MICHAEL BRECKER

BEAUTIFUL SPIRIT

he June 1, 1973, issue of DownBeat

included a feature on an exciting young
saxophonist named Mike Brecker.
Following a stint with the jazz-rock
band Dreams, Brecker had recently joined pianist
Horace Silvers quintet. Then 24, Brecker told
journalist Herb Nolan, My direction changes a lot,
which is a drag, and I find myself wanting to play a
lot of different ways while part of me wants to have
a really individual style. I want to sound like myself.
I want to be able to get my feelings out through
playingI really want to express myself.
Brecker felt that he was still seeking his individual
voice. He told Nolan that he felt like a beginner in
a lot of ways, and he referred to his gig with Silver
as kind of a school. The self-conscious young man
explained, Horaces tunes, to me, have a distinctive
sound, and I try to play things that dont sound like
somebody else. I dont mind sounding like other
people; thats just a way to grow. If I sound like Trane
on a certain thing, or if I sound like Trane all night
screw it, thats just what I hear. I just let it come out.
Michael Brecker did, indeed, find his own sound.
By the time of his tragically premature death on
Jan. 13, 2007, he had become arguably the most
influential jazz saxophonist since John Coltrane.
It was a short but full life. He had risen to stardom

as a collaborator with his brotherthe trumpeter

Randyin The Brecker Brothers; later received
glowing accolades for his albums as a leader; won
11 Grammy awards; and appeared on hundreds
of recordings. He excelled when playing alongside
jazz giants (George Benson, Chick Corea, Jack
DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny) as well as
rock singer-songwriters (Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon,
James Taylor). The diverse, lengthy array of artists
with whom he recorded or performed includes
Aerosmith, James Brown, Billy Cobham, Dire
Straits, Peter Erskine, Funkadelic, Billy Joel, Elton
John, Elvin Jones, John Lennon, Dave Liebman,
Mike Mainieri, Marcus Miller, Parliament, Lou
Reed, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Steely Dan, Mike Stern,
McCoy Tyner, Tony Williams, Papo Vasquez and
Frank Zappa. Brecker was awarded four more
Grammys posthumously, and was elected by readers
into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 2007.
In this special tribute, DownBeat celebrates the
life and legacy of Michael Brecker. On the following
pages, we present a recap of the recent Brecker
tribute concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center, as well as
an interview with Susan Brecker, who honors her
late husband by working hard to raise awareness
about MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome) and raise
money for groundbreaking cancer research.

CREDIT

Michael Brecker at the 2004 Newport Jazz Festival

(Photo: Mars Breslow)

MICHAEL BRECKER II BEAUTIFUL SPIRIT

here was a collective gasp at the IAJE convention in January 2007 when word
quickly spread about the death of Michael
Brecker, who was 57. He had succumbed to leukemia, brought on by myelodysplastic syndrome
(MDS), a cancer of the bone marrow. A loving
father and husband, compassionate friend and
beloved figure in the jazz community, known
for his quick, self-effacing wit and quiet sense of
humility, Brecker was also a Trane-inspired tenor
sax titan whose profound impact on a generation
of players was incalculable. Joe Lovano, Branford
Marsalis, Donny McCaslin and Chris Potter have
all cited him as an influence.
As Lovano told me in 2006 regarding his
Saxophone Summit partner, Every generation
has leaders and pace-setters that people grab ahold
of and are on their coattails. And for me, trying to
be a contrast to Mike was a big thing in my development. Because hes so powerful and strong, its
like, Man, I gotta be able to stand next to this cat.
Ravi Coltrane, who would end up replacing
the late saxophonist in the Saxophone Summit,
alongside Lovano and Dave Liebman, summed
up Breckers legacy in a promotional video for the
Saxophone Summits 2008 album, Seraphic Light:
To look at Michael and his life and his work and

DAVID DINI

A LOVING
ELEGY
T

Randy Brecker at Jazz at Lincoln

Centers Appel Room on Jan. 20

love and dedication for what he did, it is like a beacon. This guy did it, and he did it with a love and
passion that was clearly so sincere and real.
An intensely emotional, cathartic memorial for
Brecker was held at New York Citys Town Hall on
Feb. 13, 2007, just one month after his death. Stirring
musical performances by Liebman, Pat Metheny,
Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon and Breckers brother, Randy, were interspersed by testimonials that
touched on the mans generosity of spirit and sense
of humanity. The evening was filled with tears and
laughter and concluded with a Buddhist ceremony
presided over by Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Buster

Williams and Breckers son, Sam.

