That was made evident to me last year at the Amazonas Jazz Festival in Manaus, Brazil, when Brecker, who had spent almost a full day in transit from Europe, where he was touring, took the stage with the excellent local big band that was playing his charts, and nailed every solo with freshness and vigor, taking chances and unfailingly going for broke.
Then he flew back to Europe for more concerts I think devoted to the music of Fats Navarro. One of a kind. I learned so much from this session. Thank you, maestro. No piano. Sounds like a contemporary take on it, which is interesting. Maybe something Russell Gunn might do. Russell would probably be my first guess. Not Russell? Well, I like pianoless quartets. No, you got me. But both were excellent soloists, both could utilize the full range of their instruments and play great within the bebop tradition with a hint of modernity with the arrangement, which is completely contemporary.
For execution and musicality, 4 stars. I have no idea who the bass player or drummer was. It could have been Tain maybe. Nice trumpet sound. Maybe a little too much reverb on the trumpet, on the recording.
It might be one of those audiophile recordings with one microphone in the church. The pianist has a very nice, light touch, which I like. Also a nice in-and-out harmonic sense. The trumpet player has a really nice, open trumpet sound, probably some classical training. Moacir Santos? He constantly came up with ideas. I know his playing has changed a lot in the ensuing years, and he practices more.
I remember hearing an interview where he… You can tell that he spends a lot of time on the instrument. His tone is completely different than it used to be. A very, very nice tone. Sounds like an original composition with difficult changes.
