Saxophone titan’s overlooked legacy
Charged Particles’ album highlights Michael Brecker’s composing talent
Musicians love to tell stories about Michael Brecker. It’s not that he was a wild and crazy guy given to rock star antics, though as an ace studio musician he played on dozens of hit records. Rather, the combination of the tenor saxophonist’s aweinspiring virtuosity and his selfdeprecating demeanor could leave his collaborators feeling a little demoralized and in need of hitting the woodshed to practice.
“He’d be in the studio for a session and he’d play an absolutely astounding solo, and then he’d sort of apologize and say ‘Let me try that again,’ and play something equally jawdropping,” recalled music writer Bill Milkowski, whose biography “Ode to a Tenor Titan: The Life and Times and Music of Michael Brecker” is scheduled for release Oct. 1.
Before Brecker’s death from blood cancer in 2007 at the age of 59, he was widely considered the most influential tenor saxophonist of his generation. But a new album set for release Oct. 8 by the Bay Area trio Charged Particles highlights an overlooked part of his legacy. Recorded at the Studio City club that has served as a hub for Southern California’s jazz fusion scene since 1970, “Live at the Baked Potato!” takes a deep dive into Brecker’s work as a composer.
The band plans to celebrates the album’s release early with an inperson concert as part of the Old First Concerts series Friday, July 9, with veteran Bay Area tenor saxophonist Tod Dickow. The performance, copresented by Jazz in the Neighborhood, will also be livestreamed. Milkowski, who wrote the album’s liner notes, is scheduled to give a preconcert talk about Brecker’s life and legacy via Zoom.
Much as the evolution of John Coltrane’s epic improvisational flights overshadowed his extraordinary body of tunes during his life, Brecker has yet to be recognized as a composer, said drummer and Charged Particles leader Jon Krosnick, a Stanford University political science and communications professor.
“As a player, Brecker is iconic. But when you look at his reviews, the compositions fade into the background,” Krosnick said. “Yet to us, these are the gems he left behind. He sets up a musical expectation and does a turn or a twist. Just like a great movie, the plot twists take you in different directions.”
Tall and imposing with the pokerfaced mien of a banker, Brecker started his career under the shadow of his older brother, trumpet great Randy Brecker (who’s still going strong at 75). He first made an impression playing alongside Randy in the influential jazz/rock fusion band Dreams, and they joined forces again in the mid’70s as the Brecker Brothers, a muscular funkfusion combo.
But the younger Brecker’s diamondbright sound became ubiquitous due not to his own recordings but because of his prolific work as a hired gun. Contributing to more than 700 albums, he played memorable solos on tracks by a who’s who of 1970s and ’80s acts, including James Taylor, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen, ParliamentFunkadelic, Cameo and the Brothers Johnson.
Offstage, he became an effective champion for musicians seeking sobriety after kicking his own addiction to heroin.
Charged Particles & Tod Dickow Playing the Music of Michael Brecker: 8 p.m. Friday, July 9. $25 in person; streaming access by donation. Old First Concerts, 751 Sacramento St., S.F. 415474-1608. www.oldfirstconcerts.org
With Aaron Germain on acoustic and electric bass and Murray Low on piano and keyboards, Charged Particles spent years honing a trio sound before delving into Brecker’s music. Workshopping the music at 7 Mile House in Brisbane, they gleaned compositions from across his discography, with a particular focus on his extraordinary final 2007 recording, “Pilgrimage,” featuring Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Jack DeJohnette and John Patitucci.
While the album spotlights Brecker as a composer, it’s also likely to precipitously raise the profile of Dickow, a journeyman player who has mostly recorded in jazz orchestra settings. Milkowski wasn’t familiar with his work before the album, but he’s heard of him now.
“He’s amazing. He really pulls it all together, shining a light on Mike’s music by being such a strong player,” Milkowski said. “And the band is really bringing to the fore the brilliance of Mike’s writing.”