Biography
Tina Brooks had a short-lived career during the heyday of hard bop and didn’t record for the last 12 years of his life. Nonetheless, his own records and his sessions with Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Freddie Redd, Jimmy Smith, and Kenny Burrell leave the impression that he was on his way to becoming a tenor giant when he was overcome by health problems due to drug addiction. Brooks did session work with both Amos Milburn and Lionel Hampton, but the key to his own artistry is on the Blue Note label. He led only four sessions as a leader for Blue Note from 1958 through 1961 — during his lifetime. The first two, Minor Move and True Blue, define the weighty edge in Brooks’ playing and his plethora of improvisational ideas that extended the blues framework he operated out of beyond what most players were doing at the time. His reliance on minor-key signatures and open-ended harmonic figures were much-envied trademarks among his peers. Also on Blue Note is his work with McLean and Redd, both of whom played on his recordings. Perhaps Brooks’ most seminal moment as an improviser, though, was on Redd’s score for Jack Gelber’s Beat play The Connection, performed by the Living Theater, where the musicians played themselves as characters and drug addicts, which was close to, if not spot on, the actual truth. Here he and McLean turned the hard bop blues into an aggressive, deeply emotional wail of truth and beauty winding around each other in short bursts and long lines as Redd turned the intervals inside out for the pair to blow. Brooks work on McLean’s Street Singer and Jackie’s Bag in 1959 and 1960 as well as Shades of Redd are stunning also.
Releases
The Waiting Game - Tina Brooks
Back To The Tracks - Tina Brooks
Street Singer - Jackie McLean - Tina Brooks
True Blue - Tina Brooks
Minor Move - Tina Brooks
News
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CLASSIC VINYL REISSUE SERIES 2023-2024 TITLES ANNOUNCED
Blue Note Records has announced the next run of titles in the Classic Vinyl Reissue Series, which will present 180g all-analog vinyl reissues of some of the most iconic masterpieces of the Blue Note catalog by jazz legends including Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins,... read more
REVISED 2020 RELEASE SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR THE TONE POET AUDIOPHILE VINYL REISSUE SERIES
Blue Note Records has announced a revised 2020 release scheduled for the acclaimed Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series. Pandemic-related closures temporarily put production on hold, but the series will resume again on August 28 with the release of three titles: a first-time vinyl release of vibraphonist Bobby... read more
TONE POET AUDIOPHILE VINYL REISSUE SERIES CONTINUES IN 2020
Blue Note Records has announced the continuation of the acclaimed Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series in 2020. Launched in 2019 in honor of the label’s 80th Anniversary, the Tone Poet series is produced by Joe Harley and features all-analog, 180g audiophile vinyl reissues that are mastered from the original... read more
BLUE NOTE LAUNCHES THE TONE POET AUDIOPHILE VINYL REISSUE SERIES
In honor of Blue Note Records’ 80th Anniversary, the legendary Jazz label is launching the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series. Blue Note President Don Was brought in “Tone Poet” Joe Harley—co-founder and co-producer of the acclaimed Music Matters audiophile vinyl series—to produce this new... read more
