Jazz

Michael Brecker - Don't Try This at Home (1988)

2011-02-21T19:43:09Z

Michael Brecker - Don't Try This at Home (1988)


1. Itsbynne Reel 
2. Chime This 
3. Scriabin 
4. Suspone                             play
5. Don't Try This At Home 
6. Everything Happens When You're Gone 
7. Talking To Myself 
8. The Gentleman & Hizcaine            play

Personnel:
Jeff Andrews - Bass, Bass (Electric) 
Jim Beard - Synthesizer, Piano 
Michael Brecker - Keyboards, Sax (Tenor), EWI 
Joey Calderazzo - Piano 
Jack DeJohnette - Drums 
Peter Erskine - Drums 
Tommy Gill - Piano Technician 
Don Grolnick - Piano, Producer 
Charlie Haden - Bass, Bass (Acoustic) 
Herbie Hancock - Piano 
Judd Miller - Synthesizer 
Adam Nussbaum - Drums 
Mark O'Connor - Violin 
Mike Stern – Guitar

Michael Brecker’s incredibly assured debut as a leader is a hard act to follow, but Don’t Try This at Home (issued on the Impulse label) is a worthy followup. As before, Brecker achieves an artful balance of complex songforms/orchestrations and fiery soloing. This date definitely stands up to repeated listening. Although the EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) is not the equal of a saxophone in terms of expressiveness, Brecker continues to find appropriate uses for it on Don’t Try This at Home.

On Itsbynne Reel, it’s surprising how well the EWI lends itself to the Irish flavor of the tune. Using Irish music an an ingredient in fusion is a fresh approach and works beautifully here. Similarly, Michael Brecker’s EWI finds a suitable expression in the warped melody of the “I Got Rhythm” based changes of Mike Stern’s composition Suspone. Brecker wisely plays tenor for his solo.

Don’t Try This At Home is Brecker’s EWI feature, the equivalent of Original Rays on Brecker’s debut date. Again, it starts out with a duet between Jack DeJohnette’s drums and the EWI, but this time, a droning synthesizer countermelody programmed by Judd Miller insinuates itself. In the next section, we get an enigmatic melody over a Escher staircase of chords with an unusual traveling bass line. It’s rather abstract but still very accessible. It’s definitely one of the high points of Don’t Try This at Home, but hardly the only one.

Part of the general high quality of Don’t Try This at Home is due to the compositions. As a composer, it must have been tough to be Randy Brecker’s brother, but Michael had nothing to be ashamed of — he was an excellent composer in his own right. But look who else contributes tunes: Don Grolnick, Mike Stern, and Jim Beard, accomplished tunesmiths all.

Chime This, a Don Grolnick composition, is hard to describe, but it’s got several memorable melodies and a structure that is anything but obvious, but in no way obscure.

Everything Happens When You’re Gone is a ballad, but lacks the saccharine sentimentality that is Brecker’s worst enemy. Michael Brecker the composer is often Michael Brecker the saxophonist’s best friend, and that is definitely the case here. Everything Happens When You’re Gone has a long-limbed structure that gradually builds to some earned emotion, for a change. It’s a great ballad and one of Brecker’s best tunes.

Jim Beard’s playful The Gentleman & Hizcaine is another tune with an Irish flavor. With arpeggios and a staggered rhythm, it captures the old man’s progress as he makes his way unsteadily up a cobblestone path. The tune makes it clear that while the old man’s body may have become rickety, his mind remains razor sharp.

Indeed, when the weakest tune on a recording is Vince Mendoza’s ballad Scriabin, you’ve got a heck of a strong set of compositions, stronger actually than Brecker’s debut. I’d say that the writing on Don’t Try This at Home represents a pinnacle in modern jazz composition.

The musicianship is up to the demands of the tunes, too. On drums, besides DeJohnette, we’ve got Adam Nussbaum and Peter Erskine; on bass, Charlie Haden or Jeff Andrews; on guitar, Mike Stern; on keys, Don Grolnick, Herbie Hancock, Jim Beard, and Joey Calderazzo. You might think that Joey Calderazzo might be the weak link, but no, he holds his own with these giants.

