Michela Longhin
Michael Brecker invented his own language on his instrument, one that would accommodate his enormous intellect and his heart and his soul. That, for me, is why he was so great and groundbreaking, whether playing/recording with McCoy Tyner or Manhattan Transfer or Cameo or Chick Corea or James Taylor or his brother Randy. . . . how many other musicians in our lifetimes have done that? Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon/Paul McCartney, Miles Davis, maybe Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, probably Joni Mitchell . . . . i.e., people who made music that will still be inspiring human beings a thousand years from now . . .