Tina Brooks

• Name — Tina Brooks • Birth Name — Harold Floyd Brooks • Alias — Tina Brooks • Born — 7 June 1932 • Birthplace — Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States • Died — 13 August 1974 • Place of death — New York City, New York • Instrument — Tenor saxophone • Genre — Hard bop • Occupation — Musician, composer, bandleader • Years Active — 1951–1961 • Label — Blue Note • Past Member Of — Freddie Hubbard Jackie McLean Freddie Redd Kenny Burrell Jimmy Smith

Harold Floyd Brooks was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was the brother of David "Bubba" Brooks. The nickname "Tina", pronounced Teena, was a variation of "Teeny", a childhood moniker. His favourite tune was "My Devotion". He studied harmony and theory with Herbert Bourne. Initially, he studied the C-melody saxophone, which he began playing shortly after he moved to New York with his family in 1944. Brooks' first professional work came in 1951 with rhythm and blues pianist Sonny Thompson, and in 1955 Brooks played with vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. Brooks also received less-formal guidance from trumpeter and composer "Little" Benny Harris, who led the saxophonist to his first recording as a leader. Harris recommended Brooks to Blue Note producer Alfred Lion in 1958.

• Recording date — Title — Year released — Notes • 1958-03-16 — Minor Move — 1980 • 1960-06-25 — True Blue — 1960 • 1960-09-01 — Street Singer with Jackie McLean — 1980 — Japan only • 1960-09-01, 1960-10-20 — Back to the Tracks — 1998 • 1961-03-02 — The Waiting Game — 1999 — Initially Japan only

With Kenny Burrell • Blue Lights Volume 1 & 2 (1958) • On View at the Five Spot Cafe (1959) – live • Swingin (1980) – rec. 1956–59 With Freddie Redd • Shades of Redd (1960) • Redd's Blues (1988) – rec. 1961 With Jimmy Smith • House Party (1958) – rec. 1957-58 • The Sermon! (1959) – rec. 1957-58 • Cool Blues (1980) – rec. 1958 With others • Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame (1960) • Howard McGhee, Music from the Connection (Felsted, 1960) • Jackie McLean, Jackie's Bag (1961) – rec. 1959–60 • Sonny Thompson & His Orchestra, The Complete Recordings, Volume 2 (1949–1951) (Blue Moon, 2002)

Tina Brooks is recorded with the occupation jazz musician. Classed in the genre jazz. Recorded as composer, saxophonist and musician.

Brooks is best known for his recordings for the Blue Note label between 1958 and 1961, recording as a sideman with Kenny Burrell, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Freddie Redd, and Jimmy Smith. Around the same period, Brooks was McLean's understudy in The Connection, a play by Jack Gelber with music by Redd, and performed on an album of music from the play on Felsted Records, a session which also featured Howard McGhee. Brooks recorded five sessions of his own for Blue Note (including one jointly with McLean). The first session was recorded on March 16, 1958 at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, and featured trumpeter Lee Morgan alongside seasoned professionals such as Sonny Clark, Doug Watkins and Art Blakey. However, for unknown reasons, Minor Move was not released for more than two decades, several years after Brooks had died. This started an unfortunate trend, as three of his four other sessions (Street Singer, Back to the Tracks and The Waiting Game) did not appear during his lifetime. The exception was True Blue, a session recorded on June 25, 1960 with Freddie Hubbard, Duke Jordan, Sam Jones and Art Taylor. The release of True Blue coincided with the release of Hubbard's Blue Note debut album, Open Sesame (also featuring Brooks, who wrote the opening title track as well as "Gypsy Blue"), and was not actively promoted. Brooks did not record after 1961. Plagued by heroin dependency, and gradually deteriorating health, he died of liver failure at age 42.

All on Blue Note Records, unless otherwise indicated.