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Michael Brecker: Nearness of You: The Ballad Book

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Michael Brecker
Title: Nearness of You: The Ballad Book
Released: 2001.06.19
Label: Verve Records
Time: 60:18
Producer(s): Pat Metheny
Appears with:
Category: Jazz
Rating: *******.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2002.03.27
Price in €: 15,41
Web address: www.michaelbrecker.com

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Chan's Song (H.Hancock) - 5:15
[2] Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight (J.Taylor) - 4:44
[3] Nascente (M.Antunes/F.Venturini) - 6:18
[4] Midnight Mood (J.Zawinul) - 6:23
[5] The Nearness of You (H.Carmichael/N.Washington) - 4:37
[6] Incandescence (M.Brecker) - 5:22
[7] Sometimes I See (P.Metheny) - 5:29
[8] My Ship (I.Gershwin/K.Weill) - 7:11
[9] Always (I.Berlin) - 5:37
[10] Seven Days (P.Metheny) - 5:33
[11] I Can See Your Dreams (M.Brecker) - 3:49 

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


MICHAEL BRECKER - Tenor Saxophone, Liner Notes
JACK DEJOHNETTE - Drums
HERBIE HANCOCK - Steinway Piano
PAT METHENY - Guitar
CHARLIE HADEN - Bass

DAVE SAMUELS - Additional Percussion

STEVE RODBY - Co-Producer, Digital Assembly
RICHARD SEIDEL - Executive Producer, Concept
GIL GOLDSTEIN - Music Preparation
JAMES FARBER - Recording Engineer, Mixing
ANDREW FELLUS - Assiatant Engineer
JASON STASIUM - Assiatant Engineer
PAUL GREGORY - Assiatant Engineer
TIMMY OLMSTEAD - Assiatant Engineer
PETE CARAM - Technical Assistance
DAVID OAKES - Technical Coordination
CAROLYN CHRZAN - Technical Coordination
GREG CALBI - Mastering
HOLLIS KING - Art Direction
REBECCA MEEK - Design
SYLVIA OTTI - Photography
KEN TAKEWAKI - Photography
MICHAEL PIAZZA - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2001 CD Verve 549705

Recorded at Right Track Recording, New York, New York from December 18-20, 2000. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. "Chan's Song" won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.



The seven-time Grammy award-winning tenor saxophonist, Michael Brecker brings an all-star band together on this first ever ballad project titled Nearness of You: The Ballad Book. Accompanied by Herbie Hancock on piano, Pat Metheny on guitars, Charlie Haden on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and a special guest appearance by James Taylor, singing his sensational hit "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" and Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You," the tenor saxophonist creates rich resonant statements on 11 songs collected in two chapters and their epilogue. Brecker has updated these great songs with the addition of Pat Metheny's excellent production prowess on such great ballads as Joe Zawinul's "Midnight Mood" and the Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin standard "My Ship." "Midnight Mood" is sensual and seductive, complete with a blithe piano solo by Herbie Hancock in the middle section. Hancock fills in the beauty of Brecker's saxophone lines on this arrangement that is partially based on guitarist Wes Montgomery's version. James Taylor sings one of the best renditions of his "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," and it's clearly due to the excellent musicians on this CD. Pat Metheny excels as a serious jazz artist with his well thought out treatment of "Nascente," which was inspired by Gil Evans' classic 1948 arrangement for Miles Davis on Miles Ahead. Michael Brecker has clearly maintained his status as one of the best tenor saxophonists on the jazz scene, and this, his eighth CD as a leader, is well within the musical excellence previously recorded.

