The Brecker Brothers - 1976 - Back To Back

The Brecker Brothers

1976

Back To Back

01. Keep It Steady(Brecker's Bunp) (6:24)
02. If You Wanna Boogie.....Forget It (3:56)
03. Lovely Lady (6:16)
04. Night Flight (6:14)
05. Slick Stuff (4:46)
06. Dig A Little Deeper (3:58)
07. Grease Piece (5:46)
08. What Can A Miracle Do (4:14 )
09. I Love Wastin' Time With You (6:32)

Randy Brecker / flugelhorn, trumpet, electric trumpet
Michael Brecker / tenor sax , flute

With:
- Steve Khan / guitar
- Don Grolnick / keyboards
- David Whittman / synth programming
- David Sanborn / alto sax
- Lew Delgatto / baritone sax (2)
- Will Lee / bass, lead & backing vocals
- Chris Parker / drums
- Steve Gadd / drums (4,9)
- Ralph MacDonald / percussion
- Sammy Figueroa / percussion (4)
- Rafael Cruz / percussion (4)
- David Friedman / marimba (6)
- Luther Vandross / backing vocals, vocal arrangements
- Patti Austin / backing vocals
- Robin Clark/ backing vocals

During the seventies, The Brecker Brothers were the go-to guys for anyone looking for a horn section. This wasn’t any horn section though. Quite the opposite. The Brecker Brothers were one of the hottest horn sections of the seventies. Their services and sound was constantly in demand. No wonder. Michael played saxophone, flute and EWI and Randy trumpet and flugelhorn. They featured on everything from jazz, funk and soul albums right through to albums by Todd Rundgren, Frank Zappa and P-Funk giants Parliament. Despite The Brecker Brothers’ services being so in demand as top session musicians, they still found time to forge their own career, releasing a string of successful jazz fusion albums. Between 1975 and 1994, The Brecker Brothers released eight albums. The album that launched their recording career was their eponymous album The Brecker Brothers. It was released to critical acclaim and commercial success in 1975. This set the bar high for The Brecker Brothers. This meant they had a lot to live up to when they released the followup, their sophomore album, Back To Back in 1976. For the recording of Back To Back, The Brecker Brothers put together a crack band of musicians and vocalists to record nine new songs. Would Back To Back, which will be rereleased by SoulMusic Records on 12th November 2012, prove to be as commercially successful and critically acclaimed as their debut album?

When The Brecker Brothers came to record their sophomore album Back To Back, they proved that as well as being top musicians, they were also talented songwriters. They penned six of the nine tracks, collaborating with a variety of songwriting partners. Michael wrote Night Flight and Randy Slick Stuff. The only track Michael and Randy cowrote was Grease Piece, which they cowrote with Steve Khan and David Sanborn. Another of Randy Brecker’s songwriting partners was a young Luther Vandross, who cowrote Keep It Steady (Brecker Bump) wIth Steve Khan, David Sanborn. Luther’s other contribution was What Can A Miracle Do, which he cowrote with Don Grolnick. If The Brecker Brothers’ list of songwriting partners was impressive, then their band was equally impressive.

Joining The Brecker Brothers at Electric Lady Studios were a band that included some of the best session musicians of the seventies. The core band included a rhythm section of drummer Christopher Parker, guitarist Steve Khan and bassist and vocalist Will Lee. David Sanborn played alto saxophone and keyboardist Don Grolnick. Guest musicians included drummer Steve Gadd, percussionists Sammy Figueroa, Ralph McDonald and Rafael Cruz and Lew Del Gatto on baritone saxophone. Dave Whitman played synths, Dave Friedman marimba and Luther Vadross added backing vocals. Patti Austin sang the lead vocal on Wastin’ Time. Given this was a band crammed full of talented musicians, singers and songwriters, surely Back To Back must be a commercial success?

On the release of Back To Back in 1976, it proved more successful than The Brecker Brothers’ debut album. It had reached number 102 in the US Billboard 200, number twenty-five in the US R&B Charts and number four in the US Jazz Charts. Back To Back proved more successful in the US Billboard 200, reaching number eighty-two. However, it only reached number thirty-two in the US R&B Charts and number nine in the US Jazz Charts, which wasn’t as successful as their debut album. At least Back To Back had crossed into the mainstream. The only single released was If You Wanna Boogie…Forget It, which only reached number ninety-five in the US R&B Charts. Although Back To Back proved slightly more successful than their debut album The Brecker Brothers, was the music as good? After all, The Brecker Brothers was a critically acclaimed album. That’s what I’ll now tell you.

Opening Back To Back is Keep It Steady (Brecker Bump), which ensures The Brecker Brothers have your attention. From the get-go, the arrangement has a driving, smouldering and funky beat. The rhythm section create a pulsating, back beat while stabs of keyboards and The Brecker Brothers’ blazing horns help drive the arrangement along. They’re helped along by David Sanborn’s alto saxophone. The horns feed off each other, driving the other to greater heights. Then Steve Khan’s guitar takes centre-stage. It’s a show stealing solo. Steve’s rocky guitar sears and sizzles, riffing until you think there’s nowhere else to go. Adding to the drama that builds and builds, are the backing vocals, lead by Luther Vandross. Like the horns and Steve Khan’s guitar solo, they play their part in the track’s drama and success.

