Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His ability to perform many different styles of music has made him a well-known studio musician who has recorded with artists in jazz, rock, and R&B.

Early life and education

Brecker was born in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, on November 27, 1945, to a family with a strong musical background. His father, Bob (Bobby), was a lawyer who also played jazz piano. His mother, Sylvia, was a portrait artist.

Randy described his father as a part-time jazz pianist and a fan of the trumpet. "In school when I was eight years old, students could choose between trumpet or clarinet. I chose the trumpet after hearing jazz musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, and Chet Baker at home. My brother, Michael Brecker, did not want to play the same instrument, so three years later, he chose the clarinet instead."

Randy’s father, Bob, was also a songwriter and singer who enjoyed listening to recordings of famous jazz trumpet players, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Clifford Brown. He took Randy and his younger brother, Michael Brecker, to see live performances by jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Duke Ellington.

Brecker attended Cheltenham High School from 1959 to 1963. He then studied at Indiana University from 1963 to 1966, where he learned from teachers including Bill Adam, David Baker, and Jerry Coker. After university, he moved to New York and performed with groups such as Clark Terry’s Big Bad Band, the Duke Pearson ensemble, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.

Career

In 1967, Brecker joined the band Blood, Sweat & Tears to play jazz-rock music on their first album, Child Is Father to the Man. He later left to join the Horace Silver Quintet. Brecker recorded his first solo album, Score, in 1968, which included his brother Michael Brecker.

After working with Horace Silver, Randy Brecker joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He later teamed up with his brother Michael, Barry Rogers, Billy Cobham, and John Abercrombie to form the fusion group Dreams. The group recorded two albums: Dreams and Imagine My Surprise for Columbia Records before they disbanded in 1971.

In the early 1970s, Brecker performed live with many artists, including The Eleventh House, Stevie Wonder, and Billy Cobham. He also recorded several albums with his brother under pianist/composer Hal Galper.

By 1975, Randy and Michael formed the Brecker Brothers band. They released six albums on Arista and received seven Grammy nominations between 1975 and 1981. Their first record, The Brecker Bros., included Randy’s composition “Some Skunk Funk,” and he composed several pieces on this and later albums.

After the Brecker Brothers disbanded in 1982, Randy joined Jaco Pastorius’s Word of Mouth big band. Soon after, he married Brazilian jazz pianist Eliane Elias. Together, they formed their own band, toured the world, and recorded an album named after their daughter, Amanda, on Passport Records.

In 1977, he founded the jazz club Seventh Avenue South with his brother Michael Brecker.

In 1992, Randy and Michael reunited for a world tour and the triple-Grammy nominated GRP recording The Return of the Brecker Brothers. The follow-up, 1994’s Out of the Loop, was a double-Grammy winner. In 1995, he was featured on Turtles, an album by Polish composer Włodek Pawlik.

In 1997, Into the Sun (Concord), a recording featuring Brecker’s impressions of Brazil, earned him his first Grammy as a solo artist.

In 2001, Brecker released Hangin’ in the City (ESC), a solo project that introduced his alter-ego Randroid, with lyrics and vocals by Randroid. This CD was released in Europe, where Brecker toured extensively with his own line-up.

Brecker’s next CD for ESC Records, 34th N Lex, won him his third Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2003. That summer, he returned to Europe with the Bill Evans Soulbop Band.

In the summer of 2003, the Brecker Brothers performed in Japan at the Mount Fuji Jazz Festival.

In 2004, Brecker toured Europe as co-leader (with Bill Evans) of the band Soulbop. The WDR Big Band also invited Brecker to perform at the [Jazz Fest]. This date was significant because it was the last time he played with his brother, who became ill shortly after with a rare form of leukemia called MDS.

In 2005, Brecker’s wife, Ada (married in 2001), performed for the first time. Brecker continued touring with the Randy Brecker Band in Eastern Europe.

