Album Description An incredible, heartwarming recording composed for Randy Brecker's "homecoming," celebrated with this suite composed by renowned Polish jazz pianist and film composer Wlodek Pawlik. * This disc tells an amazing story that began in 1994 when Randy Brecker met Wlodek Pawlik in Germany, when the award-winning Polish pianist played with the Western Jazz Quartet. This meeting would come into sharp focus 11 years later, when Randy's brother Michael was diagnosed with leukemia and his family immediately started searching for a bone marrow donor.
* Making contact with Pawlik, the family traced Brecker's relatives to an area in Poland called Tykocin. In honor of this discovery, Pawlik wrote an orchestral/jazz suite about Randy's "homecoming," and although a donor was not found, the Breckers discovered their roots. The recording has already won several "Best of 2008" awards in Poland, and Brecker's story was recently featured in Poland's Newsweek.
* Randy Brecker has been shaping 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.
* Wlodek Pawlik has released 16 albums as a leader, and won numerous domestic and international music contests. He was honored as Jazz Musician of the Year by Warsaw's legendary jazz club Akwarium. "Crisp, clean trumpet sound and decidedly melodic approach ... a beacon for contemporary jazz." -- Los Angeles Times "Brecker's sonic swirls, while sweeping up a babbling cross-section of current argots and accents, sparkle with savvy sophistication and ebullient joie de vivre." -- JazzTimes