On Feb. 6, The Nearness of You concert was held at Jazz at Lincoln Center and featured performances by Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Christopher Cross, Dianne Reeves and Branford Marsalis.
Hosted by Hugh Jackman and Brian Stokes Mitchell, the concert was in honor of Michael Brecker and raised funds to support MDS-Leukemia Stem Cell Research at Columbia University and the work of Azra Raza, M.D. and Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D. The event was organized by Brecker’s widow Susan and his longtime manager Darryl Pitt and it featured Michael’s former bandmate and colleague Will Lee as music director. Michael’s brother Randy, who co-led the iconic and influential band The Brecker Brothers for many years, along with his wife Ada Rovatti, as well as musicians such as Romero Lubambo, Steve Gadd, Clifford Carter, Oz Noy, James Genus and other notable players served as the house band for the concert.
In a statement released prior to the concert, Susan Brecker said: “When Michael passed away, I wanted to give back to the cancer community to help patients and the doctors desperately trying to find a cure. Michael has been gone 17 years, and my commitment to supporting cancer research has only gotten stronger.”
