We have a new release coming out on Piloo Records Feb 22nd “Rocks”: Randy Brecker with the NDR Big Band-The Hamburg Jazz Orchestra, with special guests Dave Sanborn, Ada Rovatti and Wolfgang Haffner Arr by Jörg Achim Keller with all Randy Brecker compositions from different periods. It’s great!

Later in the year: “Brecker Plays Rovatti” 10 of Ada’s new compositions played/produced by us, with Dave Kikoski, Alex Claffy, Rodney Holmes and Café! w/appearances by Jim Beard and Adam Rogers!…the best CD ever, and most commercial with a special guest appearance by 10 year old singer Stella Brecker!

Also, Together my recent CD with the UMO Jazz Orch and Mats Holmquist receives best of 2018 pick from Wicked Local:

Randy Says :

“These are HITS I played on in the day as ‘de-ranged’ by Kenny Werner: James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Donald Fagen, Garland Jeffeys,BS&T and more! Recorded LIVE with an All-Star Cast: Amanda Brecker, Kenny Werner, David Sanchez, Adam Rogers, John Patitucci, and Nate Smith!”

From Randy:
“We had a wonderful time in Prague participating in this concert! Here’s a recent review!”

JAZZTIMES REVIEW:
“High-brass firepower is the theme of Trumpet Summit Prague, and there’s plenty of the good stuff to go around, thanks to the on-point playing and improvising of a trio of trumpeters. Here, American players Randy Brecker and Bobby Shew, and Jan Hasenöhrl, founder of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, join forces with the CSNO and St. Blaise’s Big Band in a 2012 concert at the celebrated Smetana Hall.
But this project is less about a long-form cutting contest than it is about high-level sparring and appealing playfulness.  Take Thad Jones’ “Three and One”, where the trumpeters open with round robin volleys followed by unison lines and tangy three-part harmonies.  A short time later, Vince Mendoza’s arrangement has Hasenöhrl going baroque for a bracingly agile exchange with drummer Martijn Vink, followed by the big band’s return in full swing, underscored by the orchestra.  Brecker steps in for a similarly agile solo before the three recombine to restate the melody.
Shew, a virtuoso player too often taken for granted, is center stage on a lush version of Kurt Weill’s “Lost in the Stars”; his flugelhorn, whether stating the melancholy melody or sailing in flights of improvisation, is a thing of beauty, expertly cushioned by the large ensemble.  Brecker is featured on two of his originals:  the album-opening “Village Dawn”, with its hopscotching melody and a bracing solo spiced with smears, high-speed runs and high-register forays; and the bluesy, hard-grooving “Creature of Many Faces”, which offers solo space for several other players.  The program, recorded for Czech television, also offers Mendoza’s own “Rhumba Alias” and a wild and wooly version of Ellington’s “Caravan”, with even more space for three part trumpet harmonies and round-robin soloing.  Three’s a crowd?  Not this time.”
-Philip Booth, JazzTimes

Randy says:

“Rock Candy Funk Party is quickly moving to the top of the charts! My friend drummer Tal Bergman asked me to write 9 Horn Charts and play on this Super Funky  CD…With the help of Ada Rovatti on saxophones and Jim Campagnola on bari we made a good horn section. the great Joe Bonamassa is featured on Guitar! Check it Out if you like 70s style FUNK!”

Hey Friends and Fans!

So I’ve been a little slow with posting my itinerary lately and that’s because July 22 under the laparoscopic baton of Dr. Ashutosh Tewari head of Urology at Mt. Sinai I had prostate surgery to remove low grade prostate cancer that had been ‘bubbling under’ for a couple of years. My enlarged prostate gland I will not miss, it was taking up way too much space down there and barely functioning anyway. But there’s more!…After the totally untimely deaths of my friends Lew Soloff and Bob Belden, I got scared into seeing my cardiac Doctor, the great Tony Gomes head of Cardiology at Mt Sinai, who I hadn’t seen in years. It didn’t take him long to determine that I had ‘Atrial Flutter’ a condition where the lower part of the Heart isn’t fully functioning and which can lead to a Stroke or Heart Attack. So on May 27th, Dr. Gomes performed a ‘Cardioversion’ where they scope your heart cavity for clots and if OK literally shock the heart into regularity.

It worked like a charm! The next day I left for Europe (!) with a fully functioning muscle and felt much better when I had those long airport walks that used to wind the shit out of me.

But there’s more! I had made plans to see the amazing Dr. Dan Reinstein head of the London Vision Clinic while in London after playing at Ronnie Scott’s. Dan is the leading LASIK eye surgeon in the world and a great saxophonist to boot, to put it mildly: a genius.
So on June 22nd I had LASIK surgery what Dan calls an ‘enhancement’ to update my previous surgery which was 6 years old. The surgery took maybe all of 40 seconds, no pain, and I had dinner that night at Dr. Dan’s beautiful house. All glasses from reading to distance are in the trash.

All the technologies and doctoral expertise in these 3 procedures just blew my mind.

So the somewhat ironic upshot of these 3 medical miracles are: (1.) I have a heart healthy enough and ready for sex and although (2.) It might be a while before I can get a rise out of my ‘Johnson’, I can (3.) gaze upon my beloved member with absolute clarity!!  ☺

Please dear Friends: MAKE TIME TO Get Checked!!!

I love you all!

I’m going to be taking it pretty easy until the end of the year, but if something comes it, we’ll see! I
love to play Music and my horn! I’ll have my light rest of the year itinerary up soon!
RB

Why is this the first and only official live release by The Brecker Brothers Band, you ask? Perhaps surprisingly, it documents a group that rarely played live, much less toured extensively. This is due in part to a 1970 s music world with the constraints of a vital studio scene, wherein virtuoso musicians were kept busy tracking for television, movies, commercials, and all styles of solo spots and horn sections – regardless of musical style. We were making a living in the recording studios, recalls Brecker. The clubs paid next to nothing, as did ‘opening act’ gigs. Clive Davis was always begging us to go out on the road, but we weren’t going to blow the studio work.

Without a doubt, loud & proud describes this first Brecker Brothers Band in action. The group is put into 4-wheel drive by the sleekly-grooving, well-oiled machine that is the nimble rhythm team of Will Lee, Chris Parker and Sammy Figueroa. They constantly supply the connective tissue and hold down an undeniable and indelible groove. Keyboardist Grolnick s electric piano solos are oh-so-elegant, and he delivers the necessary clavinet funk. Guitarist Steve Khan steps up as yet another of the band s dynamic soloists, and he makes sure to bring the rock when the rock is required. The resultant blend of mayhem and form, abandon and razor-sharp execution, makes for an unparalleled meeting of clan-collective minds.

Peter Erskine has re-issued on his own label Fuzzy Music, Don Grolnick The Complete London Concert including the long lost second set.
View in iTunes

Randy Brecker with Włodek Pawlik Trio & Kalisz Philharmonic receives Grammy® Award for Night In Calisia for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album!

Randy Brecker with Włodek Pawlik Trio & Kalisz Philharmonic receives Grammy® nomination for Night In Calisia for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album!