Back in the day when Jazz had lots of Swagger

[@SharpElevenMusic]

You can download the Pdf ➡for this solo and get access to our vault of 350+ saxophone & guitar solo transcriptions for free: www.sharpelevenmusic.com/transcriptions Off you go, go practice some ;) !

[@felixmandelbart]

1:09 "We'll just need a subtle cue leading into the next section."

[@olafschneider77]

My thought!

[@DylanEichenbergTahoe]

So rippin

[@ash8889]

Classic Mike Brecker sound!

[@amanisax5630]

I was at this concert actually! Was hot as heck and they played their butts off. So much energy. I think Mike was excited to be playing his own stuff after all those side gigs.

[@jekleZ]

Can tell, Brecker was sweating like a lot while he was playing the solo in this video.

[@doce7606]

show-off... i hope you dropped your hot-dog.... lol only joking dude....

[@DylanEichenbergTahoe]

Such a fantastic performance, wow! Must have been amazing!

[@amanisax5630]

@@DylanEichenbergTahoe ha it was other worldly for sure!

[@danielberg7141]

Imagino que foi muito legal mesmo!!

[@GCKuss23]

Brecker haunts the soul of every jazz sax player. What he did was unbelievable. It's just sheer perfection, great melodies, incredible technique, fantastic ear and badass af.

[@adomaskuzinas2137]

the final boss of tenor sax

[@MatheusHenrique-xc7yj]

Com certeza Michael Brecker foi o melhor saxofonista do mundo!

[@user-fo3xb5cp8n]

1:54 Wow. Just cannot believe he thought of that line.

[@Ventoentertainment]

Bingo! Mind blowing.. so perfectly placed.. takes it to the next level -> jaw dropping😮

[@user-ig7nq7pc7k]

You mean that Ab pentatonic broken up over the C dominant?

[@Calbertone]

Brecker’s work has been studied and dissected for decades and still nobody can get close. What a solo, drove the entire band!

[@Steve-mp7by]

I wouldn't say that. MIchael was great but Kamasi Washington can run circles around him

[@percyvolnar8010]

@@Steve-mp7by And Steve Coleman would run marathons around Kamasi Washington. Also, add Greg Osby to the list of utter sax gods that y'all don't care about because you cant immediately comprehend their approach.

[@Steve-mp7by]

@@percyvolnar8010 Yes there are others but Michael was still a great player. Saying he's the greatest is incorrect because Coltrane holds that title forever

[@percyvolnar8010]

@@Steve-mp7by No. Michael was a great player. The problem i have isnt with him as much as it is people who are quick to claim hes god when they dont know anything about bebop, its deeply Black American roots and where this vocabulary came from . Not even Coltrane holds the title of Greatest.... BIRD HOLDS THAT TITLE. Jazz hasn't really changed since him and Dizzy brought about bebop. :)

[@Steve-mp7by]

@@percyvolnar8010 Tenor sax greatest is Coltrane. Alto sax is Bird. Everybody knows that

[@guitarjonn7103]

How does your jaw not drop from that. He gave us such an amazing ride that came from seriously practicing almost 24-7 for decades, never feeling he peaked, striving to find different ways to express himself, exploring a phrase inside-out and upside down for months till it was deeply a part of him, etc. Such dedicated decibel of the church of Coltrane who has, like Trane, become musically immortal now. If your a musician and you care to, check out the book "Practice Notebooks of Michael Brecker" to better understand one of the best musicians of our lifetime.

[@jdrosborough]

Probably the most beautiful segment of sax soloing I have ever heard, and of course it's Brecker. We all miss him so much.

[@ricksnow007]

The courage required to take on this transcription is exactly what we want in office. #SharpEleven2024

[@SharpElevenMusic]

haha, 😂 you need sometimes challenges in life, and Michael Brecker is a lovely one

[@joelewis]

Whats so interesting for me how this solo is decades old at this point but sounds like someone could of played it today and not at the same time.

[@ryno4ever433]

Bro this reeks of 80s jazz. Today, you can kind of stylistically play anything and get away with it so you're right on that front, but this sounds old as hell.

