Joseph Brazil (August 25, 1927 – August 6, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist and educator. Local musicians and touring acts performed in his basement. He taught jazz at Garfield High School, co-founded the Black Music curriculum at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, and founded the Black Academy of Music in Seattle. He appeared on the albums '' Om'' by

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

and '' Mystic Voyage'' by

Roy Ayers Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Pol ...

Biography

Detroit (1927–1961)

Joseph Brazil was born August 25, 1927 in Detroit, Michigan. In 1951 he purchased a home in Detroit where he lived with his brother and mother. He built a bar in the basement and installed a baby grand piano. Jam sessions took place in his basement, with musicians such as trumpeter

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

, saxophonists

Sonny Red Sylvester Kyner Jr. (December 17, 1932 – March 20, 1981), known as Sonny Red, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles. Sonny Red played with Art Blakey, Curtis Fuller, Paul Quin ...

and Brazil, pianist

Barry Harris Barry Doyle Harris (December 15, 1929 – December 8, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style. Life and career Harris was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December ...

, bassist

Doug Watkins Douglas Watkins (March 2, 1934 – February 5, 1962) was an American jazz double bassist. He was best known for being an accompanist to various hard bop artists in the Detroit area, including Donald Byrd and Jackie McLean. Biography Watkins ...

, and drummer

Frank Gant Frank Gant (born May 26, 1931- July 19, 2021) was an american jazz drummer. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Gant recorded with Donald Byrd, Sonny Stitt, and extensively with Yusef Lateef in the late 1950s and then Red Garland before becoming a me ...

. Tapes of saxophonist John Coltrane practicing were made at his house. A tape of a jam session was recorded in his basement on September 25, 1958 with trumpeter Donald Towns, saxophonists Coltrane,

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

, Brazil, Red, pianist Hugh Lawson, bassist

Ernie Farrow Ernest Farrow (November 13, 1928 – July 14, 1969) was a jazz bassist who occasionally played other instruments. His half-sister was Alice Coltrane. Early life Farrow was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on November 13, 1928. He started on pia ...

, and drummer

Roy Brooks Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Early life Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in church. He was a ...

. Euphonium player

Kiane Zawadi Bernard Atwell McKinney, later Kiane Zawadi (born November 26, 1932) is an American jazz trombonist and euphonium player, one of the few jazz soloists on the latter instrument. Biography McKinney was born into a family of ten children, several of ...

(Bernard McKinney) and saxophonist Kenneth Winfrey lived down the street and often played at his house. Coltrane met drummer George Goldsmith in his basement and once asked Goldsmith to substitute for drummer

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

. While living in Detroit, pianist

Alice Coltrane Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...

(then Alice McLeod) was also a regular: pianist Kenny Cox suggests that it was here that she met her second husband, John Coltrane, although their formal introduction occurred in New York.

Seattle (1961–2008)

Brazil moved to Seattle to work as a tool maker at Boeing in 1961. In September 1965, he performed with John Coltrane at The Penthouse and, on October 1 of that year, recorded on flute with Coltrane in Lynnwood, Washington. The music was released by

Impulse! Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positi ...

in 1968 as the album '' Om''. The following day, after performing with his own band, Brazil taped Coltrane's band on reel-to-reel using The Penthouse's house system. The tapes sat in Brazil's basement for decades until, five years after Brazil's death, they were stolen by local saxophonist Steve Griggs. These recordings were released by Impulse! in 2021 as '' A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle''. He taught at Garfield High School's Magnet ProgramStromberg, Rolf. "Film Criticism Uproar Merits More Thought," ''Seattle Post Intelligencer'', 9 December 1969, WS, p. 9. with bassist

Chuck Metcalf Chuck Metcalf (8 January 1931 − 11 January 2012) was an American jazz double-bassist. He taught at Garfield High School's Magnet Program with saxophonist Joe Brazil in 1968. In 1980 he toured with Dexter Gordon. His first solo studio album name ...

in 1968. He established the Black Academy of Music in 1967 with guitarist George Hurst. The faculty included trumpeter Floyd Standifer, saxophonist Jabo Ward, and bassist Milt Garred. The Black Student Union demanded that he be hired by the University of Washington School of Music. He taught at the University of Washington from 1969 to 1976 but was denied tenure.

Discography

As sideman

With

*'' Mystic Voyage'' (Polydor, 1975) With

*'' Om'' (Impulse!, 1968) With James Moody *''Teachers'' (Perception, 1970)

References

Sources

* Armbuster, Kurt (2011). ''Before Seattle Rocked: A City and Its Music.'' Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. pp. 264–265. * Berkman, Franya (2010). ''Monument Eternal: The Music of Alice Coltrane.'' Middletown, Connecticut. Wesleyan University Press. p. 35. . * Cole, Bill (1976). ''John Coltrane.'' New York, New York: Da Capo Press. p. 169, 180. . * de Barros, Paul (1993). ''Jackson Street After Hours: The Roots of Jazz in Seattle.'' Seattle, Washington: Sasquatch Books. p. 203. . * Kahn, Ashley (2002). ''A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album.'' Middlesex, England: Viking Penguin. p. 179. . * Kahn, Ashley (2006). ''The House that Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records.'' New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. p. 184. . * Porter, Lewis (January 28, 2000). ''John Coltrane: His Life and Music.'' Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. pp. 180, 265, 266. . * Ratliff, Ben (2007). ''Coltrane: The Story of a Sound.'' New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 102. . * Robinson, Marc. "The Early History of the UW Black Student Union" ''Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project.'' * Simpkins, C. O. (1975). ''Coltrane: A Biography.'' Baltimore, Maryland: Black Classic Press. p. 194. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Brazil, Joe 1927 births 2008 deaths Musicians from Detroit American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American music educators African-American jazz musicians 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Michigan Educators from Michigan 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people