JazzMN Orchestra

You won’t want to miss this exciting and heartfelt tribute to Louis Armstrong. Byron Stripling’s engaging rapport, jazzy vocals and virtuosic trumpet capture the essence and charm of the jazz icon known only by one name: Satchmo.

Stripling first made his mark as lead trumpet and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He has been a regular with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the GRP All Star Big Band.  He has also played and recorded with jazz luminaries such as Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson and Buck Clayton.

Since his Carnegie Hall debut, Stripling has become an in-demand guest soloist with orchestras across the country. He has been a featured soloist at the Hollywood Bowl and on a PBS special with conductors John Williams and Keith Lockhart.

Stripling currently serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly-acclaimed Columbus Jazz Orchestra.

JazzMN Orchestra is excited to be collaborating once again with trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker, who has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B and rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen and Parliament/Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius and Frank Zappa.

Born in 1945 in Philadelphia to a musical family, Randy’s musical talent was nurtured from an early age. He attended Indiana University from 1963-66 studying with Bill Adam, David Baker and Jerry Coker and later moved to New York where he landed gigs with such prominent bands as Clark Terry’s Big Bad Band, the Duke Pearson Big Band and the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.

In 1967, Randy ventured into jazz-rock with the band Blood, Sweat and Tears, but left to join the Horace Silver Quintet. He recorded his first solo album, ‘Score’, in 1968, featuring a young, then unknown 19 year-old tenor saxophonist named Michael Brecker. After Horace Silver, Randy joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers before teaming up with brother Michael, Barry Rogers, Billy Cobham, and John Abercrombie to form the seminal fusion group ‘Dreams’. The group recorded two adventurous and wildly acclaimed albums: ‘Dreams’ and ‘Imagine My Surprise’ – now collector’s items – for Columbia Records before they disbanded in 1971.

In the early 1970s, Randy performed live with many prominent artists including Larry Coryell’s Eleventh House, Stevie Wonder and Billy Cobham. He also recorded several classic albums with his brother under the leadership of the great pianist/composer Hal Galper. By 1975, Randy and Michael were ready to front their own group, the Brecker Brothers Band. A band of immeasurable impact and influence, they released six albums on Arista and garnered seven Grammy nominations between 1975 and 1981. Their eponymous first record, which Randy wrote, arranged and produced, featured his now classic composition “Some Skunk Funk.” In 1992, exactly ten years after they parted ways to pursue solo careers, Randy and Michael reunited for a world tour and the triple-Grammy nominated GRP recording, ‘The Return of the Brecker Brothers’. The follow-up, 1994’s ‘Out of the Loop,’ was a double-Grammy winner. In 1997, ‘Into the Sun’ (Concord), a recording featuring Randy’s impressions of Brazil, garnered Randy his first Grammy as a solo artist.

Randy’s CD for ESC Records, ’34th n’ Lex,’ won him his third Grammy for ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Album’ in 2003. 2004 saw Randy touring Europe extensively as co-leader (with Bill Evans) of the band Soulbop. The WDR Big Band also celebrated Randy and his music that year in a performance at the Leverkusen Jazz Fest. The date was of special significance to Randy as it was the last time he played with his brother, who took ill shortly thereafter with a rare form of leukemia known as MDS. In 2007, Randy was awarded his fourth Grammy for “Randy Brecker Live with the WDR Big Band” (Telarc/BHM), the live recording (also available in DVD format) of his performance with Michael at the Leverkusen Jazz Fest in 2004. Tragically, Michael passed away that same year on Jan 13th.

Randy returned to his long-time love of Brazilian music in 2008 for the album ‘Randy in Brazil,’ which was recorded in Sao Paulo with a full complement of great Brazilian musicians and released on Summit Records. Chosen one of the top 10 CDs of 2008 by AllAboutJazz.com, the CD won the Grammy for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album,” bringing his Grammy total to five. A Brecker Brothers Band Reunion tour of European festivals in the summer of 2013 in support of Randy’s newest project, Randy Brecker’s “Brecker Brothers Band Reunion,” re-introduced the familiar faces of Brecker Brothers Band members from the past and their special brand of music to sell-out crowds.

As a composer, performer and in-demand Yamaha clinician, Randy Brecker continues to influence and inspire young musicians around the world.

The JazzMN Orchestra, Minnesota’s premier big band, will present an unforgettable night of holiday music to welcome the season. The band will present an assortment of classic and contemporary arrangements and will feature special guest vocalists Bruce Henry and Connie Evingson.