Paula Edelstein, All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2002 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



"Simplicity" and "understatement" are not the first words that pop to mind when considering the tonal personality of tenor saxophone icon Michael Brecker, who is famous for sculpting detailed, logical, crescendoing improvisations from swarms of notes with immaculate execution at any tempo. Yet those words define the ambiance Brecker creates on Nearness of You, a program of 11 ballads. Using John Coltrane's legendary Ballads album as a template, the master holds back, elasticizes his tone, and tells his stories at a leisurely pace. Complementing his every phrase are longtime associates Pat Metheny, guitar and producer; Herbie Hancock, piano; Charlie Haden, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums -- each as state-of-the-art on their instrument as Brecker is on his; the all-stars play at anticipated levels of craft, subtlety and invention, and form a unit, devoting themselves unfailingly to the imperatives of ensemble interplay. The singer James Taylor contributes vocals on a reimagined "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" (Brecker played the signifying tenor solo on its original incarnation 30 years ago) and on the title track.

Ted Panken - Barnes & Noble



Ballad albums can be tricky affairs. How do you create tempos that are sensuous but not sluggish? What makes a ballad moody and beautiful and not just boring? Those questions seem moot when the musicians involved are tenor-sax titan Michael Brecker, guitarist Pat Metheny, drummer Jack DeJohnette, pianist Herbie Hancock, and bassist Charlie Haden, but heavy hitters don't necessarily insure success. Nearness of You: The Ballad Book begins with Hancock's willowy "Chan's Song." Performed at a sleepy tempo, it is a languid introduction, even for an all-ballad album. Brecker and Metheny blow mighty solos, but the song remains passive. James Taylor guests on a mellow rendition of "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" and on the title track. Taylor's yearning tenor is warm and expressive, but the band treats him with kid gloves, as if playing too closely might break the singer in half. Things look up on Joe Zawinul's "Midnight Mood," a twilight vehicle with sumptuous solos all around. Nearness is divided into Chapter One and Chapter Two, and Chapter Two really shines, particularly the original contributions by producer Metheny and Brecker. The entire ensemble becomes more involved and animated, with rapt solos on Brecker's "Incandescence" and Metheny's bittersweet "Sometimes I See" and "Seven Days." Nearness features ample performances, but for truly inspired ballad fare, check out singer Johnny Hartman's I Just Dropped by to Say Hello, or the quintessential Ballads, by John Coltrane.

Ken Micallef, Amazon.com



Michael Brecker may have earned his reputation as one of jazz’s most influential saxophonists chiefly through his fusion work, but lately he has embraced more central — acoustic — jazz idioms, and this ballads album encapsulates all his formidable strengths. Blustering, high-power solos are the Brecker speciality, but here his contributions are beautifully controlled, occasionally building to his trademark roiling climaxes but always demonstrating his close rapport (built over years of close collaboration) with his stellar bandmates. With James Taylor contributing two passable vocals, this is at once an infectiously relaxed and pin-sharp session from some of the most justly celebrated figures in the music.

Rough Guide / Jazz



Was für eine Traumbesetzung! Für sein Album Nearness Of You -- The Ballad Book konnte US-Saxofonist Michael Brecker lauter prominente Jazzcracks ersten Ranges gewinnen. So nahm zum Beispiel Herbie Hancock am Flügel Platz und steuert so manche einfühlsame Tastenbegleitung bei, Pat Metheny ist an der Gitarre zu hören und fungierte zudem als Produzent, Charlie Haden zupft einen angenehm schnurrenden Kontrabass, und Drummer Jack DeJohnette stellt einmal mehr unter Beweis, dass er zu den Besten seines Faches gehört.

Mit diesem Jazz-Dreamteam hat Mr. Brecker sein erstes reines Balladenalbum eingespielt. Insgesamt elf Slowsongs der eher stillen Sorte interpretiert man hier im meist traditionellen Akustik-Ambiente und im zeitlos-eleganten Jazzformat. Irving Berlins immergrüner Titel "Always" etwa erklingt auf der wirklich schönen Compactdisc in einer betont nachdenklichen und versonnenen Bearbeitung. Das Latinstück "Nascente", das 1978 in der Fassung von Milton Nascimento zu Weltruhm gelangte, wurde federleicht-schwebend angelegt. Bei "Chan's Song" aus der Feder von Herbie Hancock glänzt Brecker als Balladeer mit samtweichem Saxofon-Sound und romantischer Empfindsamkeit. "Midnight Mood" vom österreichischen Weather-Report-Mitbegründer Joe Zawinul haucht der Amerikaner mit einer anrührenden Zartheit in sein Instrument. Und "My Ship" von Kurt Weill und Ira Gershwin wird in einer träumerischen Version zu Gehör gebracht.

