Quote from: sabutin on Feb 24, 2007, 08:02AMNo.
I missed the service. Had to work.
What did he say?
S.
From Lois Gilbert at Jazzcorner.com to radio DJ's, programmers on behalf of Pat Metheny....sorry for the font translating problems....beautiful message rings through:
Hello everyone
I wanted to thank you all who played the music of Michael Brecker Tuesday
evening. Just like Michael, the tribute was full of love and gratitude to have
Michael in our lives, whether through his music or just through his presence
in our lives. Tonight, Pat Metheny emailed me, and asked if I might be able to
post his talk after his solo performance at the tribute of the tune he wrote
for esp for Michael: "Every Day (I Thank You)" which can be found on Pat's ECM
CD "80/81"
If you are inclined to play it - you might also want to read what Pat said
after his performance:
"The piece I just played was written many years ago, especially for Mike. We
played it together lots of times.
It was called "Every Day (I Thank You)."
Somehow those words have an extra special meaning today.
We all have so much to thank Mike for.
Music was, of course, what gave me, and probably many of us here today, the
chance to know Mike, through music. In my case, first as an admirer and then as
a collaborator.
I have often mentioned that the most treacherous location in the jazz world
was to be on a bandstand as the guy who has to play the solo right after Mike
Brecker.
I was lucky to have been in that situation many times over the years, and I
learned so much from Mike on so many levels, as all of us who ever had the good
fortune to play with him always did.
Thereâs been, from the very earliest days, so much to talk about about Mike,
the musician.
There's just the whole thing about the way he played. It was just so amazing
to hear somebody play like that. Every single time.
For musicians, there are hundreds of nuts and bolts things going on there to
marvel at, to study, to learn from, to enjoy. Things that have literally set
the bar for all of us in so many areas over the past 35 years, as they will for
future musicians for countless generations to come.
In many ways, I think at various points everyone was so blinded by the
brilliance and ingenuity and strength of this guy, coming along with perfect time,
who had found another 150,000 ways to navigate through any given set of chord
changes while simultaneously displaying a level of saxophone technique and a
sound that seemed almost superhuman.
So many things in action there in fact, that the deepest treasure of Mikeâs
amazing gift was sometimes hard to pick out in the wealth of all of it.
Because even with all of that, the real thing that made Mike so special as a
musician, as a player, was his incredible ability to communicate what it is to
be human. The complications of it. The struggle of it. The joy of it. To
manifest a sound that could describe things about what it is to be here on earth
that everyone, musician or not, could feel and recognize as being true.
That is the rarest thing.
His communicative skills were evolved far beyond any particulars of any given
style of music, or the advanced level of technique that he possessed, or the
assimilation of his influences, or even music itself, as it turns out.
Because the thing underneath it all was this;
Mike had a way of connecting with people in every important human
transaction, that was kind of the fundamental currency that in turn gave his playing and
his music the illuminating quality that made him stand so apart.
In retrospect, the diligence that he applied towards music was simply a
symptom of the transcendent quality to touch people deeply that was pervasive in so
many aspects of his life.
I know that for me, my interactions with Mike over the years all retain an
almost indelible quality in my memory that is very unique. From the smallest
moments, to the biggest concerts, somehow I remember everything about being
around him in such detail.
In the past several years, during his fight, and in particular in the weeks
since his passing, the outpouring of love for Mike has been so bountiful, so
beautiful.
Itâs notable how in almost every description of an encounter with Mike, no
matter who is talking, you can feel the person reflecting on those minutes, or
hours or months or years that they were around him as being among the best
moments of their lives.
Mike really paid attention. And in his quiet and gentle way, he noticed and
appreciated all the things that make each one of us around him exactly who we
are. It seems that he had that gift with just about everyone he encountered.
And as musicians, he saw and brought out the best in all of us. Musically, and
maybe more importantly, in every other way too.
The timelessness and weight of Mikeâs contribution may ultimately be traced
in equal measure to the humility that he naturally and effortlessly carried
with him at all times. Mikeâs ability to make every person in every room feel
like a valuable and genuine peer - especially given the incredible skills and
accomplishments that he himself possessed - really put him in category entirely
of his own.
Last summer, Mike was well enough to finish a new album. By that time, his
fight had been an ongoing battle for more than two years and Mike had not been
able to physically play for most of that time.
What happened in the studio during those few days in August is almost
impossible to describe. Itâs one of the most amazing, powerful, unbelievable things
that I, and all of us who were there , have ever seen, or ever will see.
We just finished mixing and mastering the record a couple days ago and in a
little while here you will hear a brief fragment of it. Youâll hear right away
what Iâm talking about.
Mike just left us some of the greatest music of his career. Of his life. And
his efforts to get this final message out to all of us - which is really what
it was -a message - will go down as one of the great codas in modern music
history.
It is said that the best way to honor someone who has left us is to try to
emulate their best qualities in the way that we live the remainder of our own
days.
May that start here with all of us today.
Weâll never have a better model than Mike about what it is to be here on
earth, and how to live our lives.
Along with Susan, Jess and Sam, Mike is a hero for all of us. "
--------------
Lois Gilbert
jazzcorner.com
Nice swinging band on that tune also!
