Back to the Tracks
Encyclopedia
Back to the Tracks is an album by hard-bop tenor Tina Brooks
recorded in 1960 and released posthumously. The tracks first appeared on a Mosaic 12" LP (MR4-106) entitled The Complete Blue Note Recordings of The Tina Brooks Quintets. The album was originally intended as BLP 4052, but, for some reason, it was shelved at the time. Only on January 27, 1998, Rudy Van Gelder decided to release the session in its entirety on a remastered Blue Note CD (purple cover, Blue Note 21737), then reissued in 2006 (green cover, BST 84052). Both editions are now out-of-print. A song recorded during the session, "David the King", was rejected since it "never made it to releasable quality". Said piece, however, made it to Brooks' final recording for Blue Note, The Waiting Game
.
It features performances by Brooks, Blue Mitchell
, Kenny Drew
, Paul Chambers
and Art Taylor
. This group of musicians was also responsible for one of the sessions from the Jackie McLean
album Jackie's Bag
recorded a month earlier.
David Rosenthal, in his work Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music 1955-1965 dedicated a number of pages to Brooks. Of his composition Street Singer, