# Randy Brecker’s trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2017/11/27/randy-breckers-trumpet-and-flugelhorn-performances-have-graced-hundreds-of-albums-video/
- Published: 2017-11-27T00:02:24+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**27.11. – Happy Birthday !!! Jazz trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker has helped
shape the sound of jazz, R&B and rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and
flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists
from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen and Parliament/Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra,
Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius and Frank Zappa.**

Born in 1945 in Philadelphia to a musical family, Randy’s musical talent was nurtured
from an early age. He attended Indiana University from 1963-66 studying with Bill
Adam, David Baker and Jerry Coker and later moved to New York where he landed gigs
with such prominent bands as Clark Terry’s Big Bad Band, the Duke Pearson Big Band
and the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.

In 1967, Randy ventured into jazz-rock with the band Blood, Sweat and Tears, but
left to join the Horace Silver Quintet. He recorded his first solo album, ‘Score’,
in 1968, featuring a young, then unknown 19 year-old tenor saxophonist named Michael
Brecker.

After Horace Silver, Randy joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers before teaming up
with brother Michael, Barry Rogers, Billy Cobham, and John Abercrombie to form the
seminal fusion group ‘Dreams’. The group recorded two adventurous and wildly acclaimed
albums: ‘Dreams’ and ‘Imagine My Surprise’ – now collector’s items – for Columbia
Records before they disbanded in 1971.

In the early 1970s, Randy performed live with many prominent artists including Larry
Coryell’s Eleventh House, Stevie Wonder and Billy Cobham. He also recorded several
classic albums with his brother under the leadership of the great pianist/composer
Hal Galper.

By 1975, Randy and Michael were ready to front their own group, the Brecker Brothers
Band. A band of immeasurable impact and influence, they released six albums on Arista
and garnered seven Grammy nominations between 1975 and 1981. Their eponymous first
record, which Randy wrote, arranged and produced, featured his now classic composition“
Some Skunk Funk.”

In 1992, exactly ten years after they parted ways to pursue solo careers, Randy 
and Michael reunited for a world tour and the triple-Grammy nominated GRP recording,‘
The Return of the Brecker Brothers’. The follow-up, 1994’s ‘Out of the Loop,’ was
a double-Grammy winner.

In 1997, ‘Into the Sun’ (Concord), a recording featuring Randy’s impressions of 
Brazil, garnered Randy his first Grammy as a solo artist.

In 2001, Randy released ‘Hangin’ in the City’ (ESC), a solo project which introduced
his alter-ego Randroid, a skirt chasing, cab driving ne’er do well, with lyrics 
and vocals by Randroid himself. This CD was especially well received in Europe, 
where Randy toured extensively with his own line-up.

Randy’s next CD for ESC Records, ’34th n’ Lex,’ won him his third Grammy for ‘Best
Contemporary Jazz Album’ in 2003. In May of that year he toured Europe with his 
Quintet in support of the CD, and in the summer went back to Europe yet again with
the Randy Brecker/ Bill Evans Soulbop Band. The summer of 2003 culminated in the
special headline appearance in Japan at the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival of the reunited
Brecker Brothers.

2004 saw Randy touring Europe extensively as co-leader (with Bill Evans) of the 
band Soulbop. The WDR Big Band also celebrated Randy and his music that year in 
a performance at the Leverkusen Jazz Fest. The date was of special significance 
to Randy as it was the last time he played with his brother, who took ill shortly
thereafter with a rare form of leukemia known as MDS.

In 2005, with Mike unable to travel to Russia for Brecker Brothers gigs booked there,
Randy’s wife Ada sat in for the first time. Randy’s active schedule continued apace
with the Randy Brecker Band performing throughout Eastern Europe and across the 
globe.

In 2007, Randy was awarded his fourth Grammy for “Randy Brecker Live with the WDR
Big Band” (Telarc/BHM), the live recording (also available in DVD format) of his
performance with Michael at the Leverkusen Jazz Fest in 2004.

Tragically, Michael passed away that same year on Jan 13th.

2007 also saw the release of a 2 CD set of live recordings of the band ‘Soulbop’(
BHM) featuring Dave Kikoski, Victor Bailey, Steve Smith or Rodney Holmes and the
late great Hiram Bullock.

Randy returned to his long-time love of Brazilian music in 2008 for the album ‘Randy
in Brazil,’ which was recorded in Sao Paulo with a full complement of great Brazilian
musicians and released on Summit Records. Chosen one of the top 10 CDs of 2008 by
AllAboutJazz.com, the CD won the Grammy for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album,” bringing
his Grammy total to five.

A “Tribute to the Brecker Brothers” featuring Randy and recorded live at the Hamamatsu
Jazz Festival in Japan with Yoichi Murata’s Solid Brass & Big Band was released 
by JVC Victor in Japan in late 2008.

And in 2009, Randy’s roots were celebrated with the release of ‘Jazz Suite Tykocin,’
a project initiated and conceived by the Polish pianist and composer Wlodek Pawlik,
featuring Randy as a soloist with members of the Bialystok Philharmonic. Tykocin
is the area in Poland where Randy’s ancestors (mother’s maiden name: Tecosky) hail
from, a fact that Pawlik discovered while helping to search for a bone marrow donor
for Michael.

2011 saw the release of ‘The Jazz Ballad Song Book: Randy Brecker with the Danish
Radio Big Band and The Danish National Chamber Orchestra,’ which garnered 4 Grammy
nominations and enjoyed enthusiastic critical acclaim. And in 2012, Sony Legacy 
recaptured history with the long-awaited boxed set, “The Brecker Brothers – The 
Complete Arista Albums Collection.”

A Brecker Brothers Band Reunion tour of European festivals in the summer of 2013
in support of Randy’s newest project, Randy Brecker’s “Brecker Brothers Band Reunion,”
re-introduced the familiar faces of Brecker Brothers Band members from the past 
and their special brand of music to sell-out crowds.

A dual-disc release, Randy’s newest project will be released on September 25th, 
2013 on Piloo Records. Randy Brecker’s “Brecker Brothers Band Reunion” features 
a live DVD recorded at the Blue Note in NYC bundled with a new 11-song studio recording
featuring members of the Brecker Brothers bands from throughout the years including
Dave Sanborn, Mike Stern, Will Lee, and Dave Weckl. George Whitty is back in the
production and keyboard chair, and Randy’s Italian wife Ada Rovatti is in the ‘hot
saxophone’ seat, keeping it in the family on tenor and soprano saxophone. The new
dual-disc recording will be released in North America by Magenta/E-One, in Europe
by Moosicus Records in November and in Japan by JVC/Victor.

A long time in the making, this project is very close to Randy Brecker’s heart. 
It is dedicated to his brother, Michael, and other departed Brecker Brothers Band
members.

As a composer, performer and in-demand Yamaha clinician, Randy Brecker continues
to influence and inspire young musicians around the world.

![Картинки по запросу Randy Brecker](https://i0.wp.com/i.ytimg.com/vi/3mAcNNnkvvc/
maxresdefault.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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