Michael Brecker was arguably the most influential saxophonist of the last 30 years and his death earlier this year saw jazz lose one of its most vibrant contemporary voices. A blistering soloist who brought a lyrical touch and steely precision to Coltrane’s famous ‘sheets of sounds’ he made his name in the ’70s, playing fusion and funk alongside his trumpet-playing brother Randy in the Brecker Brothers, while in the ’80s he was the saxophonist of choice for James Taylor, Yoko Ono and Paul Simon – influencing an entire generation of sax students along the way.
But it was a series of remarkably straight ahead albums in the late ’90s that finally saw Brecker acclaimed as jazz’s leading living saxophonist and this takes its cue from that period. Recorded as he battled with cancer, it is a testament to his spirit and his band (Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, John Patitucci and Jack DeJohnette ) that it’s not a maudlin affair, but a bustling, often joyous and at times heartbreakingly poignant album that serves as a fitting farewell.
