Although he had been a major tenor saxophonist in the studios for nearly 20 years and was quite popular for his work with the Brecker Brothers, this MCA/Impulse set was Michael Brecker's first as a leader. Playing in a quintet with guitarist Pat Metheny, keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Jack DeJohnette, Brecker performs three of his originals, two by producer Don Grolnick, and Mike Stern's "Choices." The music in general is straight-ahead bu...   [ read more ]

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Michael Brecker's second album as a leader is almost the equal of his first. Surprisingly, only one song ("Suspone") uses his working quintet of the period (which consists of guitarist Mike Stern, pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Jeff Andrews and drummer Adam Nussbaum) although those musicians also pop up on other selections with the likes of pianists Don Grolnick and Herbie Hancock, bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Jack DeJohnette and violinist Mark O'Connor. Brecker (on ...   [ read more ]

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Although Michael Brecker made his initial reputation as a greatly in-demand studio player able to play quite credibly in commercial settings, his recordings for Impulse! have all been strictly straight-ahead. Displaying his roots in John Coltrane and Ernie Watts, Brecker has developed his own approach to sheets-of-sound playing while not being shy about playing quite lyrically. From the opening medium-tempo blues "Madame Toulouse" and the catchy "Bye George" (which could almost have...   [ read more ]

CD $14.23