Artist	Song
James Taylor	Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
Paul Simon	Still Crazy After All These Years
Brecker Brothers	Some Skunk Funk
Chick Corea	Confirmation
Steps Ahead	Loxodrome
Dire Straits	Your Latest Trick
Michael Brecker	Suspone
Michael Brecker	The Meaning of the Blues
Brecker Brothers	Big Idea
Michael Brecker	Cabin Fever
Hue and Cry	Virus of Love
Michael Brecker Quartet	Delta City Blues
Michael Brecker Quindectet	Night Jessamine
Michael Brecker	I Can See Your Dreams
Joni Mitchell	Hejira (live)

Comment:

Yes, I had resolved to make no new mixes in 2007, but then Michael Brecker died and so much for that. This is my mournful Valentine to him.Michael Brecker was one of the most prolific and influential tenor saxophonists of the late 20th century. A consummate session player, he appeared on as many as a thousand pop, rock, funk, and jazz recordings, often together with his older brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker. He played with the likes of James Taylor, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, Elton John, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Parliament, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Chic, and Frank Zappa, not to mention such jazz legends as Horace Silver, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Chet Baker, Don Cherry, Dave Brubeck, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, and Jaco Pastorius.His own groups included Dreams, Steps Ahead, and the popular Brecker Brothers, a jazz-funk outfit he and Randy led together. Besides innovating on the tenor, Mike helped pioneer the EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument), which he employed to great effect on Paul Simon's The Rhythm of the Saints. Beginning in 1987, he cut a successful string of solo albums with collaborators like Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, and Larry Goldings, emerging as one of the giants of the modern jazz scene. Along the way, he picked up eleven Grammys.Mike was diagnosed with the blood disorder myelodysplastic syndrome in 2005, and though a global search for a stem cell donor turned up no exact matches, his plight prompted thousands to sign up with the International Bone Marrow Registry. He underwent an experimental partial matching stem cell transplant late that year, but not with the hoped-for results. On January 13, 2007, he died of complications from leukemia in New York City. He was 57.Mike's playing was always exuberant, full of humor and joy. With tracks in his catalog like "Itsbynne Reel" and "Escher Sketch," I like to think he would have enjoyed the title of this mix. No single disc could possibly chart the breadth of his talent, but this small selection of his recordings is at least a place to begin. R.I.P.(I chose the live version of "Hejira" to end the disc because of Mike's poignant solo, and the now-haunting way that Joni Mitchell alters one lyric to say, "Listen, strains of Michael Brecker coming through the snow and the pinewood trees.")  [album art full size]

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