• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Website of Steve Neff

  • BLOG
  • SHOP
  • MY ACCOUNT
  • RAVES
  • CONTACT

Search Neffmusic

You are here: Home / Reviews / Saxophone Stuff / The Art of Imitation-Michael Brecker on Peep

The Art of Imitation-Michael Brecker on Peep

October 11, 2018 by Steve 14 Comments

Someone on SOTW (Sax on the Web) posted a video this morning of Michael Brecker soloing over his tune Peep from the early 90’s. Peep was a Brecker tune from the album “Now You See It… (Now You Don’t) that blew my mind when it was released in 1990.   I was a young Brecker head and bought everything with Michael Brecker on it the minute it was released.  Sometimes, I’d be at Tower Records on Mass Ave in Boston before they even opened just to be the first to get the new release!  Here is the video of the live version of Peep that was posted:

As I was watching it this morning,  I remembered that I recorded this tune in the early 90’s also. I was in my 20’s and fresh out of Berklee. I remember that summer playing over Peep relentlessly for hours just trying to catch glimpses and pieces of what Brecker was doing on his solo. (My neighbors probably hated my guts by the end of the summer!)

I never really liked my playing on this recording but I think it is a good example of a young player trying to copy a musical idol.  I posted a sample of one of my lessons about “The Style of Michael Brecker” on Youtube years ago and someone commented “You Sir, are no Michael Brecker!” I wasn’t bothered or threatened by this at all and immediately responded “You’re very right. There will never be another Michael Brecker!!”

Although there is a lot in this recording that I am not happy with,  I think it is a good demonstration of what a young player can try to work on when imitating his idols.  I repeat many of the same licks over and over again and my 16th notes are rushing all over the place but it is what it is.  I was young and doing the best I could.  Here’s the recording:

https://d1av9c1o38t6ow.cloudfront.net/2018/Pools.mp3

My Early 90’s version of Peep

When I first heard Michael Brecker I was blown away! I was an alto sax major at college and the first thing I did after hearing Brecker on the tenor sax is go out and buy a tenor saxophone.

I started buying every album with Michael Brecker on it that I could. I had no idea what he was playing but I would put on the album and just play along trying to catch something, anything that I could. Many times it wasn’t even the notes (the notes were going by too fast) but just the energy and vibe I was trying to imitate or grasp.

Modern Times, Straphangin’, Cityscape, Don’t Try This at Home, any and every Steps Ahead album I could get, Getting There with Abercrombie, That killin’ Mike Nock album “In Out and Around”, Three Quartets, Cameo, etc……..

I played to them all.  I had very little idea of what was going on or the lines being played, but that didn’t stop me from playing along and trying to figure it out by ear. Sometimes I would figure one little pieces of the puzzle and jump up and down with joy. Other times, I would stop the recording and feel like smashing my saxophone against the wall. That is the process, joy, pain, improvement, frustration, etc…… You keep going, you keep working at it. You keep striving towards it! No pain, no gain!

I’m now in my 50’s and Michael Brecker has been gone for many years now. I am still no Michael Brecker that is for sure! But as I watch this video above, I get the same feeling I had as a college kid at 18-19 years of age.  The same excitement and wonder. That same feeling of wanting to get my sax out and play along trying to catch a glimpse of Michael’s mastery……..  I suspect that these feelings will never go away.  We miss you Michael!

Filed Under: Saxophone Stuff Tagged With: imitation, Improvisation, jazz sax, Michael Brecker, Peep, tenor saxophone

Steve

About Steve

Steve Neff has been playing and teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation around the New England area for over 30 years. He is the author of many best selling jazz improvisation methods as well as founding the popular jazz video lesson site Neffmusic.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarTed Maciag says

    October 11, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    Nice playing there Steve. BTW, I have a BRAND NEW JB 101. It was found in a music store, Sugal sent me a ligature for it. So, a matched set. Just in case you’re interested in having another one. LOL.
    Best regards,
    Ted

    Reply
  2. AvatarJOHN R ZANGRANDO says

    October 11, 2018 at 3:41 pm

    Pretty damn good . Wish I had played that well in my 20’s Your one of the Saxophone communities treasures. Thanks

    Reply
  3. AvatarJeremiah Miles says

    October 11, 2018 at 3:54 pm

    Steve – awesome version of Brecker’s “Peep”. I feel ya! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  4. AvatarAngelo Yodice says

    October 11, 2018 at 3:54 pm

    Hi Steve, it is wonderful to hear and see that at that young age how your creativity was launched and that you went for the brass ring all that many times with his records. Of coarse you feel the same now 30 + years, your dream hasn’t fizzled out at all, is as fresh as it was than. Kudos to you after all these years, Michael would be proud of you. All the best from me and all of the other sax cyber heads in Internet sax land with the surgery. Continue to put your hand in the hands of the man from Galilee and you will be find my friend!

    Reply
  5. AvatarBob Rockwell says

    October 11, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    Sound absolutely killing Steve!

    Reply
  6. Avatarfernando dieguez says

    October 11, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    Michael is unique I am his fan and I do not play the tenor, he is one of the best musicians I always listen to

    forever Michael!

    Reply
  7. AvatarKeith Ridenhour says

    October 11, 2018 at 7:52 pm

    Sounds great to me. Good job Steve in your 20s amazing your control I still can’t play that fast K

    Reply
  8. AvatarRuss Paladino says

    October 11, 2018 at 9:23 pm

    Sounds pretty damn awesome to me Steve. Bravo!

    Reply
  9. AvatarDaniel Ian Smith says

    October 11, 2018 at 10:38 pm

    I remember the 18 year old with the Couf alto who couldn’t wait to get to Berklee and was excited to get the tenor too. You sound great on this and thanks for sharing the live video of his quartet. I remember hearing this band several times and walking the line between intimidation and divine inspiration. (So tell us the band members with you!?) Thanks for sharing my friend, you too are an inspiration.

    Reply
    • SteveSteve says

      October 11, 2018 at 11:00 pm

      Thanks Dan! I bought the Couf Superba 1 tenor I played on this clip from Ken Gioffre at Ithaca. Unfortunately, I don’t remember everyone in the band and don’t have it written down anywhere. I know Neal Itzler played guitar and Dave Buda played bass. For the life of me I can’t remember the drummer and keyboard players names. No offense to those guys as they were awesome. Steve

      Reply
  10. AvatarHoward Brown says

    October 12, 2018 at 12:03 am

    Pretty awesome, Steve!

    Reply
  11. AvatarFrancois says

    October 12, 2018 at 2:54 am

    Great playing, Steve! I wish I could play half as well as you. Thanks for sharing!
    Do you have any advise for getting my speed and technique up for playing double time licks and double time improv?

    Reply
  12. AvatarAntonino J Ferro says

    October 13, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    Steve, Great! You sound like the people you admire. Peace.

    Reply
  13. AvatarDavid says

    October 15, 2018 at 6:00 am

    I remember when I was a very little kid, my dad listening to some Dire Straits while driving, hearing that incredible sound coming from an unknown instrument to me at the time. I was hooked for life. I learnt many years later that it was in fact Michael Brecker. <3

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Keith Ridenhour Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Cart

Subscribe to the Neffmusic Newsletter for the latest reviews and best deals delivered straight to your inbox every month. Join now and you will also receive my 40 Ultimate Michael Brecker Licks free!

Select list(s) to subscribe to


Thanks for joining!


NEFFMUSIC PRINTED BOOKS

Testimonials

Your major diatonic patterns book is great. I”m studying the first twenty patterns (first twenty pages) each day with different articulation each day and slowly increasing the tempo each week or so.  There is a noticeable improvement in finger coordination across all keys and its amazing how much more secure I feel on the difficult keys when attempting to play pieces with 5+ flats/sharps. I’m able to sort out the fingerings for these pieces now much more quickly than before, often in one or two … Read more
Geoff
Steve really changed my way of practicing: I got a whole lot of new ideas for my playing the tenor.  His lessons are really helpful, give a lot stuff to practice and give clear answers to complicated stuff.  Steve has a lot of humor and I wish I had laughed so much in my former days with the horn.  All topics, from Blues to Approach note are dealt with clearness that wet ones appetite to play and practice that great ideas.
Uwe
Hey Steve, My name is Jason Freese and I play keyboards and sax in the band Green Day.  I grew up taking sax lessons from Eric Marienthal when I was a kid and got out of it for a long time. I ran into you on youtube while searching for sax stuff. I bought a whole bunch of your lessons and have been loving it! Thanks! Here is my wikipedia so you can see the albums I’ve played on….Thanks again. It’s sparked my interest in practicing again.   Jason
Jason Freese (sax player for Green Day)
I just started looking at my lessons and I have to say, dude you are awesome.  I ABSOLUTELY will learn from you!  I started the tenor about 1 ½ yrs ago and have since picked up an alto, and more recently a soprano.  I spend most of the time on the tenor, followed by soprano, and have only gotten to the alto a few times.  I think I’ll be sticking with tenor.  I’m having a great time and hope one day to play well enough to get regular gigs.  I’ve been playing keys for about 35 years (… Read more
Wil
I bought Steve’s dominant bebop book and took a couple of online lesson from him. I really appreciated Steve’s careful listening of what I wanted to get done in a lesson and his clear, concise ideas on next steps to improve my playing and musical interpretation.  His mastering  the Dominant Bebop Scale has lots of exercises to use a scale that addresses the largest percentage of chords I come across in pop/blues music. The dominant V7.  Needless say it has improved my playing.  I teach and a… Read more
Keith
Just a brief note to compliment you on your teaching skills and in particular for the honesty of your lessons.  I am a returning alto sax player in my 50’s and I was looking for a no nonsense, straight to the point kind of guidance. I had intended to email you with a few questions regarding the use of the bis key but then I noticed that there was a lesson on that specific topic and after viewing it,  all my questions were answered. I once took a group lesson with a well known professional sax … Read more
Patrick

