''Return of the Brecker Brothers'' is an album by the American jazz fusion group, the

Brecker Brothers The Brecker Brothers were a jazz fusion music duo consisting of siblings Michael Brecker, Michael and Randy Brecker, Randy. Michael played saxophone, flute, and EWI (musical instrument), EWI, and Randy played trumpet and flugelhorn. The brothers ...

. It was released by

GRP Records GRP® Records (Grusin-Rosen Productions) is a jazz record label founded by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen (producer), Larry Rosen in 1978. Distributed by Verve Records, GRP® was originally known for its digital recordings that focuses on its jazz ...

in 1992, their first recording after a decade-long hiatus. The track "Big Idea" was released as an R&B single.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

awarded the album with 3.5 stars and its review by Thom Jurek states: "This set marked a fitting return for the Breckers, who never let the fashionable tenets of the smooth jazz '90s totally appropriate their creativity or their sound".Jurek, Thom Allmusic Review: ''Return of the Brecker Brothers''accessed 27 June 2015 At the

1993 Grammy Awards The 35th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1993 and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The nominations were announced on January 7, 1993. The evening's host was the American stand-up comedian Garry Shand ...

the album received three nominations: Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Best R&B Instrumental Performance ("Big Idea") and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo (Randy Brecker on "Above & Below").

Track listing

# "Song for

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

" (

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

) — 5:07 # "King of the Lobby" (Michael Brecker) — 5:20 # "Big Idea" (Michael Brecker,

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on Nov ...

, Robbie Kilgore) — 4:20 # "Above & Below" (Randy Brecker) — 7:05 # "That’s All There Is to It" (Randy Brecker) — 5:26 # "Wakaria (What’s Up?)" (Michael Brecker) — 5:26 # "On the Backside" (Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker) — 6:25 # "Sozinho (Alone)" (Randy Brecker) — 7:36 # "

Spherical A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ce ...

" (Michael Brecker) — 5:58 # "Good Gracious" (Randy Brecker) — 5:13 # "

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...

" (Randy Brecker) — 4:56

Personnel

The Brecker Brothers *

– tenor saxophone, Akai EWI (1, 6, 11), keyboards (1, 2, 9), synthesizer programming (1, 2, 6, 9), arrangements (1, 2, 5, 7, 9), soprano saxophone (6) *

– trumpet (1-7, 9, 10, 11),

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

(1, 2, 6, 8), arrangements (4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11), vocals (5) Other Musicians * Max Risenhoover – synthesizer programming (1, 2), percussion programming (1), bass (2), drums (2), arrangements (2),

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

programming (6),

ride cymbal The ride cymbal is a standard cymbal in most drum kits. Its function in the kit is to maintain a beat,Schroedl, Scott (2001). ''Play Drums Today!'', p.7. Hal Leonard. . "It's called the ride cymbal because you 'ride' on it--that is, you maintain a s ...

(6),

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s (8) *

George Whitty George Whitty is an American musician, composer, record producer, audio engineer and music educator, currently living near Los Angeles, California, United States. He won an Emmy Award in 2014 for his work as a composer for the television series, '' ...

– keyboards (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8-11), additional

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(3), arrangements (5, 9), acoustic piano (7), programming (7), additional arrangements (7), synthesizer programming (9, 11) * Mary "Maz" Kessler – keyboards (3, 7), drum programming (3, 7), arrangements (3) * Robbie Kilgore – Rhodes piano (3), bass (3), arrangements (3), additional acoustic piano (7), synth bass (7) *

Mike Stern Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, re ...

– guitars (1, 2, 4, 8-11) *

Dean Brown Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

– guitars (2, 5, 11) *

Armand Sabal-Lecco Armand Sabal-Lecco is a Cameroonian bass guitarist, composer and multi-instrumentalist best known for playing bass-guitar on Paul Simon's The Rhythm of the Saints, The Rhythm of the Saint's tour in 1989. Sabal-Lecco has worked with Paul Simon, Br ...

– bass (1, 5, 6),

piccolo bass A piccolo bass is either an electric bass or acoustic double bass which has been tuned to a higher frequency, usually one octave higher than conventional bass tuning. This allows bass players to use higher registers during soloing while retaining ...

(1, 6), vocals (1, 6), drums (6), percussion (6), arrangements (6) *

James Genus James Genus (January 20, 1966) is an American jazz bassist. He plays both electric bass guitar and upright bass and currently plays in the Saturday Night Live Band. Genus has performed as a session musician and sideman throughout his career, havin ...

– bass (4, 10, 12),

acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar a ...

(7, 8), electric bass (8) *

Dennis Chambers Dennis Milton Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American drummer. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2001. Early life Chambers was born on May 9, 1959. He began drumming at the age of four years, and was gigging in Bal ...

– drums (4, 5, 6, 8-11) *

Don Alias Charles "Don" Alias (December 25, 1939 in New York City – March 28, 2006 in New York City) was an American jazz percussionist. Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums. He was, however, a capable drum kit performer: for e ...

– percussion (1, 8, 9, 11) *

Bashiri Johnson Bashiri Johnson (born May 12, 1955) is a New York City-based percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, videogames, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded ...

– percussion (4) *

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 1 ...

– alto saxophone (2) * Jason Miles – arrangements (2) * Veera – voices (2, 3) *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper' ...

– additional voices (5), bass (9) * Malcolm Pollack – additional voices (5)

Production

Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

– executive producer * Larry Rosen – executive producer * The Brecker Brothers – producers (1, 2, 4-11) * Maz & Kilgore – producers (3, 7), mixing (7) * Max Risenhoover – co-producer, editing,

sequencing In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succ ...

* George Whitty – co-producer * Todd Childress – engineer, assistant engineer * Malcolm Pollack – engineer * Garry Rindfuss – engineer * Michael White – engineer, assistant engineer * Jenny Bette – assistant engineer * Brian Kinkead – assistant engineer * Lolly Grodner – assistant engineer * Ray Bardani – mixing (1, 2, 3) * Joe Ferla – mixing (4, 5, 6, 8-11) * Joseph Doughney – post-production engineer * Michael Landy – post-production engineer * Adam Zelinda – post-production engineer *

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bisho ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY) * Kyle Benson – A&R * Cameron Mizell – production coordinator * Hollis King – art direction * Scott Johnson – design * Sonny Mediana – design * Andy Ruggirello – design * Dan Serrano – design * Sharon Franklin – design assistant * Darryl Pitt – cover concept, photography * Judith Schiller – photography

Return of the Brecker Brothers – Live in Barcelona (VHS)

In 1992, a VHS video entitled "Return of the Brecker Brothers – Live in Barcelona" was released by

of a concert at the

Palau de la Música Catalana Palau de la Música Catalana (, en, Palace of Catalan Music) is a concert hall in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed in the Catalan '' modernista'' style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for O ...

in Barcelona. The concert has not officially been released on DVD format. It was officially released on Laser disk however. (GRP Video – PILJ-1124)

Track listing

# "Above & Below" (Randy Brecker) # "Spherical" (Michael Brecker) # "Some Skunk Funk" (Randy Brecker) # " Common Ground" (Mike Stern) # "Song for Barry" (Michael Brecker) # "Inside Out" (Randy Brecker)

Personnel

* Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone, EWI * Randy Brecker – trumpet * George Whitty – keyboards * Mike Stern – guitars *James Genus – bass * Dennis Chambers – drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Return of the Brecker Brothers 1992 albums Brecker Brothers albums GRP Records albums