randy.
Brecker was in great demand as a soloist, sideman and session musician. He performed with bands whose styles ranged from mainstream jazz to mainstream rock. Altogether, he appeared on nearly 900 albums, either as a band member or a guest soloist. He put his stamp on numerous pop and rock recordings as a soloist, including notable work with James Taylor and Paul Simon. Other sessions included albums with Steely Dan, Lou Reed, Donald Fagen, Dire Straits, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Billy Joel, John Lennon, Aerosmith, Dan Fogelberg, Kenny Loggins, Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Daltrey, Parliament-Funkadelic, Cameo, Yoko Ono, Todd Rundgren, Chaka Khan, Orleans, Blue Öyster Cult, The Manhattan Transfer, Average White Band, Players Association, Everything but the Girl, Patti Austin, Art Garfunkel, Carly Simon, The Brothers Johnson, Karen Carpenter, Garland Jeffreys, Casiopea, and T-Square.
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Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Over a four‑decade career, he recorded widely in jazz and popular music and appeared on more than 900 albums as a leader and sideman. He received 15 Grammy Awards from the Recording Academy, was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 2007, and received an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in 2004. He died in New York City in 2007 from complications of leukemia following a 2005 diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome.
Brecker was born in Philadelphia and raised in the local suburb of Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania. He was raised in an artistic family: his father, Bob (Bobby), was a lawyer who played jazz piano and his mother, Sylvia, was a portrait artist. Michael was exposed to jazz at an early age by his father. He began studying clarinet at age 6, then moved to the alto saxophone in the eighth grade, settling on the tenor saxophone as his primary instrument in his sophomore year of high school.
He graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1967 and spent that summer at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In Fall 1967, he followed his older brother, Randy, to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he formed a jazz rock group with trumpet player Randy Sandke and others called Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band, named after a dormitory official who disliked longhaired students.
Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band were finalists in the competition at the Spring 1968 Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival, but were disqualified for their interpretation of The Doors song "Light My Fire". The band also performed outdoors on campus in a benefit for presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy in that year's presidential election. Following that semester, the band accepted a management offer and moved to Chicago, where drugs and a love triangle led to a suicide, which brought Chicago police to the manager's apartment, where all of the band except Sandke and Brecker, neither of whom were at the scene, were arrested. More trauma followed, and according to Randy Sandke, these events had an adverse psychological impact on Brecker which led to later substance abuse.
During the fall 1968 semester at Indiana University, Brecker formed a trio, which included the drummer from Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band, and played gigs at a church basement club called The Owl. Some of that was recorded. He dropped out before the end of the semester, spent a month in Mexico City, then returned to Philadelphia, where he played with Eric Gravatt, Billy Paul, and others.
Brecker moved to New York City in 1969, where he carved out a niche for himself as a dynamic and exciting jazz soloist. He first made his mark at age 20 as a member of the jazz-rock band Dreams, a band that included his older brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker, trombonist Barry Rogers, drummer Billy Cobham, keyboardist Jeff Kent and bassist Doug Lubahn. Dreams was short-lived, lasting only from 1969 through 1972, but Miles Davis was seen at some gigs prior to his recording Jack Johnson.
Most of Brecker's early work is marked by an approach informed as much by rock guitar as by R&B saxophone.[citation needed] After Dreams, he worked with Horace Silver and then Billy Cobham before once again teaming up with his brother Randy to form the Brecker Brothers. The band followed jazz-funk trends of the time, but with more attention to structured arrangements, a heavier backbeat, and a stronger rock influence.[citation needed] The band stayed together from 1975 to 1982, with consistent success and musicality. In 1977 he founded the Seventh Avenue South jazz club with his brother Randy.
Brecker was in great demand as a soloist, sideman and session musician. He performed with bands whose styles ranged from mainstream jazz to mainstream rock. Altogether, he appeared on nearly 900 albums, either as a band member or a guest soloist. He put his stamp on numerous pop and rock recordings as a soloist, including notable work with James Taylor and Paul Simon. Other sessions included albums with Steely Dan, Lou Reed, Donald Fagen, Dire Straits, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Billy Joel, John Lennon, Aerosmith, Dan Fogelberg, Kenny Loggins, Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Daltrey, Parliament-Funkadelic, Cameo, Yoko Ono, Todd Rundgren, Chaka Khan, Orleans, Blue Öyster Cult, The Manhattan Transfer, Average White Band, Players Association, Everything but the Girl, Patti Austin, Art Garfunkel, Carly Simon, The Brothers Johnson, Karen Carpenter, Garland Jeffreys, Casiopea, and T-Square.