After reading your story I will never feel quite right about complaining about any of my MINOR health issues!!    God bless Steve and I really hope that your health doesn’t stop you from fulfilling your calling.    These books have been such a help to open up my jazz vocabulary…   Thanks so much for sharing your story and for providing these great teaching tools…   John Leclerc   Saxophonist / composer/ EWI player and professional working musician of 35 years….

John Leclerc

Never really had lessons before just kinda worked things out on my own. Was in a rut but your lessons are really helpful in opening melodic possibilities. Ur an awesome resource to the saxophone community. Thanks for sharing. 

Anthony

I must say again how much I appreciate all your material. Including the video tutorials. It help keep me focused and knowing what to aim for. And your laid back teaching style appeals to me too. 

Thanks

P

P

Your material is great! I got your New Altissimo Lesson 6 months ago and I have learned more from that than in all my 44 years of playing! I appreciate your down to earth teaching method and I really appreciate the heart that you teach with. I have been a subscriber to your lessons for the past 6 months and I have learned a great deal. Over that period of time I have had some questions and you have never failed to respond. Thanks! I have already recommended your lessons to a number of players in… Read more

Michael Byington
Hi Steve, I have been shedding your materials for quite a while now and I love them! They are extremely well organized and presented and there are tons of ’em! I really appreciate your methodical approach and find myself referring students to your resources often.  Thanks so much!  
Kenyon Carter
I like so many other subscribers feel so encouraged by Steve’s learning techniques; you will enjoy reading the comments of praise others have left as you too will feel that you share a common view and path. I feel very lucky to have come across Neffmusic and that feeling will remain with you as you search through a treasure trove of learning materials on offer, you will quickly find the lessons that you are suited to. You will instantly recognize the unparalleled quality of Steve’s teaching … Read more
Stephen

Mr. Neff,  I want to thank you for sharing your God-given talents through your on-line lessons.  My husband, Michael, is blind, but he is a great sax player and he has been enjoying your lessons for quite some time now.  It’s not unusual for me to hear “Hey, babe, listen to THIS!” – and he will cut loose on his sax, just thrilled at what he learned during his session with you.  His excitement warms my heart!  You have no idea how much you have poured into my husband.  You have opened musical … Read more

Carole B

Steve,

I have played for many years and have enjoyed going “back to the basics” in some of your lessons!  You have such a gift for explaining concepts.  As I have gotten older, some of the basic things have gotten muddled because I just play, not knowing why.  As I refresh myself with “why”, it increases my confidence and expands my playing.  Thank you so much for using your gift!  You are a blessing!