In zwei Songs gibt sich James Taylor als "special guest" ein Stelldichein am Mikrofon: Das Lied "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight", das der Folkie im Jahre 1972 schon einmal mit Hilfe von Michael Brecker für sein Album One Man Dog aufgenommen hat, singt er hier viel reifer, ja abgeklärter. Und beim Title-Track "The Nearness Of You" vom Autorengespann Hoagy Carmichael und Ned Washington brilliert Taylor mit seiner Wandlungsfähigkeit, die es ihm gestattet, seine geschmeidige Stimme jedem Musikgenre anzupassen. Als Jazzvokalist jedenfalls macht der gelernte Singer/Songwriter eine richtig gute Figur.

Harald Kepler, Amazon.de



Mit dem Untertitel "The Ballad Book" stellt der vielseitige Saxofonist gleich klar, was von seinem neuen Album erwartet werden kann: Elf Balladen sind es genau. Und für deren Umsetzung sicherte sich Michael Brecker die Dienste von vier alten Kumpels, als da wären: Pianist Herbie Hancock, Gitarrist Pat Metheny (auch Produzent der CD), Bassist Charlie Haden und Schlagzeuger Jack DeJohnette. Bei zwei - den schönsten - Stücken erscheint dann noch der für Jazzaufnahmen sicherlich ungewöhnliche Sänger und Songwriter James Taylor am Mikrofon. In hoch ästhetischen, beinahe klassischen Arrangements spielt man eigene bzw. interpretiert Kompositionen von u. a. Hoagy Carmichael, Joe Zawinul, Irving Berlin und Weill/Gershwin. Nicht die üblichen Jazz-Balladen, sondern Stücke, die in diesem Kontext eher selten zu hören sind. Gegen die Musik ist natürlich nichts zu sagen, die Namen bürgen für beste Qualität. Mit "fortgeschrittenem" Alter scheint sich also selbst Michael Breckers Herz mehr an den ruhigen Noten zu erfreuen - und die Jazzwelt will man mit Innovationen sowieso nicht mehr auf den Kopf stellen.

Jazz thing (06/01) - Olaf Maikopf
© 2001 Jazz thing



The normally tempestuous tenor saxophonist has completely dedicated The Nearness Of You to the art of sensitive balladry. Presented in two "chapter" groupings, each with five tunes and a brief epilogue, the repertoire is divided between classics and band originals. Pat Metheny acts as producer, the guitarist being just one member of Brecker's impressively all-star crew, with Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette all serving as "mere" sidemen. James Taylor contributes guest vocals on two tunes, the significance of his appearance probably depending on the listener's generational placing and appetite for his prissily nasal warble. These numbers aside, the remaining bulk is uniformly incandescent, savoured with treacle slowness. Brecker explores a kind of reined-in version of his accustomed intensity, crying near the high end of his horn's range. There's a feeling that Brecker and band are working very hard to resist the fiery moment, with extra energies lurking in the wings. Each tune lingers in delicate suspension, steering clear of the usual ballad clichés.

Martin Longley, Amazon.co.uk Review



"...It's beautiful, finely hued music; and not only does Brecker's soft side prove completely convincing, but Methany and Hancock play as well as they have in an age."

Q (8/01, p.123) - 4 stars out of 5



"...An all-star band...more or less does what it says on the tin - and delightfully - the brawn is never far below the music's sheened surface..."

Mojo (6/01, p.110)



"...Holds together well as an hour-long romantic fire..."

JazzTimes (9/01, p.93)
  

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