[@snapgab]

All the best music is kind of like that IMO, it manages to touch a kind of universal musical quality that people will appreciate and eventually rediscover no matter the era they're in.

[@joex9865]

​@@ryno4ever433is just like Kenny g

[@Fehlfarbenblind]

Thats the kinda awesome Thing that Jazz doesn't get Bad over The Years Like Pop or Rock Music. And they try it then we think Back at Electro Swing 😂😂

[@kevinm.n.5158]

Could have* and wtf do you mean not at the same time?

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Here is my unofficial Anthem for Jazz, if I got to vote for one. It has everything needed: an anthem-like theme, blistering Brecker solo and the energy of all band members is through the roof! (by the way, find yourself a partner that loves you as intense as Adam Nussbaum hits that snare like at 1:11) You can download the Pdf for free by joining our mailinglist (no spam, we're sharing free content and lessons in there, can be fun, otherwise just desubscribe - that's not a word, but now it is-) here: www.sharpelevenmusic.com/transcriptions /Jorre

[@Dimitri-Jordania]

Wtf! Lol the theme/motif sounds almost exactly like the recorder part on that one ATHF episode w/ the furries hahahahaha

[@lukasalihein]

To me this melody sounds like an 80s sitcom theme, so I'll vote differently LOL :)

[@rudenate]

Yes, that's a young Louis CK on the drums. Wish he never would have given up the jazz.

[@williamhornabrook8081]

Yes Louis CK was a jazz drummer, then he was the teacher from the Incredibles before becoming a comedian.

[@Me_preppy]

Perverted those drums

[@Kallu711]

That’s adam nussbaum on the drums

[@Andreorsel]

No, ot's Adam Nussbaum

[@vitosantangelo1]

🤣

[@miropribanic5581]

one of the very few times a soloist that came after Michael actually survived....even got the jazzer's grin of appreciation

[@JeffJacobsonMusic]

I've always felt that the entire "Michael Brecker" record, and its follow-up, "Don't Try This at Home," are two of the all-time great jazz records. MB as a composer and soloist was just impossibly good. Awesome that you transcribed this :)

[@SharpElevenMusic]

These two are indeed smashing albums! the sound of a true voice on the instrument

[@alexandremello6913]

I am glad someone has the same opinion as I do. Especially the first ("Michael Brecker"). It is a smokeshow from the first til the last note played. And the band is a lineup of galactic improvisers (Metheny, Kirkland, Grolnick) and rhythm section players (DeJohnette, Haden). It is an underrated record IMHO.

[@spew2864]

@JeffJacobsonMusic First MB self-titled album has always been my favorite album of his -- including all the excellent albums where he is a sideman (80/81, Citiscape, Night, Infinity, Double Double You, etc). His solos are absolutely burning -- and the solo on Original Rays on that album blows my mind every time I hear it. Not to mention how good Syzygy, Choices, and Nothing Personal sound. I can still remember the first time I put it on in ~1998.

[@Marunius]

This solo and generally this entire performance of this song changed my life. I had the opportunity to see Mike Stern this year and ask him about his solo after Brecker because he loops a lot of things over each other and they're having a laugh about it on stage :D.

[@jdrosborough]

The GOAT. He could play everyone else, all styles, genres. And of course, his own. No one can fill his shoes, many can carry them .

[@griffini19]

There is still jazz today with plenty of what you call ‘swagger’. But there was only one Michael Brecker!!! One of the greatest musicians (and human beings of my lifetime. Miss you Mike

[@bob_dubois]

The mistake of my life is never to have seen Brecker live!

[@SharpElevenMusic]

the 2004 Middelheim jazz festival appearance was incredible, that was my potential only chance although I didn't know him yet as I got into Brecker when he was already ill

[@saxjonz]

I feel that way about Coltrane. If I had of only been born several years earlier than I was, perhaps that could have been a reality. I did see Brecker a few times, however, and that was an amazing experience. I wish I could have seen him play more.

[@spew2864]

@bob_dubois go see Chris Potter, it's a similar feel for me as someone who saw Brecker 3 times.