Julia
Thank you for the wealth of helpful lessons you’ve provided over the years.  I truly feel as though it has improved my playing more than the 4 years I spent at Berklee… and that’s not a slight on the school as I loved my experience there.
John
John
I have NEVER seen material like yours.  Amazing!!
Jerry
I have been a member of Neffmusic for more than a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have not only been going thru the Dominant Bebop Scale lessons and book (OUTSTANDING!) but the mouthpiece reviews, solo clips and transcriptions are very interesting. Steve approach to beginning and intermediate improv have given me many new pathways to teach my high school jazz ensemble students. Congratulations Steve, great product!
Craig
I have found your videos and publications inspiring and your contribution to the world of saxophone playing is immense. Paul
Paul
Steve’s monthly lessons are entirely valuable. Without brow beating, he tells you all the stuff you deep down know you really should be working on, instead of just relying on the same old patterns. In spite of the fact that you’re taking a video lesson, Steve’s presentation is comfortable and “real”. In a little more than a year, he’s developed a library of lessons that seem to offer any player a lifetime’s worth of practice material. I’m just glad I stumbled upon it.… Read more
Grant
Thank you for all the educational information you provide.  I am a classically trained musician.  Professionally, I am a 4th and 5th grade band teacher.  I have played piano and sax for many years, but now I am starting to gig out more. I have always improvised by ear in the past. I have gotten by with my strong sense of pitch, rhythm and melodic contour. However, I want to go deeper. I want to play with a greater variety of melodic and rhythmic ideas to pull from.  I have studied to gain a … Read more
Ray
I can’t say enough about my membership at Neff Music. Steve has taken the mystery out of playing the saxophone well and improvising both jazz and rock music. Like most struggling players I have a load of all sorts of books on my shelf just gathering dust. Books that I didn’t understand or know how to put to use…or just have the time to go threw them. Steve’s lessons really simplify things and he puts it in a way that I can understand. They inspire me to keep pushing and having him as my guide or… Read more
Ken
I just wanted to write a thank you note to you for this website. I play and teach saxophone, but I have always been intimidated by the gear aspect. Your website has helped me become a lot more knowledgable. Your knowledge is staggering! I’m telling all my students about your website. Pierre
Pierre
Just wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for being you, your playing, your website and your desire to help others. I’m a professional musician in the US Army and I’ve visited your website almost every day since discovering it a couple of months ago. Your lessons are profound and easy to use. I’ve purchased most of your PDF books and now am starting to delve more into the video and audio lessons.  Thank you for being a great resource!
James
Just to say thanks for your advice and lessons.  I’ve just read your amazing story.  I really appreciate what you do in regards to teaching.  I have bought a couple of your lessons and frankly they’re undersold.   I’ve learned much more with these two lessons than with 2 years of sax teachers.   Thanks so much………..
Mike

Featured Video Lessons

  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $19.99 Original price was: $19.99.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.
  • The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor The Secret to Modern Outside Jazz Lines Lesson-Minor $9.99
  • Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson
    Rated 4.91 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Secret to Altissimo (no one has ever told you about before) Lesson The Secret to Altissimo (no one has ever told you about before) Lesson
    Rated 4.75 out of 5
    $9.99

Now over 600 video and audio lessons to choose from!

Free Lessons

  • Free Lesson on The New Ultimate II-V-I Primer-Major Keys
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering Altered Pentatonics
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering the Blues Scale Volume 1 & 2
  • Free Video Lesson on Mastering the Dominant Bebop Scale and Language Book 1 & 2
  • Free Video Lesson on Approach Note Velocity Book

Recent reviews

  • Bebop Scale-Altered Scale II-V-I Practice Lesson Bebop Scale-Altered Scale II-V-I Practice Lesson by Noah
  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) by Andy
  • Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Dominant Pentatonic Sound over a Blues (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Russ
  • Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson Creating Modern II-V-I Lines with Simple Pentatonics Lesson
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Timothy
  • The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson The Best Embouchure for Tone, Intonation and Endurance Lesson
    Rated 5 out of 5
    by Ray Holland

Footer

Recent Comments

  • Giuseppe C. on Les Becs d’Autan Florida Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Paul Fessenden on Otto Link LA Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Steve on Theo Wanne Gaia 2 Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Steve on Les Becs d’Autan Florida Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Review
  • Pablo Lopez on 40 Michael Brecker Licks

Top rated products

  • Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book) Mastering the Major Bebop Scale & Sound (Digital PDF Book)
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $14.99
  • Tune of the Week-Softly as a Morning Sunrise Lesson Tune of the Week-Softly as a Morning Sunrise Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1 The Style of Dexter Gordon-Lady Bird Lesson 1
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson Tune of the Week-Days of Wine and Roses Lesson
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99
  • Tune of the Week-Invitation Tune of the Week-Invitation
    Rated 5.00 out of 5
    $9.99

Product tags

alto sax alto saxophone approach notes audio lesson bebop scale beginner beginner saxophone blues blues licks blues patterns blues scale blues scales diminished scale dominant chords ear training fundamentals II-V-I improvisation jazz improvisation jazz lines jazz patterns jazz sax jazz saxophone jazz standard jazz standards licks Mastering the Blues Scale Michael Brecker modern improv modern improvisation online lesson patterns playing outside practice habits reading music sax basics sax lessons saxophone scales smooth jazz steve neff tenor sax tenor saxophone video lesson video lessons
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • SUPPORT

Neffmusic © 2005–2025