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Jazz

Michael Brecker: Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage
Michael Brecker: Pilgrimage
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Because only a small fraction of contemporary jazz is released on vinyl, recently-recorded LPs should matter, and fortunately Mobile Fidelity has lent its talents to Michael Brecker’s Pilgrimage. Recorded months before Brecker succumbed to leukemia, the posthumous album intrigued listeners when it came out in 2007. In spite of his illness Brecker remained a vibrant and technically superb tenor saxophonist, and he avoided the string of heart-wrenching ballads one might expect from someone facing mortality. Instead Pilgrimage is characterized by understatement, lyricism, color—and friendship, as Brecker recorded in the company of old bandmates. As usual, guitarist Pat Metheny shines in a straight-ahead jazz context; pianists Brad Mehldau and Herbie Hancock take interesting detours during their solos, adding suspense to performances that, in a couple cases, start out sounding tame or predictable. Along with providing solid support, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Jack DeJohnette also have a knack for shaking things up. Highlights include the lyrical “Five Months to Midnight” and the haunting “When Can I Kiss You Again?” Sonics seem a bit bright, but not at the expense of the rhythm section, which has a natural, in-the-room sound. As Brecker fans know, Pilgrimage marks an impressive end to a remarkable career.

By Jeff Wilson

This will take some explaining, but I can connect the dots between pawing through LPs at a headshop called Elysian Fields in Des Moines, Iowa, as a seventh grader, and becoming the Music Editor for The Absolute Sound. At that starting point—around 1970/71—Elysian Fields had more LPs than any other store in Des Moines. Staring at all the colorful covers was both tantalizing and frustrating. I had no idea who most of the artists were, because radio played only a fraction of what was current. To figure out what was going on, I realized that I needed to build a record collection—and as anyone who’s visited me since high school can testify, I succeeded. Record collecting was still in my blood when, starting in the late 1980s, the Cincinnati Public Library book sale suddenly had an Elysian Fields quantity of LPs from people who’d switched to CDs. That’s where I met fellow record hawk Mark Lehman, who preceded me as music editor of TAS. Mark introduced me to Jonathan Valin, whose 1993 detective novel The Music Lovers depicts the battles between record hawks at library sales. That the private eye in the book, Harry Stoner, would stumble upon a corpse or two while unraveling the mystery behind the disappearance of some rare Living Stereo platters made perfect sense to me. After all, record collecting is serious business. Mark knew my journalistic experience included concert reviews for The Cincinnati Enquirer and several long, sprawling feature articles in the online version of Crawdaddy. When he became TAS music editor in 2008, he contacted me about writing for the magazine. I came on board shortly after the latest set of obituaries had been written for vinyl—and, as fate had it, right when the LP started to make yet another unexpected comeback. Suddenly, I found myself scrambling to document all the record companies pressing vinyl. Small outfits were popping up world-wide, and many were audiophile-oriented, plus already existing record companies began embracing the format again. Trying to keep track of everything made me feel, again, like that overwhelmed seventh grader in Elysian Fields, and as Music Editor I’ve found that keeping my finger on the pulse of the music world also requires considerable detective work. I’ve never had a favorite genre, but when it comes time to sit down and do some quality listening, for me nothing beats a well-recorded small-group jazz recording on vinyl. If a stereo can give me warmth and intimacy, tonal accuracy, clear imaging, crisp-sounding cymbals, and deep, woody-sounding bass, then I’m a happy camper.

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