Michael Brecker Q&A at The University of North Texas 1984
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- Michael Brecker performing and answering questions at The University of North Texas in 1984.
Credit to "protocol66" for his original four part upload of this video.
Michael 1949-2007 RIP
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Don't let the glasses and the Member's Only jacket fool you....this guy was a monster tenor sax player embodied within a humble, unassuming man. That facade however quickly disappears when he starts playing. You might compare a tenor saxophone to a 30 story building with 300 offices. Most of us might work in one office, maybe visited a few more, and know our way from the elevator to the front door. If that building were a saxophone, then Michael Brecker knew every single space of that building down to the janitor's closet. He could get more out of a saxophone than anybody I ever heard and sounds nobody had ever heard. Everything he's doing always seems like 4 or 5 layers of different things going on. He barrages the ear with notes, there is a lot of slang where he bends them, substitutions over the chord structures, that massive sound (he blows hard...look at his neck when he's playing), and all kinds of changes he's using with his embouchure. They are difficult to describe but as one saxophonist put it, "Breckerisms" was a good summation. He was imho, the modern extension of John Coltrane. May they both rest in peace while we spend the next century trying to unravel the magical things they did on that instrument.
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.
One of the World's true Saints. Not a mean bone in his body. Totally on your side. Mike would literaly give you the shirt off his back.
We need more Mike Breckers. in the Jazz World.
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.
One of the greatest tenor sax players of his generation, what a loss to the music world, cut down in the prime of his life and at the very peak of his powers by cancer, it's just a damned shame but Michael
left a big footprint and a long-lasting legacy of jazz improvisation for us to savor for many decades to come!!!👍😼
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.
Wow. Didn't know this vid existed. I was in the audience for this. Remember it very well.
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!
A wonderful guy-so genuinely humble -a really nice person to meet and talk to-and above all one of the greatest saxophone players i have ever come across-we miss you Michael.
I met Michael's father one day in Philly! He, like his son was a warm and likable guy!
We became friends mid 80’s and hung out for some time. What a musician and even a better human being. RIP Mike.
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!
Switches to pre-med from music to rebel against his parents! Lol that's literally the opposite of what normal people do.
I went from music to medicine. But I'm no Michael Brecker - no one is.
Exactly! Michael put it right out there! Timing is EVERYTHING! It can be just a couple of notes with the drummer, out of nowhere. And it's that time when people least expect that you do it. Just like Michael said. Just 2 or 4 notes with the right force and sustain, at the right time, makes all the difference in the world.
Michael slays on drums, too! Nice traditional grip.
Am having another "M.B.-Phase" ... and stumbled across this video. Great footage from this amazing musician revealing his musical journey ... and he's so humble, beautiful !!! God bless his soul ... his music and inspiration will stay with us forever, thank you for posting this, Roland
R.I.P. , MIke. Love ya. Thanks....
Michael Dean ひ
I know there are dozens and dozens of fantastic recordings with Michael Brecker on them, but "Three Quartets" by Chick Corea and "80/81" by Pat Metheny are two of my favorites. He's such a badass, and greatly missed.
A great guy and wonderful player - RIP Mike.
Was learning Jimmy Giuffre clarinet solos off records when he was six.
That’s pretty amazing.
The two Dreams band albums, which were quite different from one another in a lot of ways, were great.
Amazing man!! Such a humble man and with humor, love you so much!!
This is musical comedy gold
Thank you for this. I just felt like hearing Michael talk today and this has been everything I could have wanted.
you are still alive, just play
This dude is awesome
Huge thanks for this video. Mike is my favorite saxophone player on this moment.
What a witty guy.
I love you Michael Brecker
Thanks for sharing!
I was sitting right there. NTSU 1984 This was called the jazz lecture series. So many guest artists.
Love his take on David Sanborn at 34:58 as they played so many gigs together....
I remember back around 1992 I went to see the Brecker Bros at the Royal Festival Hall (now Southbank Centre) it was a big concert as opposed to just a gig, Mike Stern, Jim Beard, Dennis Chambers, also I am sure James Genus on bass. The music was great but the concert was short, under 90 minutes. Michael announced they were playing the last tune, the whole audience went "noooo" collectively. Immediately, sensing the crowd's disappointment Michael said "I promise, it will be 20 minutes!" The whole audience chuckled in one, it was really funny.
