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cityscape, originally uploaded by thebeathunters.

CITYSCAPE/CLAUS OGERMAN & MICHAEL BRECKER
WEA, 1982
IN THE PRESENCE AND ABSCENCE OF EACH OTHER PT.1
you may come from outer space or don't dig jazz music but you probably heard mike brecker's sax before, as the man has recorded music with EVERYBODY in the past 35 years... trying to track all of his gigs is meaningless, as he and his older brother randy on trumpet were among the busiest of elite studio musicians who contributed to the sound of major 70/80's jazzpop artists: frank zappa, steely dan, michael franks, joni mitchell, etc. add frank sinatra, bruce springsteen, billy joel to the list, you name it... any major playa called in the L.A dream team:
steve gadd on drums, anthony jackson or abe laboriel on bass, larry carlton on guitar and the brecker brothers on horns. a cool biography of the main saxophone man is available HERE
among his extensive discography and my favorites recordings, CITYSCAPE holds a special place. don't get me started on CLAUS OGERMAN, eternally praised as ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM's arranger.
his musical genius deserves a full galaxy of dedicated posts. in 1978, seminal jazz pop producer TOMMY LiPUMA produced ogerman's GATE OF DREAMS, featuring gadd, george benson and mike brecker. he then felt the chemistry between the composer and sax tenor deserved further developments, achieved in CITYSCAPE. to me, IN THE PRESENCE... epitomizes brecker's style: his impro builds up on emotion and energy but keeps the introspective mood of ogerman's music. more brecker pieces in next posts BUY THE ALBUM