The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion convened an all-star cast – including saxophonist David Sanborn and drummer Dave Weckl – for the recent comeback album celebrating the repertoire that had made the original group such a big attraction between 1975 and 1981. A more workmanlike version of the lineup is at Ronnie Scott's, but the old hits still emit much of the wired energy of what trumpeter Randy Brecker described as "the original heavy-metal bebop band". Some compatible new material updates the music, and heavy-hitting rock-inflected drummer Terry Bozzio sustains the gleeful, smack-every-accent rhythmic feel that made the Breckers so accessible outside the jazz loop.
After the great saxophonist Michael Brecker's death from leukemia in 2007, Randy Brecker steered clear of the idea of reunions – but his sax-playing Italian wife Ada Rovatti's ability to rekindle the absent star's rigorous drive and uncliched bluesiness without mimicry makes the reunion venture much more than a sentimental journey. And if the park-on-a-dime riffs didn't sound as tight as they might have done on opening night, the mood was warm and the solos often enthralling. Rovatti's Ghost Stories was a subtly harmonised, songlike piece that explored the contrast between Randy Brecker's heated tone and high-note trilling and her own drily elegant tenor lines. Michael Brecker's Straphangin' opened on a stately fanfare before the arrival of the rapid-fire theme, and guitarist Barry Finnerty expanded the band sound with an organ synth, and the Breckers' classic Some Skunk Funk – a blur of skidding bebop lines and high-note trumpet squeals over Bozzio's implacable backbeat – set the loyal fanbase in the club yelping with pleasure.
But Randy Brecker has clearly decided that this project only makes sense – and pays proper respect to his brother – if the repertoire evolves, and mixes old and new. It sounds like a work in progress – but it's getting there, and it's a better choice than just taking a snapshot of the past.
• Until 24 July. Box office: 020-7439 0747. Venue: Ronnie Scott's, London.