In 2007, Brecker received his fourth Grammy for Randy Brecker Live with the WDR Big Band (Telarc/BHM), a live recording of his performance with Michael at the Leverkusen Jazz Fest in 2004. Michael died that same year on January 13.

In 2007, a two-CD set of live recordings of the band Soulbop (BHM) was released, featuring Dave Kikoski, Victor Bailey, Steve Smith, Rodney Holmes, and Hiram Bullock.

Brecker returned to Brazilian music in 2008 for the album Randy in Brazil, recorded in São Paulo with Brazilian musicians and released on Summit Records. The CD was named one of the top 10 CDs of 2008 by All About Jazz and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, bringing his Grammy total to five.

A Tribute to the Brecker Brothers, featuring Randy and recorded live at the Hamamatsu Jazz Festival in Japan with Yoichi Murata’s Solid Brass & Big Band, was released by JVC Victor in late 2008.

In 2009, Brecker released Jazz Suite Tykocin, a project by Włodek Pawlik, featuring Randy as a soloist with members of the Bialystok Philharmonic. Tykocin is the area in Poland where Brecker’s ancestors (mother’s maiden name: Tecosky) are from, a fact discovered by Pawlik.

In 2011,

Discography

• 1969: Score (Solid State, 1969)
• 1985: Amanda with Eliane Elias (Passport, 1985)
• 1986: In the Idiom (Denon, 1987)
• 1988: Live at Sweet Basil (GNP Crescendo, 1988) – Live recording
• 1990: Toe to Toe (MCA, 1990)
• 1995: Into the Sun (Concord, 1997)
• 2001: Hangin' in the City (ESC, 2001)
• 2002: 34th N Lex (ESC, 2003)
• 2003: Soul Bop Band Live with Bill Evans (BHM Productions, 2004) – Live recording
• 2003: Some Skunk Funk with Michael Brecker (Telarc, 2005) – Live recording
• 2006: Randy in Brasil (Mama, 2008)
• 2008: Nostalgic Journey (Summit, 2009)
• 2011?: The Jazz Ballad Song Book with the Danish Radio Big Band (Half Note/Red Dot, 2012)
• 2011: Night in Calisia (Summit, 2012) – Featuring Włodek Pawlik Trio, Kalisz Philharmonic Orchestra & Adam
• 2012: Trumpet Summit Prague: The Mendoza Arrangements Live with Bobby Shew, Jan Hasenohrl (Summit, 2015) – Live recording
• 2012–13: The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion (Moosicus, 2013)[CD + DVD-Video]
• 2014: Dearborn Station (Jazzed Media, 2015) – With the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble
• 2015: RandyPOP! (Piloo, 2015) – Live recording at "Blue Note Jazz Club"
• 2018: Together with Mats Holmquist (Mama, 2018) – Also with UMO Jazz Orchestra
• 2018: Live At Sweet Basil 1988 (Gazell Records, 2018) – As Randy Brecker Quintet
• 2019: Rocks (Piloo Records, 2019)
• 2019: Sacred Bond with Ada Rovatti (Piloo Records, 2019)
• 2020: Double Dealin' with Eric Marienthal (Shanachie, 2020)

As the Brecker Brothers
• The Brecker Bros. (Arista, 1975)
• Back to Back (Arista, 1976)
• Don't Stop the Music (Arista, 1977)
• Heavy Metal Be-Bop (Arista, 1978) – Live recording
• Detente (Arista, 1980)
• Straphangin' (Arista, 1981)
• Return of the Brecker Brothers (GRP, 1992)
• Out of the Loop (GRP, 1994)
• Live And Unreleased (Piloo Records, 2020)

• Dreams (Columbia, 1970)
• Imagine My Surprise (Columbia, 1971)

GRP All-Star Big Band
• GRP All-Star Big Band (GRP, 1992)
• Dave Grusin Presents GRP All-Star Big Band Live! (GRP, 1993) – Live recording
• All Blues (GRP, 1995) – Recorded in 1994

With Walter Bishop Jr.
With Garland Jeffreys
With Rickie Lee Jones