Last to make their appearance on stage of the “1. Jazz Festival” was Michael Brecker and his Quartet. Concert took place on the same night as Trilok Gurtu’s Glimpse, but since Michael Brecker performed after Trilok Gurtu, it started at 2.00 AM and lasted until 4.00 AM. Michael Brecker had a plane to catch at 6.00 in the morning, and that makes his play and effort on stage even more significant, knowing that he might not have a time to sleep at all. We even managed to attract him back on stage with endless applause after he ended concert. On this supplement to the concert Michael Brecker and Ralph Peterson changed roles, so that we witnessed Michael Brecker’s drumming capabilities while Ralph Peterson played trumpet. Well, there was no end to applause after they finished, but we let them go to sleep.

Michael Brecker was born on March 29, 1949 in Philadelphia. Like many other jazz-artists Michael Brecker was exposed to jazz from his early days. His father, although attorney by profession, played piano, wrote songs and collected jazz-records. There he first heard Clifford Brown, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and many others.

When he grew up, Michael Brecker used to jam with his father, who was excited to see Michael growing as a player. He was one of main motives for Michael Brecker to continue his quest for great music. At the age of seven Michael Brecker started studying clarinet. His older brother, Randy, already practiced trumpet playing and since the very beginning two of them had wonderful brotherhood relationship, helping each other and amazing jazz fans all over word with their music.

"After dinner, before homework, my father and I had jam sessions at home. I did a lot of playing with my father, who was a wonderful pianist and songwriter. He knew all the standards. For him, music was more of a hobby but he was a great player, he knew the right changes. He had a very good ear and he would keep tabs on how I was growing as a player. My playing excited him a lot and that gave me a reason to continue."

Michael Brecker