Articles

Tina Brooks: True Blue - 1960

by Marc Davis
December 25, 2015

I love finding little-known records by almost-unknown artists. There's nothing wrong with soaking in the comfortable pool of guys you know oh-so-well. I can listen to Art Blakey, Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell all day. But even the greats can wear you out. How many times can you listen to the Beatles' “Hey Jude" before the na-na-na-na's get tiresome? For those moments, it's nice to sample a one-hit wonder. Tina Brooks is that guy.

Tina Brooks: Back To The Tracks

by Matt Marshall
June 4, 2009

Tina Brooks Back To The Tracks Blue Note / Music Matters 2009 (1985)

Although probably not the intention, Back To The Tracks appropriately labels saxophonist Tina Brooks' mode of operation during the 1960 Blue Note sessions that would produce this album. Going unreleased until Mosaic put it out in 1985 (the result of one of those head-shakingly dismissive or sad, number-crunching decisions seemingly so common in Blue Note's history), the record spins ...

Tina Brooks: True Blue

by Germein Linares
September 9, 2005

As with Minor Move and Back to the Tracks, Tina Brooks' True Blue is an album of hard bop excellence. Recorded in '60, it finds the tenor saxophonist accompanied by Freddie Hubbard on trumpet (a week after Brooks helped Hubbard on his debut album, Open Sesame), Duke Jordan on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. The six original compositions by Brooks are well-crafted, though none are stellar. The group's cohesive sound, its consistent blues-induced jazz groove, ...

Tina Brooks: True Blue

by Norman Weinstein
March 23, 2005

It is heartening to see an artist as obscure as tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks given the Rudy Van Gelder Edition treatment by Blue Note in this winning reissue. I have to admit surprise that Blue Note didn't marginalize Brooks, like Sam Rivers, in the label's limited-edition Connoisseur series. Frankly, Rivers is the more sophisticated artist with a potentially broader audience in my judgement, but Brooks has his lasting value also. There is a terrifically pensive blues cry ...