Brecker Brothers Release 1980 Performance with Neil Jason
Forty years after it took place, a classic Brecker Brothers gig is now available on a new album called Live and Unreleased. The recording catches the iconic fusion band, fronted by trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxophonist Michael Brecker, at the Hamburg music club Onkel Pö’s Carnegie Hall during their Great European Tour in 1980.
“Young and ready to create havoc wherever we performed, we usually left our audiences in tatters…,” says Randy. “Brother Mike was at the top of his game (well, he never wasn’t at the top of his game!) and we were clicking as the Brother Horn Section or ‘Hawn’ Section as they would say in Long Island. So enjoy this ‘long lost’ live concert which brings back to life a lot of pleasant memories of great music, late nights ‘on the hang’, and many a story a little too risqué to repeat here.”
The band’s lineup at the time also included keyboardist Mark Gray, guitarist Barry Finnerty, drummer Richie Morales, and bassist Neil Jason, who also supplies vocals on his song “East River.” Jason’s aggressive style and tone help to add an edge to the group’s sound, which ultimately helped shape the sound of fusion in the 80s. Be sure to check out his funked out solo on the finger-busting “Some Skunk Funk”.
Live and Unreleased is available now in a 2-CD or vinyl set.
Live and Unreleased Track List:
- Strap Hangin’
- Tee’d Off
- Sponge
- Funky Sea, Funky Dew
- I Don’t Know Either
- Inside Out
- Baffled
- Some Skunk Funk
- East River
- Don’t Get Funny With My Money
