Michael Brecker - 1988 "Don't Try This At Home"

Don't Try This at Home is the second album by American jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker, that was released on Impulse! records in 1988. In 1989, the album won a Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

Michael Brecker's second album as a leader is almost the equal of his first. Surprisingly, only one song ("Suspone") uses his working quintet of the period (which consists of guitarist Mike Stern, pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Jeff Andrews and drummer Adam Nussbaum) although those musicians also pop up on other selections with the likes of pianists Don Grolnick and Herbie Hancock, bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Jack DeJohnette and violinist Mark O'Connor. Brecker (on tenor and the EWI) is in superb form, really ripping into the eight pieces (mostly group originals). Recommended.

This is the album that made me want to play jazz. It's a fantastic album, but it's definitely a product of its time. All of the people complaining about the use of the EWI fail to take into account that this album was made in 1987, and the EWI was accepted as a good instrument for fusion playing. Yes, it sounds a bit dated now, but at the time, it was a revelation. And for all of you who think that the EWI sucks, go try and play one. It's very difficult, much more so than a standard tenor saxophone, so it makes the playing that much more remarkable.

Mr. Brecker's playing is absolutely mind-boggling on this CD. The opening track, "Itsbynne Reel" incorporates Irish folk music and an absolutely incredible solo. His use of the "super mixolydian" mode and phrasing put his playing a few levels above most of his contemporaries.

If you are one of those people that either subscribe to the Wynton Marsalis theory of jazz ("Swing+Blues=Jazz") or are only interested in the "head/solo/head/end" hard bop style of, say, Joe Lovano or Jerry Bergonzi, should probably look elsewhere. This is a Fusion album, and should be looked at as such.

From the first track, with the EWi instrument emulating bagpipes to the Monk like final track, this terrific album combines Brecker's incredibly creative, complex magnifcently skilled Coltrane like solos with a great ensemble that, often creates a big band sound, particularly on the seventh track, with its freedom song type basic lines combined with Brecker's magnificent solos. This album was an earlier demonstration of why the meaningful history of late modern jazz csn virtually start and stop with Micheal Brecker.

Track listing:

  1.  "Itsbynne Reel" (Michael Brecker, Don Grolnick) – 7:41
  2.  "Chime This" (Grolnick) – 7:50
  3.  "Scriabin" (Vince Mendoza) – 4:59
  4.  "Suspone" (Mike Stern) – 4:59
  5.  "Don't Try This at Home" (Brecker, Grolnick) – 9:30
  6.  "Everything Happens When You're Gone" (Brecker) – 7:11
  7.  "Talking to Myself" (Grolnick) – 5:10
  8.  "The Gentleman & Hizcaine" (Jim Beard) – 5:19

Personnel:

    Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone, EWI
    Herbie Hancock – piano
    Joey Calderazzo – piano
    Don Grolnick – piano
    Jim Beard – synthesizer, piano
    Judd Miller – synthesizer
    Mike Stern – guitar
    Mark O'Connor – violin
    Charlie Haden – bass
    Jeff Andrews – bass
    Jack DeJohnette – drums
    Peter Erskine – drums
    Adam Nussbaum – drums