contents

jazz
 
Randy Brecker & Brownman - New York Meets Toronto

Multi-Grammy Award winning legendary trumpeter Randy Brecker joins his former prodigal student, now internationally acclaimed jazz trumpeter Brownman on stage Fri Jan 11 2007 at Lula Lounge,Toronto, Ontario for a night of uber-modern electrified horn funkifications you won't want to miss! New York meets Toronto as 2 generations of award-winning modern jazz trumpet players come together.

In the early 90's a young Nick “Brownman” Ali would travel to New York City to study with his trumpet playing idol Randy Brecker. Now, years later after Brecker's influence catalyzed his climb into the upper ranks of the national jazz community, Brownman and his former teacher will reunite on stage at the Lula Lounge backed by the 2007 National Jazz Award winning BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO and nationally acclaimed guest keyboardist Adrean Farrugia, to give Toronto a taste of modern trumpet pyrotechnics.

Randy Brecker has been shaping the sound of jazz, R&B and rock for more than two decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from Blood, Sweat & Tears to Chaka Khan to Parliament-Funkadelics to Horace Silver to Jaco Pastorius and Frank Zappa. He was the backbone of the Blood, Sweat & Tears horn section for years before leaving to play with Horace Silver. It was just after this period he teamed with his brother - tenor saxman Michael - to form the Brecker Brothers. This group would become a band of immeasurable influence and impact. Hailed by pop and jazz critics alike, their first album, which Randy produced, was nominated for four Grammys. The Brecker Brothers went on to record a total of six albums and garner seven Grammy nominations between 1975 and 1981. In the fall of 1994, the Brecker Brothers released the double-Grammy winning “Out of the Loop” and in 1996 won Randy his first Grammy as a soloist in 1998 for “Best Contemporary Jazz Performance”. The 2003 release for the ESC label, 34th N Lex garnered rave reviews and featured 11 new Randy Brecker compositions

He is currently the feature artist in Miles Davis alumni saxophonist Bill Evans' SOULBOP band, travels the world as a clinician for Yamaha Music, and his latest release of “Some Skunk Funk” with the WDR Big Band in Koln, received 2 more Grammys in 2007 - one for “Best Large Ensemble Record” & one to his brother Michael Brecker for “Best Instrumental Solo”. Randy Brecker is widely considered to be one of the greatest modern jazz trumpet players in the history of the artform.

Born “Nick Ali” on the small Caribbean island of Trinidad, schooled in New York City under Randy Brecker's watchful eye and now called “Canada's preeminent jazz trumpeter” by New York City's Village Voice magazine, the ever dynamic Brownman tirelessly leads no less than 7 highly respected ensembles of his own spanning be-bop to hip-hop. He is best known for his work as the leader of Canada's premiere latin-jazz ensemble CRUZAO (winners of the 2001 Montreal Jazz Fest's “Grand Prix du Jazz award” & 5 time nominee at the National Jazz Awards for “Electric Group of the Year”) and his electrified Miles Davis' influenced BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO (2007 National Jazz Award winner for “Electric Group of the Year”). Despite the demands of leading 7 groups he is still one of the most called upon trumpet players in the studio scene, his recording credits sitting at just over 250 records to date, making him one of the most recorded trumpet players in Canadian history.

He is currently the featured soloist with the legendary New York City jazz-hip-hop artist GURU (of Gangstarr fame) for his JAZZMATAZZ ensemble, last month appeared on the cover of CODA magazine, Canada's most acclaimed jazz magazine. Since returning to Canada from NYC, he has been on the cutting edge of modern music in the nation for the last decade, winning multiple awards nationally, achieving international recognition while touring the globe, and widely considered to be a vanguard for the evolution of jazz in Canada.





write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page