[@bob_dubois]

​@@spew2864I did see Potter a couple time, last time was last week in Gent. Don't know if my taste has changed or his playing did but I couldn't make any sense out of the too many notes he played... Also, why is he constantly touching the altissimo E range? Play soprano if you want to play that high 😳

[@Kcets]

Ah yes, the Newport Jazz 1987 performance. The EWI intro to this is an odyssey.

[@kevinnathanson6876]

OK Mr. Stern... Over to you now. Yeesh! I saw them play together many times and it was always SO special... It didn't matter if it was a festival the size of that one or a little club that held 50 people; they always BROUGHT it; great memories...

[@GabrielBelloMusic]

This is why it’s the highest form of music, but that’s just me 😊. Absolutely wonderful and enthralling. Great transcription too, bravo!

[@PlasmaBurns]

Had this on VHS tape in the 80's. wore the tape out rewinding and rewatching

[@Ionx2000]

Saw this band in Oct 87 at the Bottomline NYC. Joey Calderazzo on keys. 80’s NYC/LA Jazz scenes were amazing times.

[@Sam-hf8nq]

Just jaw dropping display of tone, time, feel, technique and raw talent. Got to see him live in NY up close. Was completely floored then and ever since.

[@ianfleming272]

Blessed to have seen him in London in 93 with the Brecker Brothers, wonderful stuff!

[@alejandrosax7094]

What an awesome musician is Mike Brecker!

[@adamerik]

will never ever be matched and always remembered. Thanks Michael Brecker for your unreal musicianship!

[@remi.bolduc]

Brecker was simply in a class of his own.

[@albertoguerrero007]

Above everyone else

[@elementallobsterx]

1:37 nothing like a nice clean diminished upwards modulation🔥

[@MLHunt]

Never got to see Mike Brecker live, to my continuing regret.

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Absolutely, feel exactly the same. I'm was just a few years to young to have bee n able to catch him, which makes it even a bit more painful with Brecker than say older heroes of mine. I got into his music and pretty much obsessed aged 14 (2005) and I remember checking his websites homepage where they put that he was ill and getting treatment. I visited weekly, just to expect to find an announcement that he'd recovered an would be touring soon, until one day his website in early 2007 said he passed away. Now aged 16 and being so motivated by his playing at that point to try and persue a carreer in saxophone playing, I absolutely couldn't believe it. My naive teenager braing assumed everything would be fine at some point, as the traditional Hollywood films always said. That year I made my endwork in high school on his life and transcribed Straphanging from live with the Wdr Big Band as a case study. That gigantic struggle to play and transcribe (it really was way too hard) was the prelude to what this channel would become.

[@MLHunt]

I did catch Mike Stern once somewhere downtown sometime in the mid '80s... those years are, um, pretty fuzzy for me lol. Helluva guitarist.

[@MLHunt]

@@SharpElevenMusic Ah well. You still hear Brecker all the time, sort of, he changed the very vocabulary of the instrument.

[@Chess4Net]

Once (somwhere in the beginnig of 2000) LeClub (a jazz club in Moscow, Russia) announced a Brecker Brothers show, we bought tickets, and to my great regret Mike wasn't participating (he was badly ill at that time already) but his name (what a cheat!) was written on the bill board.

[@MLHunt]

@@Chess4Net that's too bad!

[@baguettedepain3975]

You can see it's an oldie when MiGoat Brecker still had almost all his hair.

[@BeesKneesBenjamin]

A super musical and easy listen, amazing piece

[@jonsande]

I love how everyone on the stage was vibing hard. They knew what they were hearing

[@Mtmus]

I am obsessed with this solo. I've been coming back to this video a lot over the past year or so. Thank you for transcribing! It's inspired me to lick my horn back up

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Oh great, so nice to hear! By the way, best typo (I suppose) ever. Glad it inspired you to "lick" your horn back up

[@michaeldean9338]

Gracious! Such buoyancy and clarity in those nots. Bless you, Breck. Thanks for the show. (RIP)

[@jacquesparis-0017]

Perhaps the greatest musician I seen in my life

[@marcomusicman3774]

Great transcription and playing ! Thanks for sharing !

[@rexmelgoza4703]

That's the power of the Breck, he influenced pretty much all sax players, both directly and indirectly.

