Michael Brecker was born on March 29, 1949 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Cheltenham Township, a Philadelphia suburb. Brecker was exposed to jazz from an early age. His father was an amateur jazz pianist. He started playing the drums when he was quite young. When he was 7, he started playing the clarinet. In high school he picked up the alto saxophone and eventually settled on playing the tenor.

He attended Indiana University for a year, where he played in some rock bands, R & B and funk bands. He eventually dropped out of school and moved to New York in 1969 to pursue a professional music career. When he was 21 he formed the band Dreams with his brother Randy, guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Billy Cobham.

Here’s a 1998 performance by the Michael Brecker Group at Leverkusener Jazztage in Germany.