Tina Brooks

Biography

A gifted tenor saxophonist and composer, Tina Brooks was a distinctive voice in the hard bop era with a soulful, serpentine style. Though his time as a recording artist was brief, his work for #Blue Note# Records in the late 1950s and early 1960s is treasured by jazz aficionados. Of the five albums he recorded as a leader, only one, the classic 'True Blue', was released during his lifetime, with sessions like 'Minor Move' and 'Back to the Tracks' remaining vaulted for decades. His poignant, blues-drenched improvisations and compositional talent can also be heard on seminal recordings by *Jimmy Smith*, *Freddie Hubbard*, and *Jackie McLean*.