Michael Brecker Q&A at The University of North Texas 1984 

Beautiful perspective

Top-notch comment. Thank you!

Brent......Bravo!!!! Extremely well written... You totally get it...

Don't try and glamorize yourself. I don't even know the first thing about trumpet, for example, and Randy can hit , as well as manipulate every conceivable note there is, inside and outside of the box. He is RELENTLESS on trumpet! You musical genius wannabe's think you are qualified yo describe music for everybody else. What does Michael Breaker's dress code and glasses have to do with a freakin' thing? Answer: nothing. And, unlike the likes of you people, I don't invoke Miles Davis when I rave over Randy Brecker. Randy Brecker sounds like Randy Brecker, and NOBODY ELSE sounds like him. Period. Make a note of it. Pun intended.

@@stratoleft Well, dude, I'm not talking about Randy Brecker, the comment is about Michael Brecker and if you bothered to read it, you'd know that I was praising him. What he's wearing was to point out that he was non-egotistical and just a normal guy. The first and only time I saw him play was in 1986 with Steps Ahead in a large theater. Back then, most jazz musicians were snappy dressers but Brecker walked out on stage with this weird instrument we'd never see before called an EWI which explained to the audience in jeans and a flannel button up shirt. He wasn't a show off, just a nice guy but with that horn in his hands, he was as formidable as anyone who ever played that instrument. He wasn't a normal guy in that sense which was the basis for the comment. As for me and your baseless assumption. I've played the tenor saxophone for 40 years off and on...started in elementary school, played through High School, College, and even in a rock band. We even opened for Wynton Marsalis once. Studied music theory and spent more hours than I could ever count listening to Coltrane, Brecker, Gordon, Parker, Shorter, and many others. That comment wasn't formed overnight by an armchair quarterback like you. It was realized over a span of many years of playing that Michael Brecker had so many layers to what he was doing that he couldn't be duplicated...which is what we all do when we start playing...try to be our idols! 10,000 hours of playing helped me form that view of Brecker because he was the BEST of his generation. THE BEST! If Michael Brecker were here today, he'd tell you that much of what he learned came from John Coltrane who laid down the path for thousands of Tenor Sax players. As we grow as players, we start to shape our own sound and styles of playing, something which Brecker most certainly had but his foundation is Coltrane. That's something else you need to understand that underneath all the greats are a mountain of other greats who they studied and I will tell you, Brecker was a disciple of John Coltrane and there are plenty of interviews out there where he said just that. Unlike you, I do know what Brecker is doing and it is DAMN HARD...something that comes with a ton of practice, discipline, dedication, and smarts which he had. If that offends you, then I suggest you pick up a trumpet, put in 10,000 hours of practice, play a couple hundred gigs in front of real live people instead of youtube and get back to us. You'll understand this comment then but right now you don't.

This was not the experience of our university, non-profit, public radio station when we approached Mike back in the day to broadcast his concert at the school, which we had done previously with other major visiting artists and were given the permission with open arms. After all, this university houses a major jazz academy in America. Mike declined our offer and was very curt and stand-offish in his brief convo with the station's programming director.

I went from music to medicine. But I'm no Michael Brecker - no one is.

His last album Pilgrimage shows just how great he was, having to work when in pain and dog tired. What a beautiful soul he had.

I guess so. One time I saw him in Hamburg/Germany with an all star band, feat. Herbie Hancock. Michael made a great solo, the audience responded with a big applause, but he made a gesture that showed everbody that he thought it was a bad solo. That gesture was so humble, honest and - quite frankly - sweet, that the whole audience applauded even more intensely. What a nice moment!

Very cool - I was there too! I bet we know each other. I, along with all the other sax players, was out of my mind with excitement! Those lecture series’ at NTSU were unbelievable. I got to see/hear Elvin, Joe Henderson, Tommy Flanegin, Herb Ellis, Lee Konitz, Liebman, Mel Lewis, Dave Holland and on and on...........

@@bryandickerson5365 Hey Bryan - it's Donovan Moore (trombone)!

@@TruColor Wow, it’s great to hear from you! I wish there was a way to private message here - got any ideas?

@@bryandickerson5365 You can go to my YT channel and click About...there is a way to contact me there. Nice to hear from you!

Michael Dean ひ

o shit.. Andy Kuafman? Coiffe-man. KAUFMAN!

Kueefman

Man, you aren't kidding. He's on fire! Maybe trying a little hard to impress, but hey, it's working.

Haleth Dagore Sonnymoon For Two

oleo isn’t it?

I think he's got a clip-on microphone, he's trying to pull it further to reach the drums.

Hi @protocol66, apologies I thought I'd credited you in the comments. I compiled this video so that it wasn't chopped up into parts. I meant to acknowledge you so I'll update that now.

Nope, Kendall Kay. Solo at 47:00.