Michael Brecker Dies at 57

Michael Brecker, the popular tenor saxophonist, drew on the work of jazz greats Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane and Miles Davis, often fusing elements of Rock and Roll into his music, and was in turn called "the most influential tenor stylist of the last 25 years" by Jazziz magazine. The Philadelphia-born son of an amateur jazz pianist, Brecker won 11 Grammies during his 27-year career.

It all began with the short-lived but influential jazz/rock fusion band, Dreams, which Michael Brecker formed with his brother, Jimmy, in 1981. Brother Randy would later join them to form The Brecker Brothers, whose "Out of the Loop" album won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance of 1995.

His work as a sideman was featured prominently on TV and movie soundtracks, including "The Wiz," "Warriors," "Footloose," "9 ½ days," "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and The Bill Cosby Show. Michael Becker also performed as part of the dynamic house band for NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in the 1980s, and recorded with popular artists as diverse a Dire Straits, Herbie Hancock, Todd Rundgren, Manhattan Transfer and funk rock icons, Parliament.

His 1987 debut as a solo performer, the self-titled Michael Brecker, was awarded "Jazz Album of the Year" by Jazziz as well as Down Beat magazine.

Michael Brecker's latest studio effort, "Wide Angels," won a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble of 2004.

Michael Brecker was diagnosed with MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome), an early stage of leukemia in which one's bone marrow cannot produce enough healthy blood cells, sometime after that. His wife Susan had sent out a plea via mass email, "...it's critical that he has a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant (which has nothing to do with embryonic stem cells). The initial search for a donor, including Michael's siblings and children, has not resulted in a suitable match. We now hope to have as many people tested as possible that share a similar genetic background as my husband."

The appeal for help has also been posted atop the official Michael Brecker website since soon after the 57-year-old saxophonist first announced that he had been diagnosed with MDS. Despite worldwide publicity, a donor match was never found. An experimental cell transplant procedure was performed on Michael Brecker in 2005 but was not as successful as the surgeons and medical experts had hoped.

His condition did improve enough for a return to the stage and the studio. Michael Brecker joined Herbie Hancock in June 2006 for a live performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and he recorded some cuts for bassist Chris Minh Doky's "The Nomad Diaries," which was released later last year.

According close friend and manager, Darryl Pitt, Michael Brecker had just finished recording what will now be his final studio album, as yet untitled, and was looking forward to its upcoming release.