MICHAEL BRECKER
Genres: Post Bop, Classic Fusion, Big Band • United States

American saxophone player, born 29 March 1949 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, died 13 January 2007 in New York City, New York, USA (aged 57) Brother of Randy Brecker. He died of leukemia complications. from discogs Michael Brecker was exposed to jazz at an early age by his father, an amateur jazz pianist. Among the generation of jazz musicians that saw rock music not as the enemy but as a viable musical option, Brecker began studying clarinet, then moved to alto saxophone in school, eventually settling on the tenor saxophone as his primary instrument. After only a year at Indiana University, Michael Brecker moved to New York City in 1970 where he carved out a niche for himself as a dynamic and exciting jazz soloist, and quickly became the preeminent pop/R&B/funk saxophone soloist of his generation. He first made his mark at age 21 as a member of the jazz/rock band Dreams -- a read more...