Birmingham Jazz Blog

Michael Brecker

Tony Dudley-Evans — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:16:05 +0000

MICHAEL BRECKER 1949– 2007

I was saddened to hear of Michael Brecker’s death from leukaemia earlier in January. He was of course a major figure in jazz and his voice on saxophone was probably the most significant since John Coltrane.

I am delighted that we were able to present him in Birmingham on three occasions. The first two featured Michael in other leaders’ bands, with the Don Grolnick Band and then with Don Alias and Friends. On both occasions his elder brother Randy was also in the band. These were at the Adrian Boult Hall and on the first visit Michael also gave a fascinating workshop partnered by fellow saxophonist Marty Ehrlich. The third and final visit saw Michael leading his Large Ensemble with Gil Goldstein and a number of British players. That played Symphony Hall as part of a UK CMN tour.

I also had the privilege to act as tour manager for the Don Alias tour so was out on the road with Michael. He was a very private person, but at all times charming to be with and stimulating company. And it was fascinating to hear him play on the road on 7 consecutive gigs; he was extremely creative each night and in no way did he slip into the same solo on each tune.

I was amused by his reaction to a fan waiting after one of those concerts. The fan asked what it had been like to ‘play with Frank’. Michael immediately asked ‘Sinatra or Zappa?’. He had played with both. The fan was interested in Zappa and Michael said that it had been a great experience to play with him. Later that night he confessed to me that in fact he had not enjoyed the experience of playing in the Zappa band at all!

Tony Dudley-Evans

john surman quartet at CBSO Centre

Tony Dudley-Evans — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 12:57:21 +0000

tonyde wrote:

john surman quartet at CBSO Centre

Great to see this wonderful quartet at the CBSO Centre last Friday; great that a big and varied audience came to see them. There was a good representation of our regular audience and of the students on the jazz course at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

The quartet rarely works. John mentioned that it had had three gigs in the last four years, Cheltenham Jazz Festival in 2002, one in Poland (I don’t know when exactly) for which the band was paid in special Polish mugs but no fee and Birmingham last Friday.

It was wonderful to see these four great musicians, all in their 60s clearly revelling in each other’s company, both musically and socially. And really having a blow! I was particularly impressed with John Marshall who had a year out from playing as a result of a back injury in 2004/5. He is an amazing drummer, forceful, pushy but never over-dominant.

Look out for a review in The Times this coming week; this will be posted on www.birminghamjazz.co.uk and for pictures on Russ Escritt’s website www.russpix.co.uk

Coming soon

Tony Dudley-Evans — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 22:31:00 +0000

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