Harold Floyd "Tina" Brooks (June 7, 1932 – August 13, 1974) was an American jazz tenor

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 brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and composer best remembered for his work in the

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

style.

Early years

Harold Floyd Brooks was born in

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

, and was the brother of David "Bubba" Brooks. The nickname "Tina", pronounced ''Teena'', was a variation of "Teeny", a childhood moniker. His favourite tune was "My Devotion".Original 1980 liner notes to ''

Minor Move ''Minor Move'' is an album by American hard bop tenor Tina Brooks. It features performances by Brooks, Lee Morgan, Sonny Clark, Doug Watkins and Art Blakey. It was recorded on March 16, 1958, and was the first album Brooks recorded as a leader ...

'' by Lawrence Kart He studied harmony and theory with Herbert Bourne. Initially, he studied the

C-melody saxophone The C melody saxophone, also known as the C tenor saxophone, is a saxophone pitched in the key of C one whole tone above the common B-flat tenor saxophone. The C melody was part of the series of saxophones pitched in C and F intended by the ins ...

, which he began playing shortly after he moved to New York with his family in 1944. Brooks' first professional work came in 1951 with rhythm and blues pianist

Sonny Thompson Sonny Thompson (probably August 23, 1916 – August 11, 1989), born Alfonso Thompson or Hezzie Tompson, was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography There is some uncertainty over Thomps ...

, and in 1955 Brooks played with vibraphonist

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

. Brooks also received less formal guidance from trumpeter and composer "Little" Benny Harris, who led the saxophonist to his first recording as a leader. Harris recommended Brooks to

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

producer

Alfred Lion Alfred Lion (born Alfred Löw; April 21, 1908 – February 2, 1987), was an American record executive who co-founded the jazz record label Blue Note in 1939. Lion retired in 1967, having sold the company, after producing recordings by leading music ...

in 1958.

Recordings

Brooks is best known for his recordings for the Blue Note label between 1958 and 1961, recording as a sideman with

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

Jackie McLean John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their deat ...

Freddie Redd Freddie Redd (May 29, 1928 – March 17, 2021) was an American Hard bop, hard-bop pianist and composer. He is best known for writing music to accompany ''The Connection (play), The Connection'' (1959), a play by Jack Gelber. According to Peter ...

, and Jimmy Smith. Around the same period, Brooks was McLean's understudy in '' The Connection'', a play by

Jack Gelber Jack Gelber (April 12, 1932 – May 9, 2003) was an American playwright best known for his 1959 drama '' The Connection'', depicting the life of drug-addicted jazz musicians. The first great success of the Living Theatre, the play was transl ...

with music by Redd, and performed on an album of music from the play on

Felsted Records Felsted Records was the name of two record labels. The UK version began as a subsidiary of Decca Records in July 1954 with music mainly in the jazz and dance band genres and recordings leased from the French Blue Star, Riviera, and Classique l ...

, a session which also featured

Howard McGhee Howard McGhee (March 6, 1918 – July 17, 1987) was one of the first American bebop jazz trumpeters, with Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Idrees Sulieman. He was known for his fast fingering and high notes. He had an influence on younger beb ...

. Brooks recorded five sessions of his own for Blue Note (including one jointly with McLean). The first session was recorded on March 16, 1958 at the

Van Gelder Studio The Van Gelder Studio is a recording studio at 445 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, United States. Following the use of his parents' home at 25 Prospect Avenue, Hackensack, New Jersey, for the original studio, Rudy Van Gelder (1924– ...

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jers ...

, and featured trumpeter

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...

alongside seasoned professionals such as

Sonny Clark Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom. Early life Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pit ...

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

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

. However, for unknown reasons ''

'' was not released for more than two decades, several years after Brooks had died. This started an unfortunate trend, as three of his four other sessions (''

Street Singer Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

'', '' Back to the Tracks'' and '' The Waiting Game'') did not appear during his lifetime. The exception was '' True Blue'', a session recorded on June 25, 1960 with

Duke Jordan Irving Sidney "Duke" Jordan (April 1, 1922 – August 8, 2006) was an American jazz pianist. Biography Jordan was born in New York and raised in Brooklyn where he attended Boys High School. An imaginative and gifted pianist, Jordan was a regula ...

