Grammy-winning musician Michael Brecker, a tenor saxophonist who worked with the likes of Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan and Herbie Hancock, has died.

His longtime manager Darryl Pitt confirmed Brecker passed away in a New York City hospital Saturday of leukemia. He was 57.

Jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker, pictured in a promotional photo, died Jan. 13 of leukemia in New York City.
(Courtesy of Michael Brecker Media)

Brecker, who garnered 11 Grammys, had a unique style that was widely emulated. Jazziz magazine recently called him ''inarguably the most influential tenor stylist of the last 25 years."

He managed to record a final album, completed only two weeks ago and yet to be released.

''In addition to the love of his family and friends, his work on this project helped keep him alive and will be another jewel in his legacy,'' Pitt said.

Brecker's previous album, the 2004 Wide Angles, won two Grammys in 2004.

Born in 1949 in Philadelphia, Brecker's childhood was filled with trips with his father to performances by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis.

Brecker decided to pursue a career playing the tenor saxophone after listening to the works of John Coltrane. He followed his trumpet-playing brother Randy to Indiana University but lasted only a year before heading to New York.

He founded the jazz-rock group Dreams in 1970 and later joined his brother in pianist Horace Silver's quintet. Together the brothers found success with their own jazz fusion group, the Brecker Brothers, once owning a downtown jazz club, Seventh Avenue South.

In the early 1980s, Brecker was a member of NBC's Saturday Night Live band.

Massey Hall concert album nets Grammy

Then in 1987, he launched his solo career with a self-titled debut, which was voted Jazz Album of the Year in both Jazziz and Down Beat magazines.

His albums during the 1990s continued to gather awards. His 2001 effort, Nearness of You: The Ballad Book, featuring jazz giants Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette, grabbed two Grammys.

In 2002, Brecker, Hancock and Roy Hargrove released Directions in Music, a live concert at Toronto's Massey Hall, celebrating the music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The album won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

A few years ago, Brecker was diagnosed with the blood disorder myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). His family led a desperate worldwide search to find a matching stem cell donor but to no avail. In May 2006, he was the recipient of an experimental partial matching stem cell transplant which was unsuccessful. The syndrome led to leukemia.

Brecker is survived by his wife, Susan, his daughter and son, brother Randy and a sister.

With files from the Associated Press