Source: http://music.barnesandnoble.com/features/interview.asp?NID=429510&z=y
Barnes & Noble.com: Your recent records involve original music and haven't been concept albums. And here we have one.
Michael Brecker: For a few years, I've wanted to make a record comprised solely of ballads with a group of my favorite ballad players that could capture the energy that usually generates when we play together. Then I decided I wanted a singer, and James Taylor immediately came to mind. I've known and worked with him since 1970, had the glorious opportunity to play on five or six of his albums, and the idea of having him backed up by Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Jack DeJohnette and Charlie Haden excited me tremendously. I've always sensed that he's a jazz musician at heart. His musicality is incredible -- he's a great guitar player, a great singer, a great composer. Sure enough, we did a number of takes of "Don't Let Me Be Lonely" and "The Nearness of You," and he sang each take differently, in the tradition of a real jazz singer.
B&N.com: On "Don't Let Me Lonely" you're reprising an iconic solo, one of the numerous that made your reputation as a younger musician.
MB: This was such a different treatment. I always liked the tune, and I love the way James sings it. But I haven't heard the old version in years. For me it represented a forward look. The way James sang it with Herbie and Pat playing behind him so significantly changed the sensibility of the song as to make it totally fresh.
B&N.com: Any favorite vocalists for rendering ballads?
MB: We can put Johnny Hartman in there! Definitely Shirley Horn. You can put Billie Holiday in there, too.
B&N.com: As a tenor saxophonist, who are some tenorists whose approach to balladry you admire?
MB: Certainly Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins. And Stan Getz was one of the greatest ballad players who ever lived. I loved the way Coltrane approached ballads. If I was to choose any record in the past as a model for this, I would certainly cite the Coltrane Ballads record as a template for the simplicity of his approach. Traditionally, when I play ballads live, I tend to be quite notey and embellish the melodies and play long cadenzas and long introductions. I decided not to do that here. I was looking to find a way to simplify my playing in terms of lyricism, and give each note a sense of weight and let it speak. Somehow at this period of my life (I don't know why), it feels like I am allowed to do that. [LAUGHS] I feel comfortable doing that, whereas maybe I didn't feel so comfortable earlier.
B&N.com: Would you say that your comments about paring down is a characteristic of your stylistic evolution in the last ten years?
MB: Possibly. Actually, I used a rubber mouthpiece on most of this record, which gave me a broader sound. It forced me to play a different way and to concentrate on the sound. I actually changed the morning of the date!
B&N.com: So your facility can get in the way of that sort of focus.
MB: Yes.
B&N.com: Do you find yourself becoming more aware of this in live performance situations?
MB: I'm more aware of it when I play live, absolutely. There are various times when I tend to want to play more, and I don't. Over the past few years, I've become increasingly aware of the importance of space and I leave quite a bit of space now. That's even reflected in the choice of notes. But don't get me wrong! [LAUGHS] I've always had the ability to get around the instrument, and love to do so.
B&N.com: Are you familiar with the lyrics to all of these ballads?
MB: I am. But lyrics don't necessarily affect the way I approach the ballad. I'm kind of thankful for that, because I have a feeling that if it did affect it, I'd probably be interpreting things too literally -- knowing the way my mind works. If somebody said he had a broken heart, I'd probably play a broken note!