If You Wanna Boogie…Forget It is very different from the opening track. There’s everything from boogie woogie through Frank Zappa and Little Feat. Boogie, funk and rock are combined peerlessly as the track unfolds at breakneck speed. The vocal is delivered powerfully and urgently, while piano, a funky rhythm section and stabs of growling horns provide an accompaniment. Backing vocalists respond to the lead vocals call, reflecting a similar sense of urgency. During the track there’s some peerless boogie woogie piano playing. When the punchy harmonies and stabs of grizzled horns are added to the equation, the result is a glorious genre-straddling track.

Lovely Lady has a very beautiful, almost understated sound. Just tender horns, percussion and a subtle rhythm section create a meandering backdrop for a heartfelt vocal. It drifts in and out as wistful woodwind and keyboards join the mix. Later, horns rasp before a flugelhorn takes centre-stage, providing a dreamy, melancholy sound. You’re swept away by its beauty, as the vocal returns. Horns accompany it rasping and sometimes, growling, but nether overplaying nor overpowering the rest of the arrangement. The result is a track that’s beautiful and dreamy, where you can lose yourself and float along in its wake.

Night Flight was Michael Brecker’s first ever composition. You wouldn’t realize this listening to the track. A myriad of percussion, shakers and bongos give the track a Latin sound and feel. Before long it’s all change. Rock and jazz-fusion and even shades of prog rock keyboards combine. Guitars provide a rocky flavor, as the rhythm section drive the track along in the direction of jazz-fusion with growling horns for company. Mostly it’s jazz-fusion all the way. Think Weather Report and John McLaughlin. Steve Khan’s guitar and keyboards add a dynamic, dramatic sound. Then the track heads back in the direction of jazz-fusion, something The Brecker Brothers do so well.

Slick Stuff was the sequel to a track on The Brecker Brothers debut album Some Skunk Funk. It’s one of the real highlights of Back To Back, from the opening bars. The track sounds not unlike a track from the soundtrack to a seventies Clint Eastwood film. It bursts into life, braying horns and the rhythm section driving the arrangement along. Space is certainly at a premium. The band play as if their lives depend on it. Soon, you’re thinking of Dirty Harry chasing the bad guys across San Francisco. This track paints pictures in your mind. You close your eyes and the scenes unfold, with The Brecker Brothers providing the soundtrack. If only someone could write a movie as good as this track, then it would well worth seeing.

Dig A Little Deeper is a parody of the pseudo-hippie philosophy of the sixties. By 1976, when Back To Back was recorded, people had seen through much of the sixties’ culture. This track proves this and parodies it. There’s even a hint of David Bowie and Frank Zappa during the track. A slow, spacious and funky beat accompanies a vocal that’s deliberate, even melodramatic. It reminds me of David Bowie. Backing vocalists respond to the call, as horns growl and blaze. Percussion, marimba and keyboards join the fray, but it’s the vocal, backing vocals and horns that steal the show, on a track where truth and humor play their part in the song’s success.

Punchy, blazing horns open Grease Piece, driving the track along. They’re joined by keyboards, handclaps, percussion and the rhythm section. It doesn’t take long to realise that although this is a slice of good-time, funky music. You only need to listen to the peerless horn playing, scintillating rhythms and its percussive delights. Sometimes, you wonder is this an attempt to crossover into disco? Why not though? This track isn’t just dance-floor friendly, but infectiously catchy and uber funky. Alas, for some reason, it wasn’t released as a single. This was certainly  a missed opportunity, and a case of what might have been?

What Can A Miracle Do sees The Brecker Brothers showcase their versatility. Luther Vandross delivers his vocal accompanied by just piano, percussion and understated rhythm section. There’s a hint of vulnerability in Luther’s vocal, while guitars, percussion and keyboards provide the backdrop. Randy Brecker adds the finishing touch, adding an open-belled trumpet in between each verse. This is something of masterstroke, and works beautifully. Despite this, Luther steals the show. By now, you realize that Luther Vandross was destined for greatness, given his emotive, heartfelt delivery of what’s quite simply one of the most beautiful songs on Back To Back.

Closing Back To Back is I Love Wastin’ Time With You, which features a duet between bassist Will Lee and Patti Austin. She’d just released her debut album End of A Rainbow and was on something of a roll, as this track shows. A sultry saxophone joins a slow, deliberate rhythm section and keyboards before Patti and Will deliver their duet. This they do against rasping horns, stabs of Hammond organ and the rhythm section which create a dramatic, jazzy backdrop. Patti and Lee vamp their way through the track, feeding off each other. When the tempo drops, it’s as if to give them the time to get their breath back. After a wistful, jazz-tinged piano solo, the drama grows and grows. When their vocals return, they seem determined to close the track on a dramatic high, but not before teasing and toying with you. This they do, for the remainder of this blistering track, which proves the perfect way to end Back To Back.