The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra follows its highly successful and critically acclaimed celebration of jazz-rock pioneers Weather Report’s music with a four date Scottish tour in May paying tribute to the late, hugely influential saxophonist Michael Brecker, featuring Brecker’s trumpet-playing brother, Randy, as guest soloist. As well as featuring on innumerable pop and rock recordings by artists including Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, Steely Dan and Dire Straits, Michael Brecker, who died aged fifty-seven in 2007, was revered in jazz circles for his deeply resourceful improvising and a distinctive tenor saxophone tone that made him the most imitated saxophonist of the past twenty-five years.
Throughout a jazz career during which he played with jazz legends Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus and Chick Corea in addition to fronting the Brecker Brothers with Randy, Steps Ahead and his own groups, Brecker was also a composer of conspicuous talent and the SNJO programme will draw widely from his repertoire, spanning early funk hits from the Brecker Brothers’ 1970s heyday through to orchestral pieces from his 2003 album Wide Angles.
The older brother by four years, Randy Brecker has a similarly illustrious CV, having played with Blood Sweat & Tears, Horace Silver and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra before co-forming the popular Brecker Brothers with Michael and going on to record acclaimed albums under his own name and contributing to recordings by Lou Reed, Frank Zappa and Bruce Springsteen, among many others.
SNJO director, Tommy Smith, said: “Michael Brecker was an incredibly talented musician and he remains an inspiration to thousands of jazz players all over the world, and we’re proud to have his brother, Randy, who is one of the world’s greatest trumpeters, joining SNJO to pay tribute to one of the real titans of jazz’s modern age.”
Tour details: MAY 2012
THURS 24 LANARK: GREYFRIARS KIRK 07827 966735
FRI 25 EDINBURGH: QUEEN’S HALL 0131 668 2019 www.thequeenshall.net
SAT 26 GLASGOW: ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE 0141 332 5057 www.rcs.ac.uk
SUN 27 KIRKCALDY: ADAM SMITH CENTRE 01592 583302 www.onfife.com
All concerts start at 7.30pm and have a pre-concert talk at 6.45.
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