About

Tina Brooks' passionate full sound and forward-looking style, along with his exceptional compositional gifts, made him a powerful force during his prime years. Brooks' star burned with intense brightness for a brief period before disappearing in the same tragic manner of too many other young bop players of the time. Even many of the most dedicated jazz fans missed Brooks' recordings, the best of which were simply extraordinary. A soulful hard bop tenor-saxophonist with an original sound and fresh ideas of his own, Brooks (1932-74) had a brief life. He started out playing with Amos Milburn and Lionel Hampton.

The prime of his career was during 1958-61 when he recorded four albums for Blue Note, including his most significant recording, True Blue. True Blue has long been one of the most sought-after Blue Notes of all time. Recorded in June, 1960, True Blue showcases Brooks along with the young firebrand trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (in one of his earliest sessions), pianist Duke Jordan, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Art Taylor in a set of highly inventive originals. True Blue gives listeners plenty of proof of Tina Brooks' majestic sound and soulful writing prowess. For many aficionados of the Blue Note label, True Blue is the very essence of the Blue Note sound and feel. – Press Release

Musicians:

Tina Brooks, tenor sax

Freddie Hubbard, trumpet

Duke Jordan, piano

Sam Jones, bass

Art Taylor, drums

“The band is rock solid: Hubbard on trumpet, Duke Jordan on piano, Sam Jones on bass, Art Taylor on drums and Brooks on tenor. Jordan, who is not exactly well-known himself, has a light, melodic touch. A young Freddie Hubbard, only 22 here, sounds like a lot of Blue Note trumpeters of the period, including early Miles Davis and Kenny Dorham.

True Blue has a nice mix of tunes. Five of the six are originals written by Brooks, and they're all pretty terrific. Two are straight-up, smoky blues numbers. The title track has a catchy R&B riff and beautiful horn solos. Two tracks are hard bop romps. Two have Latin feels. There are no ballads, alas.

The two horns, Brooks and Hubbard, are the standouts. They play great together, and when they play separately, they are bold, sassy and, yeah, bluesy.” – Allmusic

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