Mike Brecker - black saxophone ?

[lou2cv]

Hi ! Just found some pics of Mike in his early years.... looks like he is playing a black saxophone with gold keys ; what is this model ? Did he play it for a while ?

http://www.michaelbreckerliverecordings.com/Pictures/Picturegallery/1976%20august%202-4%20Jun%20Fukamachi%20recording%20Spiral%20Steps%2 0(2)%20websized.jpg

http://www.michaelbreckerliverecordings.com/Pictures/Picturegallery/1976%20august%202-4%20Jun%20Fukamachi%20recording%20Spiral%20Steps%2 0(11)%20websized.jpg

http://www.michaelbreckerliverecordings.com/Pictures/Picturegallery/1976%20august%202-4%20Jun%20Fukamachi%20recording%20Spiral%20Steps%2 0(12)%20websized.jpg

[Bill Mecca]

looks like brother Randy's trumpet is black lacquered too, might have been a Brecker Brother's thing.

[SopAlto1]

These photos look like scans of old snapshots. They're very dark & obviously need to be color-corrected.

Quite possibly, because of the angle, shadows & darkness of these scans, his horn may just be appearing to be that dark in the photos. In other words, it may be a de-laquered VI, that is just seems to look like a black horn, because of the quality of these shots.

...or not.

[JonL]

I might have thought the same thing, but I'd have to say the horn has black lacquer on it. A few years ago, I got to know a guy in Portugal who had a black lacquered Mark VII. He'd bought it new, black lacquer and all, in France in the late 70's. He hadn't played the horn very much, and it was nearly in closet condition. About the best Mark VII I ever played. Reminded me a lot of a Ref 54. Had a low mileage Florida Link 7 in the case, too. He looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him if he was willing to sell it.

But...ever since I saw that horn, I've wondered if anyone else had run into black lacquered horns from that time period.

[Connical]

I've seen a black laquered Super 80 before.

[SaxyAcoustician]

Likely not a black-lacquered horn. If you look at the pics of Randy's trumpet, it looks black in some photos while in others it is clearly not black. It has to be some odd effect of analog photography of that era.

God, he looks so young in those pics!!!

[soybean]

What session are these from? Anybody know the other musicians besides Randy and Michael?

[Louis gerrits]

Hi ! Just found some pics of Mike in his early years.... looks like he is playing a black saxophone with gold keys ; what is this model ? Did he play it for a while ?

http://www.michaelbreckerliverecordings.com/Pictures/Picturegallery/1976%20august%202-4%20Jun%20Fukamachi%20recording%20Spiral%20Steps%2 0(2)%20websized.jpg

http://www.michaelbreckerliverecordings.com/Pictures/Picturegallery/1976%20august%202-4%20Jun%20Fukamachi%20recording%20Spiral%20Steps%2 0(11)%20websized.jpg

http://www.michaelbreckerliverecordings.com/Pictures/Picturegallery/1976%20august%202-4%20Jun%20Fukamachi%20recording%20Spiral%20Steps%2 0(12)%20websized.jpg

Mike Brecker always had more then one saxophone. He usually played on the one you see on pictures most of the time. An old Selmer Mark 6.

Louis

[Louis gerrits]

What session are these from? Anybody know the other musicians besides Randy and Michael?

More info here:

http://www.michaelbreckerliverecordings.com/Pictures70.html

Jun Fukamachi sessions.

Louis

PS check also the pictures from the 90's. You see more saxes in his home studio.

[Louis gerrits]

I also have my doubts if it is a black saxophone. I scanned the pictures from the LP's inner sleeve, and it's not clear on those either. Maybe reflections from black material in the studio on the tenor and trumpet is the cause of all this. The laquer is quite dark , which also can be seen on the cover from Heavy Metal Be-Bop. That's a recording from the same period.

Louis

[cann0nba11]

Looks like a black horn to me. If this was taken in Japan I bet he was trying out a horn, or was asked to play a certain horn. The Japanese like to pimp instruments up a bit. (how 'bout a show called "Pimp My Axe")? ;-)

When I saw Mike in Tokyo in 1989 he had five different colored EWI's on stage and was playing each one during the gig. He would take one off and adjust the sensitivity screw, then try another one. If I remember correctly he had a light purple, a black one, a camo, a nice candy apple red and a standard one. He ended up playing the purple one for most of the gig I was at.

[Louis gerrits]

Looks like a black horn to me. If this was taken in Japan I bet he was trying out a horn, or was asked to play a certain horn. The Japanese like to pimp instruments up a bit. (how 'bout a show called "Pimp My Axe")? ;-)

When I saw Mike in Tokyo in 1989 he had five different colored EWI's on stage and was playing each one during the gig. He would take one off and adjust the sensitivity screw, then try another one. If I remember correctly he had a light purple, a black one, a camo, a nice candy apple red and a standard one. He ended up playing the purple one for most of the gig I was at.

The photo's were taken in Media Sound Studio New York.

[whaler]

It looks like the same horn he always played at that time with the pick-up on the neck. I think that later he he had to use that silver neck after some repairman screwed up the original (maybe trying to fix the hole from the pick-up?)

[Tharruff]

I'm sorry but if I HAD to bet my money one way or another...I would have to bet that he is playing a black lacquered Saxophone in those photos...

[SopAlto1]

If you look at Gerrits version of the same pictures on his website, he has additional pictures of Randy, in which you can see that his horn is in fact, gold colored, but in the other pictures of Randy w/Mike, his trumpet looks black.

Like I said before, the picture needs color correcting.

[Bill Mecca]

looks black lacquered to me, unless he's wearing a white shirt... and many players bring more than one horn to a session, depending upon the sound they need for particular tunes.
but what does it really matter?

[whaler]

Strange that he would have two saxes with pick-ups covered with white tape to keep the thing closed. It's the horn he always played.

[SearjeantSax]

I think its gold lacqd.

see this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci72foN6M8w&feature=related

in several places the body looks almost black but the keys are still bright gold but in other angles the sax is clearly gold lacq ( or bare brass)


EDIT: actually, I take that back -- look at this pick http://www.michaelbreckerliverecordings.com/Pictures/Picturegallery/1996%20At%20home%20From%20JazzLife%20July%201996_w ebsized.jpg

obviously one black horn there, so it could well have been in that pic

[Bill Mecca]

sorry for the confusion, I was talking about Randy with more than one horn at a session. I know my brother-in-law does it all the time.

[whaler]

I would bet that the black sax with Brecker in his practice studio is a Guardala.

[milomo]

I would bet that the black sax with Brecker in his practice studio is a Guardala.
And even if it is a Selmer, that photo is from several years later anyway. What you said here -

Strange that he would have two saxes with pick-ups covered with white tape to keep the thing closed. It's the horn he always played. makes the most sense. The original session pictures need to be color corrected.