Michael Brecker 1996 Interview - Developing Your Own Sound

[jazz1bro]

He was one honest cat. I noticed he only mentioned the brothers!

[drumma4lyfe06]

Brecker and Coltrane. The two best to me, period, hands down...and I'm 23!

[JazzVideoGuy]

@drumma4lyfe06 Two of the best, for me, at the top of the list.

[hoskammer2012]

Wish you were here....but so glad you were....right time right place,Bless you!!!!

[JazzVideoGuy]

@hoskammer2012 We miss him very much, that's for sure.

[vandoren59]

Coltrane and Brecker. They're the guys.

[talarant]

You're the same guys who listen to "Now He Sings , Now he sobs" and say that Chick is better than McCoy. Brecker, beyond Coltrane? U just don't get it

[Totally007]

wqw great great interview .. God took you to soon from us , Great person Michael Brecker . Great Musicians. We are allways learning .. RIP

[guysaxophone]

dude the thing about the light bulb joke is not michael brecker its john coltrane and sit back and watch how coltrane would have done it is the right way to say it and another joke is what woudl coltrane order if he went to like a fast food joint. a supreme a supreme a supreme.

[dhampex]

RIP Brother Mike Brecker!!!! the Great!!!

[Vazmusic]

One of the things that set him apart is that in addition to being a wonderful improviser he also played the instrument very well. Good sound, good pitch. A lot of guys improvise but don't really know the instrument or work to get a good sound on it. He was amazing.

[queekers]

What was great about MIchael Brecker is that he was very humble, had a lot of respect for other musicians, and was always trying to learn new things.

[sumbaswing]

thanks for letting me hear mike give a lesson. You can practice for ten hours a day and not get any results if your practicing the wrong things. you have to focus.

[raindep]

its silly to compare m.b and j.c....m.b. would shudder to hear folks exhaulting him as 'beyond' coltrane...silly. The evolution of m.b. is clearly presented in Pilgrimage, which highlights all of m.b.'s influences in the context of his unique voice and deep harmonic insight...what a dense recording that demands many, many listens...miss you mike.

[Modes9]

@raindep I heard an interview with Michael Brecker at a Berklee seminar. Someone asked him if he thought anyone had gone beyond Coltrane. He said he didn't think anyone had...

[bingefeller]

I could listen for hours to MB talking about music and playing.

[mdb205]

Same here!

[3shiftgtr]

How many tenor players does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

25. One to screw it in and the other 24 to sit back and argue on how Brecker would have done it.

RIP Mike!

[Mattytheman91]

LMAO!LMAO!LOL!LMAO!LMAO!

I love this joke, gonna tell it to my sax teacher :P

[bcolborn]

Thank you for posting this!

[SamMoff]

i really like "Slings and Arrows" and "Anagram" they're my fav by Brecker

[raggityman]

MB, baby! Can't believe his horn is silent. RIP, Master MB.

[marcopolio421]

Brecker will always be my favorite sax player. Hands down.

His Tone and Time were one of a kind. Not to mention his mastery of Harmony in general. I play guitar but always transcribed Brecker. "Timeline" is my fave...

[Jazzman555]

yeh man his time was spot he was a master RIP Michael Brecker

[smacclutch]

yeah, timeline is a great tune!!!!

[Modes9]

It's irrelevant which saxophonist is "better". The only thing that matters is that both of them (and many others) left large bodies of work that we can study, listen to, and learn from.

[eyeheartchrist]

Yep, and there is no reason to say that one couldn't play as technical as another, because everyone has something special about their playing that others could not achieve exactly the same. It's comforting to realize that on days I feel like I couldn't play as broad of a vocabulary as others. Everyone's got their days they feel like they're not as hot as others.

[saxgod09]

The biggest thing i love about brecker is he kept an open mind and respected the past and present players. He was an amazing saxophone player beyond many talents..but most of all he was an amazing person.

[SamMoff]

My saxophone teacher said Brecker did Coltrane better than Coltrane did... I think they are both at a very equal level, but there's just a sound that Coltrane has that is just so unique and so pure... I just think Coltrane had the best sound of any saxophonist..

