Randy Brecker - Rocks (2019/2021) [Official Digital Download]

In 1966 Randy Brecker and his instrumental-fraction participated in an international jazz competition in Vienna and came in second. by a tenth of a point (!) after Franco Ambrosetti. At that moment everyone in Europe - outside of the jazz scene - associated the word “trumpet” with one person: Raffaele Celeste Rosso, aka: Nini Rosso. With his world hit “Il Silenzio” he had become the quintessence of the “romantic trumpet” (nowadays often referred to as “easy listening trumpet” and marketed under the label of “smooth trumpet”). An unmistakable change of image: Until that moment Rosso had been known as one of the best jazz trumpeters in Italy.

And Randy? In the very same year – 1966 – he moved from Philadelphia to New York. His first engagements involved big bands – e.g. Clark Terry’s band, the Duke Pearson Big Band and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. This XL-format is (almost) always a good option for trumpeters; especially for somebody like Randy, whose musical style does not necessarily exclude lyrical and soft outings but who prefers to apply pressure. The latest result of this predilection is the current CD: a big bang with a big band. Already the title is a counterdraft to Rosso’s “Il Silenzio: Rocks. The composition of the same title also had a programmatic function. First recorded in 1975 for the debut album of the Brecker Brothers (The Brecker Bros.), the piece was the opener of their live-repertoire (it can be enjoyed on the recently released recording of their 1976 performance in New York - The Bottom Line. Back then David Sanborn was part of the team). Right at the onset “Rocks” makes clear what it is all about – jazz-rock charged up with a lot of testosterone, a razor-sharp brass section and fiery solos of a polished but nevertheless still rough New-York-sound – all of that was perfectly expressed in the title of a later live-album: Heavy Metal Be-Bop.

“The situation of broadcasting in the USA is still frustrating: on the one hand, the smooth-jazz-radio and on the other hand, the puristic jazz radio. But between those two extremes there is nothing. If you don’t cater to one or the other, then your music will not be played. I refuse to do that. I make my very own, eccentric music.” This very music is cherished all the more in Europe, especially by the big bands of public broadcasting stations. The most recent example is the NDR Big Band.

TRACKLIST

1. Randy Brecker - First Tune on the Set
2. Randy Brecker - Adina
3. Randy Brecker - Squids
4. Randy Brecker - Pastoral
5. Randy Brecker - The Dipshit
6. Randy Brecker - Above and Below
7. Randy Brecker - Sozinho
8. Randy Brecker - Rocks
9. Randy Brecker - Threesome



Thanks to the Original customer.