Now, eight years later, memories of Brecker
still burn brightly. Several of those same friends
and colleagues and family members who
appeared at the Town Hall memorial gathered
once again to pay tribute to the prodigiously gifted saxophonist-composer and celebrate the man
at a special The Nearness of You benefit concert held in Jazz at Lincoln Centers Appel Room
on Jan. 20. This gala affair, produced jointly by
Breckers widow, Susan Brecker, and his longtime
manager Daryl Pitt, and hosted by journalist and
TV talk show host Meredith Vieira, not only paid

tribute to Breckers brilliance as a composer and

influential player; it also served to raise awareness
of the dreaded disease that took his life and to
support cancer research being done at Columbia
University Medical Center by doctors Azra Raza
and Siddhartha Mukherjee.
The first memorial was about bringing people together to share their sadness and grief,
Susan said. This one, I felt, was a celebration
and a way to honor him and do something good,
and show people that, yes, you can lose somebody so valuable to you, but you can turn it into
something beautiful for the people who were left
behind and for generations to come. You can use
it as an opportunity to move forward.
Susan, who has become a forceful advocate
for cancer research, spoke passionately to the wellheeled crowd about the urgency of funding the
team of doctors and scientists who are working
diligently to find a cure for MDS. She urged those
in attendance to dip into their wallets to support
the cause, pointing out that advances in research
have already extended lives.
Perhaps the most convincing argument for
funding was presented by Robin Roberts of the
TV show Good Morning America. A breast cancer
survivor who later contracted MDS and received a
successful bone marrow donation from her sister,
she told the crowd that money raised for research
saved her life. The procedure that I underwent to
beat MDS did not exist 10 years ago. Its because
of the money raised to research a treatment that I
am here today.
Throughout the night of superb music, other
celebrities offered praise for the late saxophonist. James Taylor, appearing despite nagging flu
symptoms that compromised his vocals, nonetheless sang Hoagy Carmichaels The Nearness
Of You, which he had previously recorded for
Breckers 2001 Verve album, Nearness Of You:
The Ballad Book. Backed by Breckers 15-piece
Quindectet, conducted by Gil Goldstein, this lush,
subtly bossa nova rendition went down smooth,
although the intervallic leaps in Carmichaels
melody posed a challenge for Taylor in his ill condition. After performing another of his tunes that
will forever be associated with Breckers instantly
recognizable tenor work, Dont Let Me Be Lonely
Tonight, which featured a lyrical trumpet solo
from Randy Brecker, Taylor reminded the crowd
of another little-known part of Michael Breckers
legacy. He led me to freedom from addiction and
showed a number of us the way.
Paul Simon performed two songs that had
significance to the Brecker legacyStill Crazy
After All These Years, with tenor saxophonist Andy Snitzer recreating the famous Brecker
solo from that 1975 tune, and The Boxer, which
Brecker had played on EWI while touring the
world in Simons band through 1991.
Other performances at this moving memorial
included Bobby McFerrins wordless vocal versions of Don Grolnicks Pools and Mike
Mainieris Islands, both from Steps Aheads
1983 self-titled debut that featured Brecker on
tenor, and brother Randys stunning trumpet performance of his Elegy For Mike, which appeared
on 2013s The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion.
Goldstein led the Quindectec on a cleverly

crafted medley of four familiar Brecker compositions: Syzygy, Delta City Blues, Never Alone
and the Celtic-flavored Itsbynne Reel. Pianist
Joey Calderazzo, a longtime sideman in Breckers
quartet, performed his Midnight Voyage from
Breckers 1996 album Tales From The Hudson in a
quintet setting with guitarist Adam Rogers, bassist John Patitucci, trumpeter Randy Brecker and
drumming great Jack DeJohnette.
Alto saxophonist Steve Wilson turned in a
show-stopping rendition of Breckers Angle Of
Repose from the 2003 Quindectet album, Wide
Angles. Singer Dianne Reeves delivered a remarkably soulful rendition of One For My Baby (And

One More For The Road), which she performed

in an intimate duo setting with bassist Patitucci.
Susan Brecker felt that in addition to raising
needed funding, the evening was a success on an
emotional level: Michael was such a positive guy.
He was such a beautiful spirit in the world. And
to honor him and to know that something good
could be done with such sadness, to me, was just
so Mike. He was guiding this. I really felt like he
was in the room. Because so many people loved
him and were there for him, I just felt so loved and
supported by everybody thereespecially the
musicians. They couldnt have been more generBill Milkowski
ous and caring. 

