If you’re even slightly into jazz, you probably know that Michael Brecker was one of the most influential soloists of the modern era—so influential, in fact, that name guitarists were transcribing his licks as early as the ’70s. John Scofield was one of the esteemed saxophonist’s many protégés. “I was listening to a live tape of Mike,” shared Sco’ in his June ’87 GP cover story, “and the band was doing ‘Invitation’ in C minor. He played this great intervallic [triads-based] lick [example to the right] that I’ve heard him do before, so I stopped and figured it out. Soon after that I heard him use it with Chick Corea, but in a completely different way. He always seems to play it over a minor or a dominant chord. Patterns like this are great, but they have to come out naturally, or else they’ll sound contrived and give the impression that you ran out of ideas.”