(Not saying anything against Mike, by the way)

[ihasmario]

I love both of them, but there was a long period where Coltrane had a lot of agression in his playing. I think brecker is generally a lot smoother... Theres a lot of different things coming across through each than playing fast, imho. so as for "brecker doing coltrane better than coltrane", coltrane was coltrane. No one can do it better

[Selmer2006]

thanx!

[jazzmanEE]

Coltrane was the man! god bless him for all the great music he has left us.

[Deto128]

Wow, I never got to see Brecker live, but it's amazing that in this day and age, we can hear and see the legends even after they have passed. We need more of these electronic interviews of legends like Michael before they pass.

[Guitarschmoozer]

There's not a day that goes by I don't think of you Mike. And this will continue until MY dying day...

Love you man, and miss you SO badly...

[SolSorrell]

Damn, Mike....Damn, Trane...you don't know how much we miss you......

[bernie414]

Its foolish to say who was better. That's like saying which color is a better color.. red or blue? However, you could say which one you prefer better. For me its easy. I prefer both trane and brecker :)

[SolSorrell]

If John Coltrane were still physically alive and someone asked him what he thought of brecker, what do you think he would have said about his playing?

[ReggaesRockers]

Trane would've said some good things about Brecker.

[DuffyNight]

Getting the Berg vs Brecker. My saxophone player showed me Berg. And sometimes they sound very similar and we used to wonder who came 1st - Berg or Brecker (of course, they are like sponges, if the like someone else, the soak it up and play it). But this - who is better stuff is a waste of time. The greats are all great - just different. IMHO.

[NJlo]

He was better than Coltrane. Go ahead, diss me.

[3shiftgtr]

Coltrane was the innovator, and Brecker was the perfector. Or something.

[vnizzle13]

a very bold statement... but thats your opinion however i disagree with that.

[RobinsonWith]

coltrane was different, they're incomprable. it's like comparing Picasso and Dahli.

[beezelite]

I think it's more a case of Michael having more info and musical situations under his belt because he lived at a different time. But, you wouldn't have had a player as great as Michael without Coltrane. It's like being able to study Degas or Cezanne along with every other artist that came after them. Will you be greater? Not necessarily but you will have had access to more influences. Why do you make this statement?

[will1213456]

best since coltrane.

[SaxManZ]

All I can say is WOW!

[SolSorrell]

A lot of people out Brecker down, saying he's no Coltrane (and this and that). Why would any sax player want to be clone? Brecker always had a very distinct style on his sax. I love Trane, but in many ways, Brecker went far beyond a Coltrane. I know a lot of you will scoff, but Brecker may have been no Coltrane, but he was everything Coltrane wasn't. And Coltrane was no Brecker.But both were fabulous horn players and we sorely miss both of them.

[bossbert]

Well I'm fairly sure that some of the more classical players had a better technical grip on the saxophone... people like Siguard Rascher, Marcel Mule, Larry Teal, etc...

[houseote]

The whole altissimo statement: Brecker was playing out of Rauscher's altissimo book. I would say there are quite a few players that would outplay Brecker in the overtone series: Claude Delangle, John Sampen, Kenneth Tse, etc... And I love Brecker. Gotta check out everyone, that's all I'm saying. Like he did!

[saxahorn]

Cough

[CJ81]

I find it interesting here that Mike talks about being influenced by Bob Berg. The Turrentine and Henderson influences are clearly there (he got that slow to gradually faster trill lick from Joe) but Berg sounded a lot like Brecker to me. Good example is "Pools" from "Holding Together" by Steps Ahead, he clearly mastered that kind of vocabulary. Bob Franceschini is another one.

[bwalsh1962]

I saw him twice, live in late 80s-early 90s. A smart, articulate master--I'm a guitarist and went to see Mike Stern for me, but the band was so impressive NO one was a standout--we're richer as musicians for his legacy.

[Bozzonbass]

I dig it! I'm a bass player and learned from it. -Bozz

[lazur1]

There are no secrets. Follow Mr. Brecker's advice, and you'll know.

[CrackHo2]

It was never about Mike but always about the other guy.

[SolSorrell]

Listen to the greats? Yes...but Mike forgot to name himself....the greatest of our time.

[ludwig222]

Michael lives on ! R.I.P.

Thank You for this!

[Bzzzpuk]

R.I.P. Great sax player!