[@franciscojavieralzolaelezc2533]

Buaa.. Mister Mike brecker.. El más grande de los últimos colosos del saxo.. Que dios te tenga tocando en el cielo...

[@MagnusAnand]

Michael Brecker was just built different

[@notilise755]

The audio quality is far better than the original😳

[@Oi-mj6dv]

What this man was able to do on the horn was absolute insanity. I do not understand how some people still dont get it.

[@fg87fgd]

Great choice and great work, Jorre. Funny, it's mostly either Fm natural or chromatic scales he uses on C7, but it sounds so completely off limits...

[@SharpElevenMusic]

yeah, exactly! That Fm is so strong on it's own, but placed on the C7 you get a kind of sus4 b13 vibe. That's what is the "uncanny valley" here is imo, it's sound so recognisable (duh, Fm..) and so hip cause it's over the C7 with some altered notes.

[@Marunius]

@@SharpElevenMusic So full analysis when ;D?

[@DylanEichenbergTahoe]

I watched this video of this jam so many times back in the day, they were awesome as hell. ^_^

[@szymontarka277]

Incredible solo, mindblowing🤯

[@embodiedconducting]

Those WERE the days, my friends. I wish they would have never ended.

[@tomsmyth4836]

The greatest off all time MB rest and fly high ...

[@richardt.rogers2730]

This is madness

[@brekedekdang39]

Tenor madness?

[@It.wasnt_me]

2:10 - 2:20 is just 🔥

[@the1gorn]

I just laugh like an idiot every time I listen to this section...it is just so ridiculous (in the BEST possible way), and as always with Brecker it is insanely cleanly articulated, with every single note being a deliberate choice and not just a way to get from point A to point B. He is still my hero 🎷

[@joshferguson9703]

This fella was a monster hell this band was full of monsters on a side note could you do some Jack Wilkins to help keep his passion alive he was one of my biggest influences

[@jroc2201]

It always sounds to me like he gets it spinning in a circle, love it

[@kevintownsend3840]

When something old still punches as good as the day, it first hit you in the face

[@funkygh]

Wow. Adam crushing it as hard or harder than all the other guys you'd expect to be in that chair, and swinging more than any of them. Bad dude...

[@mtwoh]

Oh my lord. Amazing. Thank you.

[@evansgate]

I thought it was sweat in his glasses but it's actually the reflection of an audience in the multiples of hundreds watching this man play

[@DidierMartini]

One of my fav !!! a pure chef d'oeuvre ! thanks for this !

[@SharpElevenMusic]

I think it's the album before, Brecker's first solo album is called just "Michael Brecker".

[@DidierMartini]

@@SharpElevenMusicho yes you're right :( my awful mistake, sorry :(

[@jamesconnors5653]

Chills man, chills.

[@alijhi]

thank you for this!

[@ssjbongripzzz4204]

This is the best solo

[@sairmusicofficial]

beautiful

[@KANELASAO]

Love that tune ❤ thank for sharing

[@xani8826]

Absolutely mind blowing 🎷🎶💪

[@doce7606]

Gives me so much stank-face this excerpt made me go in for facial surgery... that intro's (sub)diatonic and pentatonic gospel-americana theme is Bernstein quality with Michael's subtle melodic variations creating a beguiling complexity, while the two-to-the bar changes allow Jeff to summon that NY bounce - like half-time walking feel - that I just cannot get enough of (hear Greg Howe's NAMM giant steps)... Nussbaum is astonishing with his kick drum on the one in the intro going NOWHERE, like an ANVIL, while he adds telling light syncopations, then, when the solo begins he owns the feel with his aggressive pushes and unwavering time, I would have sped up to about 3x original, wow, .. and come on, Michael's hot salty festival vibe makes it simply INSPIRING when he grabs his horn and lets us hear how black and American, he is inside, that's the most soulful i'v heard him on this whitest of days lol, .. Pity Carl Sagan couldn't have put this on Voyager-1 : Finally I already commented on the sound you got off that old tape , amazing.. and that's all WITHOUT the transcription - Absolutely Top Tier Post, thanks !!