That's what I liked about Michael Brecker, he had that kind of intellectual / nerdy thing going as opposed to the typical hipster cool jazz musician we have seen so many of over the decades. The specs helped :-) Some years later saw him play with Pat Metheny.
Wow these students a awesome. Brecker... well he's flying high... one of the GOATs
Michael was the pinnacle of human achievement in every way of his playing, a genius gone too soon but he left a world of wisdom that will live forever. R.I.P Master.
This is friking GOLD! What a cool hang.
i keep thinking of Andy Kuafman, the way Brecker talks, and smiles too. very strange.
o shit.. Andy Kuafman? Coiffe-man. KAUFMAN!
Kueefman
We MISS YOU
How does he still sound like Michael Brecker even on the kit
Beautiful to hear him open up about his motivations and methods and then struggle looking for a reson to play on Sonny Moon For Two but come back, find his inner 'Trane' and shred the guts out of Oleo. Michael Breker, Icon.
What a great rhythm section!
Thanks man!!
A surprisingly self effacing and shy man, but what a monster he was underneath!
❤❤🙏🙏
honest guy.
Full transcription here:
www.kennyfongmusic.com/single-post/2018/04/15/Michael-Brecker-North-Texas-QA
Thank you so much for this!!! Where did you find this?
Lol Brecker talking about SNL "We did a sketch with Eddie Murphy where he played James Brown in a hot tub".
Michael developed into a "monster" of a saxophonist.
He was very good on the EWI, Electronic/Electric Wind Instrument [Mouth Synthesizer/ synthophone/saxosynth EWI]
He died an "extension" of John Coltrane; of which 'Trane would have been very proud.
I saw him with Joshua Redman in amicable Tribute to John Coltrane - with two other tenors.
Would have loved to see him with James Carter.
Needless to emphasize that Michael Brecker was of "Organic Real Jazz" superfluity - no artificiality attached.
(Trumpeter Tommy
and saxman Stanley Turrentine - brothers)
Great interview. The bass player is at par with MB.
Man, you aren't kidding. He's on fire! Maybe trying a little hard to impress, but hey, it's working.
What a beautiful class
🙏🙏🙏🙏
🔥🔥🔥
Mike Brecker plays drums like Art Blakey?!?!?! WTF?
It's a good thing Michael got out of the pre med deal at IU. There are enough doctors, and it's not required to have even close to the creativity that Michael Brecker has i your hospitals. Not even close.
Fun off topic fact about the greatest modern sax player of all time. He went to high school with former Israeli PM Benjamin N.
This is why youtube was invented
Highlights:
"I'm not terribly original..." --one of the most original voices in modern jazz
MB plays drums!
"Hot tub!"
12:47 "slow it down if I have to" even Michael Brecker had to do it. I'm not saying it's the best way to do something, but if it's impossible for me at this stage to get this one phrase down without slowing it down then i'm gonna slow it down just to make sure i can get the pitches. Slowing down is great for pitches but for rhythm and feel it's gotta be at full speed.
That is so funny Michael your playing is the way I play improvise solos on guitar and other guitarist are constantly asking me what I'm playing... I miss you brother ;-)
I think what he's trying to say is that it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. Doo wah do wah do wah do wah.
Awesome! Thank you for posting! Anyone know the blues tune they play in the middle? I think it is a Sonny Rollins tune, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name.
Haleth Dagore Sonnymoon For Two
Nice
the guy on keys was smokin hot. he seemed really disappointed. Lol, just shows ya musicians are never satisfied.
26:45
22:27 - Brian Setzer.
Anyone knows the name of the tunes he plays at the end?
oleo isn’t it?
36:11 for some saxophone from the man himself
What the hell is he doing at 15:46???
I think he's got a clip-on microphone, he's trying to pull it further to reach the drums.
..has a nice demeanor, seated at drums; then, 38:10; and 42:36 - nobody's dancing! mm
Oleo
I hate that people can copy other videos and post them as their own. I posted this video originally... why steal it?
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.
He reminds me of Ed Witten
24:22
Dave Grohl on drums.
Nope, Kendall Kay. Solo at 47:00.
29:19 funny
2:40
Thanks for sharing!
36:00