New Releases

THE BRECKER BROTHERS

“Return of the Brecker Brothers”

GRP

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The Breckers--tenor saxophonist Michael and trumpeter Randy--have released their first co-led-band album in more than a decade, and it’s a heavily textured collection that requires more than a listen or two to sink in. It updates the musicians’ vibrant jazz-funk-R&B; stance, with sophisticated use of synthesizers and contemporary rhythms, and solos on every number--good, listenable solos at that. Vocals, save one track, are dispensed with.

Most of these numbers are rather appealing. The something-for-everybody compositional spread ranges from the straightforward funk of “Big Idea” to the African-sounding “Wakaria” and the jazz of today of “Above & Below.” The latter track portrays the band at its zenith, with the brothers improvising with musicality over shifting rhythmic platforms.

The medium-slow cooker “On the Backside” finds the hornmen trading brief, telling phrases over a subtle, jangly bossa-funk backdrop, while “Good Gracious” has a club-band sound, with organ-guitar accompaniment and a throbbing backbeat setting up bluesy lines from the saxman and guitarist Mike Stern.

All said and done, the wait was worth it.