Michael Brecker

Michael Brecker – born in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania on March 29, 1949 - was a jazz saxophonist who began playing music as a child and went to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and at Indiana University. He moved to New York City and had stints with his trumpet player brother Randy Brecker in a jazz-rock group called Dreams and as the Brecker Brothers. He became a ubiquitous session player covering jazz, funk, rock and R&B and garnered attention for his compositions. Artists who hired him for recordings included Joni Mitchell, John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, Charlie Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, and Frank Zappa. Michael Brecker formed ensembles including the Michael Brecker Quartet and the Michael Brecker Group, collaborated with a great many major jazz stars such as Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove, Charlie Hadden, and Pat Metheny, and won multiple Grammy Awards. The Brecker Brothers single “Sneakin' Up Behind You” was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance in 1975 and they were also nominated as Best New Artist of the Year. His 1996 Grammy Award-winning solo album Tales from the Hudson went to Number 18 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart, Time Is of the Essence (1999) reached Number 13, Nearness of You - The Ballad Book (2001) peaked at Number 9, and Grammy Award-winner Pilgrimage (2007) hit Number 3. His many Grammy Awards include 15 wins for compositions, instrumental performances, solos, and arrangement. Michael Brecker died on January 13, 2007, at the age of 57 from the blood disorder myelodysplastic syndrome. Since his death, there have been reissues and archive releases featuring Michael Brecker including Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1987. There was also a biography, Ode to a Tenor Titan: The Life and Times and Music of Michael Brecker, published in 2021.