Michael Brecker Noew You See it

This encounter between Chick Corea (sticking to acoustic piano), tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Steve Gadd lives up to expectations. The program features three lengthy "Quartet" pieces, including sections dedicated to Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. This blowing date is highly recommended for true jazz fans.

Michael Brecker was truly one of the most known tenor saxophone players of his generation. His incredible technical knowledge, the imaginative control of his instrument and the lightness with what he was able to adapt to any musical surrounding gave him exceptional development opportunities. For over thirty years, until his death in 2007 he was one of the most in demand session musicians. His name can be found on more than 800 jazz, pop and rock albums. At the same time the ten times Grammy award winner developed to one of the most passionate and most dynamic jazz soloists, an incredible improviser and imaginative composer.

Don Grolnick was a subtle and rather underrated pianist throughout his career, but his flexibility and talents were well known to his fellow musicians. Grolnick played in rock bands while a teenager but was always interested in jazz. He worked in the early fusion group Dreams (1969-1971), the Brecker Brothers (starting in 1975), and in the early '80s with Steps Ahead. He has long been a busy session musician often utilized by pop singers. In the 1980s, Grolnick appeared in many settings including with Joe Farrell, George Benson, Peter Erskine, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Mike Stern, and the Bob Mintzer big band. Don Grolnick is heard at his best on his Hip Pocket debut Hearts and Numbers (1986), and on his two Blue Note albums, which have been reissued as a double-CD.

Bakithi Kumalo’s bass playing can be found in the heart and soul of the modern day anthems that have shaped our sense of music and culture as we know it. Ranked among the top 50 bass players in the world by Bass Player Magazine, Bakithi Kumalo is a five-time Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist. Born in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, South Africa and surrounded by relatives who loved music and actively performed, Kumalo landed his first job at the age of seven filling in for his uncle's bass player. Kumalo worked as a session musician in South Africa during the 1970s and early 1980s, eventually becoming a top session bassist and accompanying international performers during their South African tours.