Michael Brecker
I'm devastated.
I just found out that Michael Brecker, the most brilliant, sexy-tenor-saxophone player ever, died in January this year of some rare and weird illness.
Just get a load of his playing in this video — turn up the volume:
This was the concert that Dave and I saw in Perth with Simon when it toured in 1991 — and it remains the single most outstanding concert I've ever been to, the one where I thought that if I ever won a few million dollars in the lottery, I'd get Paul Simon to put it all together again!
And when we saw Paul Simon in concert in Los Angeles in 2006, and again in New York just the other week, I kept looking for Michael Brecker and hoping to hear him play that wonderful smoky solo again, in one of the most perfect songs.
He had an incredible career with 15 Grammys and session spots on hundreds of albums. I am so sad that he's gone.
2 comments:
Ah, I hate it -- having that experience of finding out someone is gone, especially in such an unexpected way. "Why didn't I know this?" seems a familiar refrain to me, unfortunately. Thank you for posting the wonderful video.
Sometimes someone we've not really known can touch us so deeply and when they're gone it really hurts. David Munrow, an Early Music specialist changed my life with his charismatic workshops and when he committed suicide at 33 it felt as if I had lost a close family member. But, we do have their music. Enjoy the memories and be grateful for having found Brecker. You might never have heard him.
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