Randy Brecker is a household name in jazz. This Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer has worked to shape the face of jazz, R&B and rock for decades. His instrumentals have found themselves on the albums of big-name artists like Frank Sinatra, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan and Frank Zappa.
A Philadelphia native, Brecker was born into a musical family, allowing his talents and musical interests to be fostered and promoted from an early age. He chose the trumpet as his school instrument and listened to the recordings of greats like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown.
Starting out his career in jazz-rock with the band Blood, Sweat and Tears, Brecker eventually left to join the Horace Silver Quintet. He recorded his first solo album, Score, in 1968, featuring the sax stylings of a relative unknown player, Michael Brecker, Randy’s brother.
It wasn’t until 1975 that the Brecker brothers formed their own group, aptly named the Brecker Brothers Band, which possessed a funk flair to its jazz roots. They released six albums and secured seven Grammy nods between 1975 and 1981. Though they disbanded for a decade, the Brecker Brothers reunited some years later to release The Return of the Brecker Brothers and Out of the Loop, which was a double-Grammy winner.
Though Michael Brecker tragically passed away in 2007, Randy Brecker continues to make stirring and beautiful music with hints of dedication to his brother’s memory. Randy Brecker continues to inspire artists and young musicians alike to follow their passions and make deeply penetrating music. Whether he’s playing a stringently composed arrangement or an off-the-cuff freewheeling combo, Brecker has whittled his way deep into the heart and history of jazz music.
Catch him March 29 and 30 at Dazzle Jazz Club with shows at 6 and 8 pm. Tickets are $25.