No other category of artist in American history had to fight harder to have his or her creativity recognized than the jazz musician. This war was waged on three fronts—with themselves, with the culture and with their record label. If any one of these three battles was lost, the other two often collapsed as well.
In the 1940s and '50s, the battle with one's self meant steering clear of drug addiction. The battle with the culture was the struggle to be accepted by an ever shrinking audience. And the third, the record-company battle, often was dependent on the label's pipeline, how much of the artist's sideman work was already on the market, the ability to tour to promote a new record and the need for cash vs. how well or poorly the artist's albums sold.
Few gifted jazz artists lost this battle faster and harder than Tina Brooks. Between 1958 and 1961, the tenor saxophonists recorded four albums as a leader, for Blue Note, but only one was released in his lifetime—True Blue. The others languished on the shelf at Blue Note, where they were discovered in the 1980s by re-issue producer Michael Cuscuna and released.
The reasons why the other three weren't released vary. My guess is Blue Note didn't want to flood the market with his recordings for fear his output would cannibalize the recordings of Hank Mobley, Blue Note's star house saxophonist. In addition, Brooks may have pushed to record the others as soon as possible because he needed the cash. In effect, this was an advance in trade for albums to be released at Blue Note's discretion.
This brings us to the first battle mentioned. Brooks fell into heroin use around the time he was recording and his dependency continued until his health deteriorated. Brooks didn't record again after 1961, and he died in 1974. He was 42. As you'll hear, his addiction and slide into the abyss is a terrible loss for jazz.
Here's the A side of True Blue...
And here's the B side...
In the 1940s and '50s, the battle with one's self meant steering clear of drug addiction. The battle with the culture was the struggle to be accepted by an ever shrinking audience. And the third, the record-company battle, often was dependent on the label's pipeline, how much of the artist's sideman work was already on the market, the ability to tour to promote a new record and the need for cash vs. how well or poorly the artist's albums sold.
Few gifted jazz artists lost this battle faster and harder than Tina Brooks. Between 1958 and 1961, the tenor saxophonists recorded four albums as a leader, for Blue Note, but only one was released in his lifetime—True Blue. The others languished on the shelf at Blue Note, where they were discovered in the 1980s by re-issue producer Michael Cuscuna and released.
The reasons why the other three weren't released vary. My guess is Blue Note didn't want to flood the market with his recordings for fear his output would cannibalize the recordings of Hank Mobley, Blue Note's star house saxophonist. In addition, Brooks may have pushed to record the others as soon as possible because he needed the cash. In effect, this was an advance in trade for albums to be released at Blue Note's discretion.
This brings us to the first battle mentioned. Brooks fell into heroin use around the time he was recording and his dependency continued until his health deteriorated. Brooks didn't record again after 1961, and he died in 1974. He was 42. As you'll hear, his addiction and slide into the abyss is a terrible loss for jazz.
Here's the A side of True Blue...
And here's the B side...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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