, Sam Jones and

Art Taylor Arthur S. Taylor Jr. (April 6, 1929 – February 6, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, who "helped define the sound of modern jazz drumming".Watrous, Peter (February 7, 1995)"Art Taylor, 65, Jazz Drummer Who Inspired Young Musicians" ''The Ne ...

. The release of ''True Blue'' coincided with the release of Hubbard's Blue Note debut album, ''

Open Sesame "Open sesame" (french: Sésame, ouvre-toi; ar, افتح يا سمسم) is a magical phrase in the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in Antoine Galland's version of '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It opens the mouth of a cave in whi ...

'' (also featuring Brooks, who wrote the opening title track as well as "Gypsy Blue"), and was not actively promoted. Brooks did not record after 1961. Plagued by heroin dependency, and gradually deteriorating health, he died of liver failure aged 42.

Legacy

Michael Cuscuna Michael Cuscuna (born September 20, 1949 in Stamford, Connecticut, United States) is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records. Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and ...

in 1985, through

Mosaic Records Mosaic Records is an American jazz record company and label established in 1982 by Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie. It produces limited-edition box sets. The sets recordings are leased from the major record companies, usually for a three- or f ...

, released a boxset of Brooks' recordings as leader; the limited edition is out of print. The interest in Brooks' music has also led to releases of the unissued sessions through Blue Note Japan and on CD in Blue Note's Connoisseur series. In the liner notes for the CD release of ''Back to the Tracks'', Cuscuna wrote: "Far lesser talents have been far more celebrated" and that Brooks "was a unique, sensitive improviser who could weave beautiful and complex tapestries through his horn. His lyricism, unity of ideas and inner logic were astounding." David Rosenthal in his book ''Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music 1955-1965'' wrote about Brooks. Of his composition "Street Singer", Rosenthal wrote that it is "an authentic hard-bop classic" where "pathos, irony and rage come together in a performance at once anguished and sinister." The official Blue Note website says of Brooks: "With a strong, smooth tone and an amazing flow of fresh ideas every time he soloed, tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks should have been a major jazz artist, but his legacy is confined to a series of dates that he did for Blue Note as a sideman and leader" and that he "was one of the most brilliant, if underrated, tenor saxophonists in modern jazz."

Discography

All on

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...

, unless otherwise indicated.

As leader/co-leader

* 1958: ''

'' (1980) * 1960: '' True Blue'' (1960) * 1960: ''

'' with

(1980) – Japan only * 1960: '' Back to the Tracks'' (1998) * 1961: '' The Waiting Game'' (2002)

As sideman

With

* '' Blue Lights Volume 1 & 2'' (1958) * ''

On View at the Five Spot Cafe ''On View at the Five Spot Cafe'' is a live album by American jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell with drummer Art Blakey. It was recorded live at the Five Spot Café in New York City on August 25, 1959, and released on the Blue Note label.Swingin''' (1980) – recorded in 1956–59 With

* ''

'' (1960) With

* ''

Music from the Connection ''Music from The Connection'' is a jazz album by trumpeter Howard McGhee recorded on June 13, 1960, and released on the Felsted label.

'' (Felsted, 1960) With

* '' Jackie's Bag'' (1961) – recorded in 1959–60 With

* ''

Shades of Redd ''Shades of Redd'' is an album by American pianist Freddie Redd recorded in 1960 and released on the Blue Note label.

'' (1960) * '' Redd's Blues'' (1988) – recorded in 1961 With Jimmy Smith * ''

House Party A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...

'' (1958) – recorded in 1957-58 * ''

The Sermon! ''The Sermon!'' is an album by jazz organist Jimmy Smith. It was produced by the Blue Note record label, and was Smith's fifteenth album in three years. AllMusic's Lindsay Planer described the album as "a prime example of Smith and company's m ...

'' (1959) – recorded in 1957-58 * ''

Cool Blues ''Cool Blues'' is a live album by American jazz organist Jimmy Smith featuring performances recorded at Small's Paradise in New York City in 1958 but not released on the Blue Note label until 1980.

'' (1980) – recorded in 1958 With Sonny Thompson * ''Sonny Thompson and his Orchestra'' (King, 1951)

References

External links

Tina Brooks at the Hard Bop Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Tina 1932 births 1974 deaths African-American jazz musicians American jazz musicians American jazz tenor saxophonists Blue Note Records artists Hard bop saxophonists Musicians from the Bronx Post-bop saxophonists Deaths from liver failure 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from New York (state) American male saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 20th-century African-American musicians