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The Big Fight is over!!! -- Michael won!!!

It's never too late to eulogize, it's never too soon to organize!

I'll scream now, and will apologize later...

Those were some of my Battle Cries-Slogans during Michael's Big Fight -- a painful and crazy time ...

wanna know more...?!

"Pilgrimage" by Michael Brecker

I am not planning another Michael Memorial-Tribute-Fan site here... There are already some great ones out there:

Maybe eventually I'll get a few more words off my chest... There is enough there for a book, but who's got that kind of time? For now here is a little something for the Time Capsule:

Audio Interviews...

Michael Brecker  Interview, 1987

NPR -- Brecker's 'Pilgrimage' a Welcome, Not a Farewell - article & audio

Michael Brecker Tribute, BBC Radio, January 24, 2007

Michael Brecker Interview - date unknown

I Remember Michael...

Sometimes during Michael's Big Fight (2005-2006), when I spent long hours on the phone, trying to help him any way I could, in between doing my Michael Email "Blitzes", I would need a break. So, I'd go to the East River, and practice, if the weather wasn't too cold, facing Michael's Hospital Room on "The Other Side"... Sometimes on those occasions, I'd get an email from him, and I'd email him a bunch of photos from my laptop. Sometimes I'd do some free weights -- hey, Michael's fighting spirit was contagious! We were cheerleading each other! The whole thing was so deep!!!

Technology was one of the passions Michael and I shared... Being online on my Apple Powerbook G4 laptop, through Palm Treo 700p was a big deal back then in 2006... Makes a fun hang in a hammock, particularly in Hawaii...!!!

By the end of 2006, I needed a break, and badly... So, in January 2007, I flew to San Francisco, and I had a blast there: Macworld, etc. I tried to inhale as much of that Magic City as possible!!! Michael called it a "Unique place!"  

Friday, January 12, 2007, was my last night in San Francisco. I pointed my camera straight at the Sun, and took that Sunset with me for Eternity... As I was shooting those photos on the beach, I got pretty emotional... Michael was definitely on my mind, as I was about to fly back to New York overnight... I felt a heavy sadness, and it was not only because I too was "leaving my heart in San Francisco"... I couldn't stop thinking about Michael, and the year 2006 that just passed: donor searches, transfusions, chemo therapy, losing my dog... I felt some kind of premonition, thinking: what if that was Michael's last night on Earth?!...  The dogs running deliriously off the leashes, kicking the sand -- that didn't "help" either....

The next day, on Saturday, January 13, 2007, soon after I landed in New York, I got a call from Michael's manager, and a great friend, Darryl Pitt... The Big Fight was over!!! Michael was gone a couple of hours earlier! That was one of the worst days of my life, as well as an End of an Era, and such similar clichés.... Yet, soon afterwards, a different "headline" came to me:

With everything that Michael has been through in that Big Fight, he managed to sneak into a recording studio for a some more stolen moments, and the result was his last recording Pilgrimage, which earned him his 14th and 15th Grammy!!! But, with, or without all his Grammies, one of the things that amazed me most about Michael was his family and friends!!! They were his Dream Team!!! Meeting some of them at Michael's son's Bar Mitzvah, where I had the Honor of Honors to perform, at Michael's request (promise kept!) -- that  will forever remain one of the highlights of my life, in every respect, and not just musically speaking!

As they say, "the show must go on", and so does life... Besides the obvious -- HEALTH, memories and time are among our most precious gifts...

Whenever I pack before a trip --  a suite case , or my backpack (see last photo above), I always think of Michael. I can only imagine how many frequent miles he has flown many times around the world! I can only imagine how many photos and videos he has shot, and how many people he has touched both through his music and personally... And I am sure all of that ended up in his music, which will go on forever!

Below is an excerpt from the last email I received from Michael while at Macworld, during that San Francisco trip... It was 3 days before he died...

He wasn't feeling well, but chose to talk about that?! I don't think iPhone was just a welcome distraction. I also think that he wanted me to have a great time in San Francisco, knowing that I needed that... How unselfish was that?!

I was so happy to see him being excited by the iPhone... I saw Michael's Tech Passions not as just some entertainment hobby... His use of technology was an artistic form of self-expression! Like many Mac users, he was a Think Different type, like these guys, and so many more...

Michael's technology interest fueled his creativity, and thus  the passion for life, and around it went! It was my honor and privilege to help him keep that particular "cycle" going..., particularly on the dark days of his Big Fight!

With the iPhone 2.0, 3G TZUNAMI coming, where the sky will be the limit!!! , it will be hard not to think of Michael... I don't think that habit of mine will ever go away...

No matter how dark it got during his Big Fight, Michael was always on the look out for new ideas, keeping his eyes and ears in "Wide Angle mode", and zooming in at the same time!

Sometimes all those memories feel like a movie, but I know it was not, it was real! During our talks we often used this expression:

Can't Make It Up!!!

I don't think that habit of mine will ever go away either... Every day in my life I use it, and I know Michael is getting a chuckle out of all this, just like he used to... -- we did get some laughs in! Hey, I am not the only one with the Battle Cries-Slogans...

Now, Michael is on a much Larger Capacity Hard Drive, in a Bigger Folder, but my guess is that it's all running under the same OS (Operating System)... Or maybe out there, on The Other Side, they don't even bother with the Hard Drives, cause their File Formats are so much hipper?! But, knowing Michael, I know his laughing under that OS too ! Michael Returned to Forever (hey, I love puns, as you can see)...

When he first called me about his Big Fight, I was shocked, and pretty emotional. As I was walking on the street, talking on my hands-free microphone on the cell phone, it was pretty noisy... I remember talking a lot, and loudly, telling Michael -- "Elvin, Trane, Miles, Bird, -- Let them wait!!!"... Who knows, maybe they couldn't?! I told him -- "I will fight for you like I did for my brother, and try to win against God this time!!!" It was my brother Alex, who introduced me to Michael's music within hours on my first day in New York!!!

And so, there I was -- Michael was calling me on his cell phone, from the hospital, and I was talking to him while walking along the East River, without even knowing that his windows were facing across the river!

Can't Make It Up!!!

I don't know if anyone will ever read all this stuff, and bother clicking on any of these links... Hey, these days, I hear that most people just scroll through the pages, look at some photos and videos, and move on...  Oh well...

I wish I had a dollar for each time I was told -- "You should write a book!" And that's years before I even met Michael.... But who knows, maybe I will someday?! Or maybe I'll just add some more stuff here, Time and Conscience permitting?!...

I could go on and on about Michael, who had become an even bigger HERO of mine, after I got to know him... How I wish I could have met him earlier! Blessed are those who have... But no matter what, I will never ever regret being part of his Big Fight! I carry him in my heart always and forever! I was blessed to share my thoughts, poetry, music, photos, and HEART with him...

Can't Make It Up!!!

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"Can't Make It Up!!!"