Jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker [ tickets ], who won 11 Grammy Awards in a distinguished career that spanned five decades, died Saturday in New York City. He was 57 years old.

Brecker's manager, Darryl Pitt, told the Los Angeles Times that the performer died of leukemia, which was an effect of Brecker's long battle with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a form of cancer that attacks bone marrow.

An active studio musician, Brecker appeared on more than 900 recordings in his career, with artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to Frank Zappa. He began his career in the late '60s with the fusion group Dreams, then joined with his brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker, to become The Brecker Brothers for much of the '70s.

Brecker's commercial breakthrough came in 1972, when the tenor-sax virtuoso performed a solo on James Taylor's hit "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight." Throughout the decade that followed, Brecker found himself in demand by pop artists.

Surprisingly, Brecker didn't release an album under his own name until 1987. The self-titled disc won jazz album of the year awards in many publications.

Brecker went on to release several more solo albums, including his most recent, 2003's "Wide Angles," on which the saxophonist leads a 15-piece ensemble in performing his own compositions. The album took home Grammy Awards the following year for Best Large Jazz Ensemble and Best Instrumental Arrangement.

Brecker's family announced in 2005 that he had been diagnosed with MDS, and that a search was underway for a stem-cell donor to help the musician combat the disease. An experimental partial stem cell transplant earlier this year from his daughter, Jessica, was unsuccessful.

His last studio effort was completed two weeks ago, and will be released June 10. Still untitled, the album features accompaniment by jazz greats Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Jack DeJohnette and others.

Aside from his daughter and brother, Becker is survived by his wife, Susan; his son, Sam; and sister Emily Brecker Greenberg.