Really, it’s hard to think of anything bad to say about Don’t Try This at Home. It’s greatness doesn’t reach out and grab you by the throat, but it’s rich and deep. There’s a lot here. You can listen to Don’t Try This at Home at many different levels, from background music all the way to transcribing the music — it’s rewarding any way you slice it. -- Scott Yanow

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Michael Brecker - Tales From The Hudson (1996)

2013-06-01T16:14:50Z

Michael Brecker - Tales From The Hudson (1996)


1. Slings and Arrows
2. Midnight Voyage (Joey Calderazzo)
3. Song for Bilbao
4. Beau Rivage
5. African Skies
6. Introduction to the Naked Soul
7. Naked Soul
8. Willie T. (Don Grolnick)
9. Cabin Fever

Personnel:
Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone
Pat Metheny - guitar, guitar synth
Joey Calderazzo - piano
Dave Holland - bass
Jack DeJohnette - drums
McCoy Tyner - piano (Tracks 3 and 5)
Don Alias – percussion

In the crowded field of excellent tenor players, Michael Brecker rises to the top of my list. I think the thing that gives Brecker an edge over the others is the fact that he is a master of so many genres of jazz. Many people are no doubt familiar with the electric, funky side of Michael Brecker as the co-leader of the Brecker Brothers and former member of Steps Ahead. He has done significant pop dates with Paul Simon, Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell. One could easily fill a CD collection with albums on which he has performed as a sideman in many jazz contexts.

Yet this is only his fourth CD as a leader. All of them have been in the modern, progressive, straight-ahead jazz vein. This one is, to my ears, his most successful outing yet. I think the difference is that this one is a little less "progressive" or "outside." The melodies here are a little more accessible and memorable, yet the soloing is just as creative and adventuresome as we have come to expect from Brecker and the other jazz luminaries on this CD. The top-notch team of sidemen here are Pat Metheny on guitar, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Dave Holland on bass, and Joey Calderazzo on piano. Pianist McCoy Tyner and percussionist Don Alias are added on two tunes.

Six of the nine compositions are Brecker's. They are varied, thoughtful, and provide great vehicles for improvisation. Metheny contributes "Bilbao" from his Travels album, Calderazzo contributes a medium tempo swinger, and "Willie T." comes from the late pianist Don Grolnick, who produced Brecker's first two solo albums and performed with Brecker frequently.

I would especially recommend this album to those who have come to jazz through the "new adult comtemporary" door and are ready to take the next step towards discovering what real jazz is all about. ---Dave Hughes, allaboutjazz.com

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Michael Brecker Quindectet - Wide Angles (2003)

2013-01-04T17:22:00Z

Michael Brecker Quindectet - Wide Angles (2003)


1. Broadband 6:45 
2. Cool Day In Hell 7:50 
3. Angle Of Repose 6:41    
4. Timbuktu 7:57   
5. Night Jessamine 5:20    
6. Scylla 10:38  
7. Brexterity 6:39   
8. Evening Faces 7:13   
9. Modus Operandy 5:25   
10. Never Alone 5:39

Personnel:
Michael Brecker  - Sax
Alex "Sasha"  Sipiagin - Trumpet
Robin Eubanks - Trombone
Peter Gordon - French Horn
Steve Wilson - Alto Flute, Flute
Iain Dixon - Bass Clarinet, Clarinet
Charles Pillow - Oboe, English Horn
Mark Feldman - Concertmaster, Violin
Joyce Hammann - Violin
Lois Martin - Viola
Erik Friedlander - Cello
Adam  Rogers - Guitar
John Patitucci - Bass
Antonio Sanchez - Drums
Daniel Sadownick - Percussion
Gil Goldstein - Producer, Arranger, Orchestra Arranger

Wide Angles is a 70-minute suite spotlighting Michael Brecker's electrifying tenor saxophone accompanied by a 15-piece chamber jazz group. Each of the 10 compositions (all by Brecker except one cowritten with George Whitty and one by Don Grolnick) serves as an extended showcase for Brecker's tenor in its various manifestations-at times driving and fiery, at times poignant and gentle, always emotion-charged and technically prodigious.

Along with moments of genuine creativity many of the tenorist's signature phrases are present, for sure. But after all, they are his own creations, copied by countless others. Brecker's sophisticated compositions cover a wide range of moods, from the reflective to the frenetic, including some infectious, toe-tapping funk. With four strings, trumpet, trombone, French horn, flute/alto flute, oboe/English horn and clarinet/bass clarinet over a rhythm section of guitar, bass, drums and percussion, arranger/orchestrater Gil Goldstein had a broad palette with which to produce a variety of fascinating and engaging settings, some of which suggest contemporary classical influences. And the consummate ensemble performers execute the sometimes-difficult arrangements flawlessly, with bass clarinetist Iain Dixon especially impressive. Except for an occasional improvised solo by an orchestra member (bassist John Patitucci, trumpeter Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin, trombonist Robin Eubanks, guitarist Adam Rogers), the ensemble is there simply to provide a backdrop for Brecker's horn.

Listeners who admire Michael Brecker's playing will find in Wide Angles a rich bounty. --- David Franklin, jazztimes.com

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