Last weekend I helped my brother move across state. After we stuffed the 26-foot U-Haul and his Ford pickup, he handed me the keys to the Ford and just as we were about to embark he showed my his XM radio and before I can tell him I already had an iPod handy for listening, he gave me a quick tutorial on how to work this newfangled device that's become all the rage among mobile music listeners.
We shove off with me tailing my brother's U-Haul and I pop the white earbuds in my ears. Crap, the Nano is just about bled dry of juice. Let's check out this XM gizmo and see if we can find some good tunes on it. Turning the knob I find a "straight jazz" channel. Alright, I think, now we're getting somewhere. But I soon discover some of the material is too soft, I'll never make the three hour drive up to Shreveport. Luckily, just two channels over, I discover "Beyond Jazz." Now, this is what I call traveling music. They're playing Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanton Moore and some trippy acid jazz outfit called the Modern Groove Syndicate.
And about every hour, they're queuing up a song by the late, lamented Michael Brecker.
Last week I sort of covered his untimely passing with a quick piece, and intended to move on from there. But this station was playing cuts off of 1990's Now You See It...Now You Don't which I previously noted was my favorite Michael Brecker. Adding to that good vibe are some positive associations with the time period when this record was new and in my regular CD rotation.
One of the cuts played was "Dogs In The Wine Shop," and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since then. Yes, folks, I have a One Track Mind, but this time, the song wasn't selected on a whim. Indeed, it's a mission.
Like all the other tracks on Now You See It...Now You Don't and all of Brecker's early solo records in general, it is a rare example of challenging, engaging fusion in the late eighties and early nineties. By then the genre largely gave way to bland smooth jazz on one end and incessant wanking on the other. Brecker offered a perfect middle road.
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Article comments
1 - John
Good post, Pico. Now You See It... was my first Michael Brecker solo recording and I still enjoy it. When he passed, "Dogs in the Wine Shop" was the track I put on my TomorrowJazz Radio station.
2 - Pico
Thanks for the comment, John. Obviously, I strongly agree with your choice of song for a Mike Brecker tribute :&)
By the way, nice site you've got there, chock full of interesting news about outlaw jazz (just made up that term, what the hell). I also dig the eclectic mix of tunes. The Solsonics' “Jazz in the Present Tense” was another song I remember hearing on Beyond Jazz during my fateful trip up to Shreveport. TommorowJazz dot com just became a proud addition to my blog's blogroll.
3 - Mark Saleski
it's kind of difficult to pick a favorite Brecker, mostly since there's so much in his catalog.
one of my favorites is "Two Folk Songs" from Pat Metheny's 80/81 w/Metheny, Brecker, Haden, DeJohnette, and Dewey Redman. quite a lineup.
4 - Pico
That Metheny album remains one of Pat's best ever IMO and it's largely due to Brecker. It was one of the few times before Mike "went solo" that he was in a more challenging setting that matched his abilities. Like Grolnick, Metheny and Brecker go back a long way (they were both in Joni Mitchell's Don Juan-era band along with Jaco).
A discussion on Brecker's notable guest spots could go on forever, but that one has to rank as one of his all-time best. He left behind a huge recording legacy that insures we won't forget this guy anytime soon.
5 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites.
6 - John
Thanks, Pico! I'm honored to be on your blogroll.
XM72 has introduced me to a good number of artists in the years I've listened. I was pretty excited when I got the service and heard Solsonics. The band's one CD, from a decade ago, is one of my desert island discs.
7 - Rick
I like what you have to say about MB. Just one glaring mistake. Brecker never played alto on any of his recordings.