Rocks (Piloo Records)
Randy Brecker
Released February 2019
All About Jazz Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
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About:
This CD came to fruition after two successful tours featuring Randy Brecker fronting the NDR Bigband – The Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra. Arranger/Conductor Jörg Achim Keller handled works Randy composed from different periods of his career. The tours were so well received that the higher-ups in the NDR organization gave the green light to record everything in a studio situation. Jörg’s idea was to have the original three-horn front line of the Brecker Brothers Band augmented by the NDR Bigband, with an extended woodwind section featuring double reeds such as oboe and bassoon, and extensive woodwind doubling like bass clarinets and flutes, etc. for coloring. Original Brecker Brothers Band member alto saxophonist David Sanborn was brought in, along with Ada Rovatti on tenor and soprano saxophones, and world famous drummer Wolfgang Haffner. Ada Rovatti (Randy’s wife) has been a member of the Brecker Brothers Band Reunion since its inception, has had a successful recording career of her own, and has continued the tradition of ‘saxophonistic excellence’ in the Brecker family.The end results are organic big band arrangements, which augment the concepts behind Brecker s original compositions. Along with the other soloists – all regular members of the NDR Bigband – this CD is a spirited romp, one that will stand the test of time. Have fun listening, there is never a dull moment!
Track Listing:
1. First Tune of the Set (feat. Fiete Felsch & Vladyslav Sendecki) 8:09
2. Adina (feat. Ada Rovatti, Wolfgang Haffner & Marcio Doctor) 6:17
3. Squids (feat. Frank Delle) 6:38
4. Pastoral (feat. Ada Rovatti, Edgar Herzog, Frank Delle, Björn Berger & Christian Diener) 7:22
5. The Dipshit (feat. David Sanborn) 6:22
6. Above and Below (feat. Ada Rovatti & Wolfgang Haffner) 7:32
7. Sozinho (feat. Vladyslav Sendecki) 7:26
Randy Brecker (soloist), Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo 2020
8. Rocks (feat. David Sanborn) 6:54
9. Threesome (feat. David Sanborn & Bruno Müller) 6:33
Personnel:
Randy Brecker: trumpet, flugelhorn
Dave Sanborn: alto saxophone
Ada Rovatti: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Wolfgang Haffner: drums
NDR Bigband
Jörg Achim Keller: conductor
Thorsten Benkenstein, Ingolf Burkhardt, Claus Stötter, Reiner Winterschladen: trumpet
Fiete Felsch, Peter Bolte: alto saxophone, reeds
Frank Delle, Björn Berger: tenor saxophone, reeds
Edgar Herzog: baritone saxophone, reeds
Dan Gottshall, Sebastian Stanko, Klaus Heidenreich: trombones
Stefan Lottermann, Ingo Lahme: bass trombone, tuba
Christian Diener: electric bass, acoustic bass
Vladyslav Sendecki: keyboards
Bruno Müller: guitar
Marcio Doctor: percussion
Recorded January 2017 & May 2018 at NDR Studio 1, Hamburg, Germany
Additional Recording and Editing at Hamptonsound Studio, East Hampton NY
Produced by Axel Durr (NDR), Stefan Gerdes (NDR), Randy Brecker and Joachim Becker
Recording Producer: Christian Cluxen, Hrolfur Vagnsson (January 18, 2017)
Multi Editing: Christian Cluxen
Recording Engineer: Sven Kohlwage
Edited & Mixed by Klaus Genuit at Hansahaus Studios, Bonn, Germany in July and October 2018
Mastered by Marko Schneider
Photos by Ada Rovatti
Cover Design: Knut Schotteldreier
Review:
Randy Brecker has been at the forefront of jazz since the late 1960s. His debut album as leader way back in 1969 was Score (Solid State). In addition to numerous albums under his own name he’s also recorded with George Benson, Duke Pearson, Dreams and Larry Coryell’s Eleventh House, to name just a few. But perhaps he is best known for the albums he produced with his younger brother, the late Michael Brecker as The Brecker Brothers. Lest people forget what a significant force of nature the BBs were, Stuart Nicholson in his book Jazz-Rock: A History, described the Breckers’ horn lines as becoming “the model for countless fusion bands in the 1980s and 1990s.”
So this recording, made with the NDR Big Band in January 2017 and May 2018, revives fond memories of the Breckers’ illustrious outfit by including within the nine track selection no fewer than five tracks originally recorded by the brothers. Another three tracks are taken from Randy Brecker’s The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion (Piloo, 2013) namely “First Tune Of The Set,” “Adina” and “The Dipshit.” The exception to this is “Pastoral” which Brecker originally wrote as a elegiac tribute to the late Jaco Pastorius (with whom he recorded two albums) and which was first released on his 2001 record Hangin’ In The City (ESC Records). This is a sumptuous outing with Brecker’s flugelhorn playing at its most lyrical.
The brash opener, “First Tune Of The Set,” the brass embellished by chirruping synth, is followed by the relatively stately pace of “Adina” with Brecker delivering a majestic flugelhorn solo and Ada Rovatti following with a lissom soprano solo. The BB funk of “Squids” from Don’t Stop The Music (Arista, 1977) still has those unmistakable hooks, revivified by the orchestra and a meaty tenor solo by Frank Delle. “The Dipshit,” a Latin-esque romp, features a soaring alto solo by BB alumnus David Sanborn. Reassuringly, over the course of half a century, Brecker has lost none of his superlative virtuosity as evidenced by his rivetingly ebullient trumpet solos on, for example, “Above And Below” and the title track taken from the brothers’ eponymous debut album (Arista, 1975) replete with its trademark funky clavinet. With auspicious augmentation courtesy of the magnificent NDR Big Band, this album is, in effect, a Brecker Brothers redux, with bells on.
Roger Farbey (All About Jazz)
