Randy Brecker

Randy Brecker

Trumpet icon Trumpet

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79 age

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Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, U.S. Birthplace

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About

Randy Brecker is a 7-time Grammy winning trumpeter and composer. He is best known as part of the Brecker Brothers, the jazz-fusion duo he created with his brother, saxophonist Michael Brecker, but Randy Brecker has had a long and varied career. He began his career in 1967 and played in a series of established jazz bands including Horace Silver's Quintet and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In 1970 he was part of the prominent fusion band, Dreams, and then in 1974 co-founded the Brecker Brothers. The Brecker Brothers recorded 6 albums and received 7 Grammy nominations between 1975 and 1981 and then had a successful reunion 10 years later. Additionally, Randy Brecker released over a dozen solo albums as well as recording with a variety of artists including James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, and Jaco Pastorius.

Trivia

Randy Brecker won his first Grammy award as a solo artist in 1997 for the album "Into the Sun." Randy Brecker was married to Brazilian pianist and jazz vocalist Eliane Elias and is currently married to saxophonist Ada Rovatti. Randy Brecker's collaboration with Polish composer Wlodek Pawlik began after Brecker learned of his Polish ancestry while searching for a bone marrow donor for his brother.

Early Life

Randy Brecker was born in 1945 just outside Philadelphia. He came from a musical family. His father was a lawyer, jazz aficionado and amateur jazz pianist and his younger brother was saxophonist Michael Brecker. Randy Brecker began playing the trumpet in school when he was 8 and by high school was a skilled musician playing in local R&B and funk bands. He studied music at Indiana University and headed to New York after graduation where he quickly found work with Clark Terry's big band.