[@SharpElevenMusic]

Thanks for that wonderful reply! To answer you on the VHS quality... that is not to my credit. I got it here on KZbin from another channel, that person would probably be the one to convert it high quality from vhs to digital. There is plenty more video of this Festival performance if Im not mistaken. What a treat

[@doce7606]

@@SharpElevenMusic Love your channel man thanks !

[@Alastair6]

He's in top form! WOW!

[@KonstaSednev]

Fantastic 😮. Huge Michael. 🎉🎉🎉🎷🎷🎷🎷

[@sgcmusic22]

Amazing video

[@jaex9617]

Of course he's wearing a Casio Databank. God-tier stuff all around.

[@williamgregory1848]

Michael Brecker could a kill a man with just his solos

[@doce7606]

There are levels, and levels,.... this is Mike Stern's tune, tho' a cut from a M.B. album, and he [Stern] pales, if you watch the whole number, into insignificance with his chorused tele-twanging second solo.., Brecker (M.) is a god-like player who was part of NASA's secret 'music to the universe' project organised by Carl Sagan which saw Newport '87 beamed to distant star systems.....

[@andycormier2475]

I was AT this concert, as a wee little band nerd just getting into jazz. As amazing as his sax solo was, Mike Stern immediately followed up and blew the fucking roof off the place, soloing over a million choruses. Oh yeah, and Kenny G was also the headliner :/

[@AIFMusician]

Louis C.K. killin’ on drums.

[@CarlitosMayo]

Holy moly!

[@RobiTheophilus]

Classic

[@jamespepe3847]

Smokin!!!🎷🔥🎷🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@doce7606]

Just want to praise the sound you managed to get off that old VHS wow what sort of processing kit you got ..??

[@doce7606]

Joey Calderazzo on the 88s doin' everything right and having a ball....

[@タッピー]

これほんまに好き

[@Br0adCastYourS3lf]

06:10 The entrance to Valhalla opens.

[@samirpetrocelli6583]

The best times are gone

[@susannakanerva5124]

masterpiece💯

[@innovati]

Jaw on the floor - this is my first time. Daaaaaang

[@JosePillado-hg8ir]

GOAT! 😯

[@normalizedaudio2481]

Mike Stern always looks at his hands.

[@joex9865]

So do all the guitarists in the audience

[@doce7606]

If I understand rite, then I somewhat and respectfully disagree with the premise of the title... the 'swagger' is, I take it, the two-chords-to-the-bar feel annihilated by the Brecker band that day...and the shifting diatonic americana/gospel tenor exhortations..., but in fact this feel is now the standard gospel / neo-soul pulse, (tho in fact it is becoming a 'one'-feel), and is still extremely prevailant and hip, i love it...

[@elementallobsterx]

He should’ve played with Steely Dan on a show or two🔥

[@romulan1006]

Jazz has always had, and will always have swagger. We've lost some great musicians, it's heartbreaking. But the music lives, check out Hiromi Uehara and Snarky Puppy. a sample of worthy performers.

[@zippitydoodah8771]

Everyone tries to play like brecker or Trane. I would be refreshing to hear a modern player who didn't.

[@brekedekdang39]

Sure people choose who they want to emulate, but people will always sound like themselves.

[@PaulTarussov]

There are many! Check out someone like Melissa Aldana.

[@AngeloShoots]

Louis C.K. is absolutely nailing the drums here, as well

[@sairmusicofficial]

Is that Louis CK playng the drums? 😂

[@Kallu711]

Thats adam nussbaum

[@GearZenChannel]

DEAR GOD

[@luke125]

Yeah, exactly.

[@doug7040]

I stopped playing because of Brecker. There was no longer anything to strive for. There is nowhere else to go. He was perfect.

[@runciter58]

[................nothing] The best comment on Mike solos and scenarios and solo building is simply remain silent and listening!!!!!

[@danielberg7141]

1:54 e 2:12 MUITA IGNORÂNCIA!🔥

[@bulgakov722]

во были времена!

[@notnoaintno5134]

Nice they got louis ck on drums

[@winstonschwarz1636]

Mike's (Stern)hair is interesting in this clip.

[@CrowClouds]

Eric Wareheim crushing it

[@CrowClouds]

People walking by eating funnel cake