The Brecker Brothers Band:
MICHAEL BRECKER - Electric Tenor Saxophone, Producer
RANDY BRECKER - Electric Trumpet, Keyboards, Producer
BARRY FINNERTY - Guitars, Guitorganizer, Background Vocals
TERRY BOZZIO - Drums, Background Vocals
NEIL JASON - Bass, Lead Vocals
Additional Musicians:
SAMMY FIGUEROA - Percussions
RAFAEL CRUZ - Percussions
Import exclusive 1997 compilation from jazz fusion act Michael &
Randy Brecker, two of the most in-demand & respected musicians on
the New York music scene have graced countless records with their
distinctive horn arrangements for more than twenty-five years. Born in
Philadelphia the brothers moved to New York in the sixties where Randy
joined Blood, Sweat & Tears before becoming part of Horace Silver's
quintet. Michael & Randy later hooked up with Billy Cobham to form
the pop-jazz collective Dreams whilst also doing session work during
the early seventies. By 1974 the two brothers were ready to venture out
on their own, releasing the debut single Sneakin' Up Behind You.
Although the track was a club favorite it failed to make the charts.
The commercial breakthrough came in 1978 with East River, a stomping
& funky brass workout which was a top 40 hit in the UK. 12 tracks
including East River, Skunk Funk & Sneakin Up Behind You.
In the '70s, brothers Michael and Randy co-led a band of New York
session big shots that included, at various times, David Sanborn, Don
Grolnick, Will Lee, and George Duke, among others. When they chose, the
Brecker Brothers Band could be one of the most intelligent and creative
fusion outfits. Chief composer/trumpeter Randy's best tunes were
structurally unpredictable, melodically intricate, and harmonically
complex — inside/out bop heads played in an impossibly precise
manner over a bed of funk rhythms. Unlike the bulk of jazz-funk (then
and now), the Breckers — on their first record, at least —
kept the pandering to a minimum. Though it had a certain commercial
appeal, 1975's Back to Back was an artistic success as well. The
Brothers' music was a smart combination of extended pop forms,
top-notch jazz improvisation, and sophisticated compositional
techniques. On later albums, the temptation to sell lots of records
apparently became too great to resist. Even the otherwise excellent
first record bore some marks of disco, and with each subsequent album,
the band's creative IQ shrank by several points. Still, virtually every
record had something of substance to recommend it. In the early '90s,
RCA issued a pair of compilation CDs that combined the best of the
band's purely instrumental, jazz-based work. By 1982, the brothers had
ceased working together. They reunited for touring and recording in the
early '90s.