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About George Brooks
Instrument: Saxophone
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by Mike Jacobs
By the time Summit (Earth Brother, 2000) was released, Bay Area-based saxophonist George Brooks had already built a reputation with his brand of East-meets-West Indo-jazz and working alongside music luminaries such as Zakir Hussain. But with the inclusion of bassist Kai Eckhardt, guitarist Fareed Haque, drummer Steve Smith along with Hussain and sitarist Niladri Kumar, Summit boasts a group synergy unattained by Brooks on previous albums. The burner “McCoy" is one of the best examples of this. ...
read moreGeorge Brooks: Global Conversations
by Anil Prasad
Being a musician isn't a career for saxophonist George Brooks, it's a journey. Navigating an expansive variety of Indian classical music-influenced environments is at the heart of his travels. Brooks is best known for leading Summit, a cross-cultural ensemble that includes bassist Kai Eckhardt, guitarist Fareed Haque, tabla hero Zakir Hussain and drummer Steve Smith. He recently released the group's second album, Spirit and Spice (Earth Brother, 2010), which augments the core lineup with collaborations with renowned Indian musicians such ...
read moreGeorge Brooks Summit: Spirit and Spice
by Raul d'Gama Rose
The road taken by saxophonist, George Brooks on Spirit and Spice may not be new, and is far from the glamorous one that guitarist John McLaughlin blazed through in the 1970s and '80s, with various incarnations of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. However, it remains a significant one if a musician playing in a Western idiom is willing to focus his or her creativity on pushing the boundaries beyond where they had been pushed before. It would have been a steep climb ...
read moreGeorge Brooks: Spirit and Spice
by Glenn Astarita
Tenor saxophonist George Brooks equalizes the union of Indian classical music and jazz, abetted by an all-universe rhythm section and East Indian instrumentalists. With Spirit and Spice, Brooks projects a distinct voice as he poignantly merges the core attributes of both genres, and it's a happy marriage, indeed. Brooks' authoritative presence looms on high-impact funk, and thrusting Indo-fusion pieces. On “Spirit," the saxophonist's yearning lines are designed with positive implications atop bassist Kai Eckhardt's resonating harmonics and ...
read moreGeorge Brooks: Spirit And Spice
by Dan Bilawsky
Fusing Indian classical music and jazz has met with mixed results over the years. For a long time, it seemed that a combination of these disparate styles could only result in overly aggressive fusion music; hints of India or standard jazz fare, with tabla drumming thrown into the mix. Over time, a more organic musical merge has taken place thanks to artists like saxophonist George Brooks. Brooks has worked tirelessly--with his Summit band, Bombay Jazz group and Kirwani Quartet--to show ...
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