APRIL 2015 DOWNBEAT 33

MICHAEL BRECKER II BEAUTIFUL SPIRIT

SUSAN BRECKERS MISSION

A
trained psychotherapist who gave up her
private practice to raise her two children,
Sam and Jessica, Susan Brecker began
a long journey when her husband, Michael, was
diagnosed with MDS in 2005. I think everybody who gets diagnosed with something usually doesnt know what they need to know, she said.
Cancer is so elusive and profound of a diagnosis
that when you receive the diagnosis, its the beginning of this journey of education and emotional

regrouping and seeing who your support system

is. Its such a life-changing event.
Along with Michaels manager Daryl Pitt, she
began a tireless worldwide search for bone marrow donors. But finding that elusive perfect match
was the proverbial needle in a haystack. They
held donor drives at the Red Sea Jazz Festival, the
Monterey Jazz Festival and Newport Jazz Festival,
raising hundreds of thousands of dollars while
testing thousands of new donors along the way.

But a perfect match for Michael was never found.

We were told when Michael was diagnosed
that he had two years to live, Susan recalled. So
it was terminalit was going to be over. And then
we had this opportunity to have this half-match
transplant, so we moved to Minneapolis to have
this happen. Jessica was the half-match donor for
her father, and this procedure was really in the
experimental phase then. Unfortunately, it didnt
take, but Michael came home and recovered. He
was not completely well, but well enough to have
these life experiences that he would not have been
a part of had he not had this transplant.
Breckers transplant was done in November
2005, and by February 2006 the family was
informed that it didnt take. Michael came home
and he had some really rocky months, Susan
said, but in May it seemed like he was going to be
strong enough to record [the album] Pilgrimage,
which had been delayed a couple of times because
of his illness. So he made the recording and I figured, If hes well enough for that, lets go away and
relax as a family. And we did. We had a wonderful
week at Sanibel Island in Florida that was so much
fun. And Mike wasnt a well man but we were able
to get to the beach, which he loved, and just hang
out with the kids. Then we came back home and
at the end of September was Sams bar mitzvah,
which Michael was quite sick for but was able to
come and see his family and friends and be part of
this huge moment in my sons life. At that point he
was really on the decline, but to have him there for
this important occasion just meant the world to all
of us, and him. He wanted to be there. He wanted
to be there for everything. Sadly, he was robbed.
But he really was squeezing the most that he could
out of a life that had been curtailed.
Thats why I feel so strongly about funding
the research: Each new development, every new
drug and therapy they learn about, is going to
extend somebodys lifeuntil they find a cure.
In 2010, Susan co-produced the documentary
film More To Live For, which follows the lives of
three leukemia patients facing life and death in
search of bone marrow transplants, including
Michael. We made this film and took it to 25 film
festivals around the world. Every time we showed
the film, we tested people for the bone marrow
registry. Thats how I was able to make 54 matches,
because we just tested so many people. And people are still making matches from the batch that
we tested, as a result of the film.
Susan remains positive about the prospect of
eventually eradicating the scourge of MDS. The
half-match transplant was experimental when
Michael had it, but in the eight years since then,
theyve had huge success with it. So we are at the
cusp of these inventions and discoveries, which
is so exciting. So now is the time to fund the
research, when theyre really digging in and findBill Milkowski
ing some answers, finally. 
For information on how to be tested and become a bone
marrow donor, or to contribute funds to the cause, visit these
websites: nearnessofyouconcert.org; lovehopestrength.org. To
learn more about donor programs and the documentary More
To Live For, visit moretoliveforfilm.com.

34 DOWNBEAT APRIL 2015