2 Michael Brecker Solos I Can’t Live Without

May is Michael Brecker month here on #InTheShed and these are two of my favorite Michael Brecker solos from one of my favorite Brecker albums, Out of The Loop.

1. Slang

Solo ~3:40

Ever wondered what a motive is? Well this solo has one you can’t miss.

I recently was re-transcribing this and it’s so much fun the way he plays with all the inversions of Dm, Fm, F and G triads. He loved to mess with the b3/natural 3 in a chord and this is a perfect example. Like the African Skies solo, there’s a real architecture on display here.

2. African Skies

http://youtu.be/AMrQy_-7czQ

This solo has always been a favorite of mine because of the interesting way he ‘plays’ with the bottom end of the horn.

It’s as though right before jumping into the solo he said to himself, “Let’s see what we can do with those notes down in the basement.”

Last week I saw Joshua Redman play with a rock & roll group at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and we were discussing how in pop/rock music you never go below middle ‘F’ on the tenor. Half joking, but kinda true if you want your solo to speak over all the other instruments and at those volumes.

Anyway, I’ve always admired this solo (and I love this entire Brecker Bros. album; the songs and production are sick!) for the way he played with the whole range of the horn, mixing head-spinning chops with melodic and motivic creativity.

Alright now I’m sounding like a reviewer. Just listen to it. That’s all that matters. 🙂

Happy shedding.

Bob

Get Out of the Loop on iTunes, Amazon or Spotify