Customer Reviews

True Blue

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I had been after this album for about six years, but knew that Blue Note would eventually give it the proper reissue treatment. Tina Brooks has long been a cult hero in jazz and now that True Blue has been included in Blue Note's Rudy Van Gelder series he will find additional fans. Brooks, like many other jazzmen, lived hard and died young. He sounds like he's bleeding soul on each note that he plays. Thats not to say his music is depressing, on the contrary he write bluesy classic 50/60s Blue Note hard bop. Brooks' highly melodic solos owe much to his background as an R&B saxophonist. His sense of melody and that ultra lived in sense of the blues is really what makes him a notable player. On True Blue , Brooks is backed by a typically stellar Blue Note rhythm section and is joined by Freddie Hubbard on the trumpet. It really is the Tina Brooks show however as he takes long solos on every cut. Hard to pick any particular standout track, but the entire program is steeped in the blues. Several of the tunes remind me of Brooks' "Street Singer" (still my favorite Brooks piece). I highly recommend True Blue, and its likely his finest album, but Brooks' entire catalog (four albums) is pretty much necessary. Get this and get "Back to the Tracks" before it goes out of print.

Like many of his peers, Tina Brooks life was cut short by a drug overdose. However in the short time he was with us, he recorded some phenomenal stuff. This is by far his best album under his name, with songs that both flow from the bop days, yet maintain such a timelss quality that they seem current today.

Truly no jazz/Blue Note collection is complete without this disk!

Tina Brooks has a most original sound, which is both sad and extremely beautiful at the same time. No jazz collection is complete without it.

This album can best be described as quintessential moody yet swinging and visceral 1960's Blue Note Hard Bop... Though dark at times, there is also an intense energy in Tina Brooks' playing that in many ways reminds me of a cross between Hank Mobley and the sorely under-recorded James Spaulding (a member of Freddie Hubbards' ensemble, Freddie being a key ensemble member on this album.) - - That's to say that his playing demonstrates the schooling he received from Lionel Hampton - - big and warm (though by no means is a he an overt blues honker. That said the blues are definitely in his playing as is the ever-present shadow of Charlie Parker (as well as many of the advancements of the post-bop musicians who were struggling to find a voice of their own in that era.) On top of this a spirit of experimentalism which may not go as far out as Dolphy and Coltrane, yet conveys itself in a conceptually rich style of playing which almost always retains a quality of "relaxed tastiness" just as much as unpredictable edge *IF* you listen closely and with a mature seasoned ear.

Though Tina Brooks did live through the 60's (he died in the early '70s as a result of health problems related to his drug addiction) he only recorded a handful of albums as a leader, the last being 14 years before his death. - - As a sideman, he can be heard on a handful of albums from that era too, post notably Jimmy Smith's "The Sermon" (1958) as well as some albums by Freddie Redd, Jackie McClean, Freddie Hubbard and some Kenny Burrell albums. - - ...then he vanished.

-- two strong points of the album are the ensemble, as well as the tunes he created as his vehicle of improvisation. - - Though the changes are relaxed and "minor blues" feeling, the intensity of the moods and strange angular digressions of the heads and arrangements create one of the most delightful listening experiences to be heard in the Blue Note catalogue... The presence of Freddie Hubbard, Duke Jordan, Sam Jones and Art Taylor obviously do little to hurt - - (Freddie Hubbard in fact demonstrates some of his best "early work" on this album and could just as easily have been listed as a leader. Duke Jordan also gets in a few happening words... and the rhythm section is... oh so... oh so... oh so wow and "right on it".)

If you're a fan of Art Blakey as well as Oliver Nelson, I strongly beg you to dig deeper and dig Tina Brooks...
and if you're already a early-mid '60s Blue Note heavy groove fan, I tell you: this may be one of the greatest Jazz sessions you've never heard ! In fact, you might even find yourself playing certain tunes over and over again as various hooks and lines sing in and simply won't leave your head (as an example the repetitious piano/bass riff from TRUE BLUE.)

P.S. ...and the cover art and engineering ain't so bad either... hmmmmm... wonder why...
ahhhhhh... BLUE NOTE... yup !

Blue Note was on the mark to re-release this classic. Tina Brook's style of blues laced jazz is a sound that will bring joy to your soul. A must have CD for any jazz collection.

If you haven't heard this combo you're missing a key piece of the 1950's/1960's jazz puzzle. Tina Brooks did not last long, but gained quite a folowing from his meager recorded output. Also recommended would be "Open Sesame" by Freddie Hubbard. Brooks was not as technically proficient as some sax men and certainly played some inappropriate notes, but he had a fine tone and sense of melody. His improvisations were influenced by his R&B background but were always interesting. Freddie Hubbard meanwhile was much better known and perhaps more musicaly "schooled". The two horns mixed well on these tunes with the unison phrases being very appealing. Duke Jordan's piano work was near perfect here and Sam Jones on bass and Art Taylor on drums provided solid rhythm support. These songs are all quite engaging. I think any bop or cool jazz fan will be happy if they include this in their collection.

I first discovered Tina Brooks on Freddie Hubbard's "Open Sesame"... I was taken by his great playing and compositions, so I sought out this gem... and now it is in my top 5 Blue Note favorites...

This one should not be missed by any fans of Blue Note and/or 60's jazz... a must have... Tina's playing is amazing and effortless and the compositions are wonderful as well...

What a wonderful legacy he left us in his short time here... I look forward to tracking down more of his dates as leader and sideman...

Buy this as soon as you can!!

i stumbled upon this album playing in a record store and i had to have it. i love jazz but this to me was a whole different level. i'm a jazz fan but i'm not one to keep repeating a jazz album but this one i couldnt get enough of. such a gem

Tina brooks left early this world but not his music .He was ahead of its time and for sure TRUE BLUE is a masterpiece and a landmark recordind in the history of jazz`.BROOKs playing was for his time innovative, modern and fresh and preserves that right even now .IMPRESSIVE POST BOP JAZZ MUSIC which keeps its flavour fresh and why not quite modern and unique nowadays .EXCELLENT.