Goddamn it.
To say Michael Brecker was a tenor saxophonist is an understatement.
He made his mark in the Seventies in the short-lived group, Dreams, and finally the fusion-influenced Brecker Brothers Band with his older brother Randy, a trumpeter.
From Wiki:
His more notable collaborations include those with James Taylor, Steely Dan, Donald Fagen and Joni Mitchell. During the early 80s he was also a member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live band. Brecker can be seen in the background sporting shades during Eddie Murphy’s James Brown parody, Get In The Hot Tub.
[…]Michael Brecker had been diagnosed with the blood disorder myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Despite a widely-publicized worldwide search, Brecker was unable to find a matching stem cell donor. In late 2005, he was the recipient of an experimental partial matching stem cell transplant.
But it didn’t take.
He died of MDS on Saturday in New York.
And Alice.
Undervalued by some critics because she was Trane’s widow. Undervalued because she put her religion in her music.
What do they think gospel is all about?
Or, doesn’t black expression also encompass other forms of sacred music?
Following a 25-year hiatus from major public performances, she returned to the stage for three US appearances in the fall of 2006, culminating with an ecstatic concert in San Francisco on November 4th with her son Ravi, drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Charlie Haden.
Alice Coltrane died of respiratory failure at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in suburban Los Angeles. Reportedly she had been in frail health for some time prior to her death.
She must’ve known that she was going. So she did that last concert like her last prayer to the Universe.
If anything, the recording is what counts.
A love supreme.
Rest in peace, Michael and Alice.
