Without question, I will always consider myself one of the luckiest musicians alive to have spent so much time playing with both Randy and Michael Brecker. Each, in his own unique way, has had an undeniable influence on everything that I have become as a musician. But during my years as part of The Brecker Bros. Band, which preceded my first three recordings for Columbia Records, there was no question that the influence of Randy's compositions was as profound as anything else. And so, during the preparation time for both "TIGHTROPE" and "THE BLUE MAN," I asked Randy if he had an 'extra' tune that didn't seem to fit on a forthcoming Brecker Bros. recording, and would he let me record it? We had once rehearsed "The Big Ones" while getting ready for "BACK TO BACK" and so I knew that I wanted that tune for "TIGHTROPE." When I went over to Randy's downtown loft to look over some of his tunes, while getting ready for "THE BLUE MAN" in '78, I heard an untitled piece, which I just fell in love with. I told Randy, "that's the one I want to record!" He said, more or less, "O.K., you've had the 'Big Ones!' Now you can have, "The Little Ones."
    Though I will try to control myself from going overboard with praise for Randy's writing style, but after having spent a goodly portion of a day re-writing this mini-score, I have to say that this composition is absolutely brilliant! And brilliant in every detail. I recall that I spent a great deal of time working on the arrangement, and how to bring out the very best in the piece. I knew that it would be one of several tunes which would utilize the mini-horn section of the Brecker Bros. Band: Randy Brecker(Trumpet); David Sanborn(Alto Sax); and Michael Brecker(Tenor Sax). As I had had the benefit of viewing Randy's own mini-scores for his other compositions, I was intimately acquainted with just how to voice the three horns.
    Lucky for me, it was pretty obvious that the [A] melody would lay best on the guitar, and that [B] and [C] were best suited for the horns. In letter [B], I simply added the full three voices in places where I felt it was appropriate. Those spots ended-up being in bar 4, 5, and 7-8. Letter [C] presented different problems, and so in bar 3, I had the guitar answer the prior horn phrases. Then, from that point forward, the guitar plays small lines which anticipate the arrival of the next chord change into the following bar. As [C] is a 9-bar phrase, the guitar finishes off the section and build right back into the reprise of [A], [A2] which sets up the 1st solo, the guitar solo.
    When Randy gave me the chart to the tune, there really wasn't a fully realized solo section, or a set of solo changes. So, this was another aspect that I had to spend some time on. As I always try to do, I simply tried to make the most of the material which was already there in the body of the song. As you can see, the solo changes mirror harmonic movements which were first presented in both [A] and [B]. [D2] mirrors [B] and to give it more drive and power, on the repeat, the horn section appears with little hits I arranged in their style. I was very proud when the three of them didn't laugh at me too much. For those of you who have questions about the technical aspects of recording this little 3-man horn section, what we used to do in those days was to simply double-track the horns and place them in a stereo image. In essence, they sound like 6 horns! More than this, Randy, David, and Michael know exactly how to blend with one another, how to phrase as one. Their internal dynamics, within any phrase, are perhaps the best that one can imagine. And, at this tempo, their short staccato 16th-notes are exactly the thing which has influenced arrangers, and other horn sections the world over. This alone make me so very proud to have been a part of this group, and of the legacy of their ensemble horn playing.
    Of course, the horns and the melodies cannot do it alone. Putting the funk and the soul underneath, giving the "feel" to the written notes was left to Don Grolnick(Keys); Will Lee(Elec. Bass); Jeff Mironov(Guitar); Steve Gadd(Drums); and Ralph MacDonald(Percussion). These great, great players sound incredible on this track!!! The musical and personal familiarity, which existed between all of us, cannot be discounted as a major contributing factor when assessing just why this track has such a wicked 'hump' to it.
    As always, I've tried my best to keep the mini-score down to a minimum amount of pages. In order to do that, I had to employ not only a D.S. but a D.D.S. and, in addition to those necessities, I had to use a Coda, and then a Double Coda. But, I believe that this enabled me to keep the body of the tune within 4 pages. The 5th page simply becomes our Fade which is now letter [F]. Below you can follow along with the letter layout of the recorded version: