Michael Brecker, 57, a bold-toned, versatile tenor saxophonist who won 11 Grammy Awards and whose work as a studio and backup musician and leader appears on thousands of recordings, died Jan. 13 at a hospital in New York. He had leukemia.

This rememberance could just as easily live in General Music Discussion since, if you bought a pop or rock recording from the 70s forward, you've probably heard Brecker's work. As I was telling a colleague this morning, if you've heard a saxophone solo on a rock record and it's not David Sanborn, it's probably Michael Brecker.

Growing up, playing the instrument, Michael Brecker was the equivalent of the guitar players' "guitar god" for the saxophone. We followed his work slavishly even as we explored his own influences. His considerable technique and near ubiquity made it easy to overlook what a tasteful and considered player he really was and while I'm probably not as taken with his solo work as some, his work on Chick Corea's Three Quartets is some of my favorite saxophone work in the canon.

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Seen him many times live/have many of his CDs. Can't say it is much of a surprise. He's been ill for awhile now.

I remember he put together a superstar band that gigged at Birdland back in the 1990s. He had Pat Methaney on guitar, Jack DeJohnette on drums, I forget who was on bass, and Joey Calderazzo on bass.

Not only did Brecker pass, but Coltrane's widow Alice also died. Both obits were in the "Times" today.

I am a very big fan of Mr. Brecker's work. He was one of the best saxophone players of our time and made many excellent albums that I simply adore and listen to on a continuous basis like, Don't Try This at Home, Two Blocks from the Edge, the beautiful ballad-book Nearness of You and his self-titled debut. And all of these albums are a while after he had done some serious recordings for James Taylor, Lou Reed, Aerosmith, Elton John, Robert Palmer, Tina Turner, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Chick Corea, Billy Joel, and Eric Clapton--to name a few.

His great, technical playing was underrated—along with his impeccable improvisation skills—and he will be dearly missed. At least his brilliant soloing skills will be passed on to many jazz students with his released solos on the Jamey Aebersold collections.

ewll, i hate to be crude, but since he passed on a lot more people are probably going to listen to him now... sad.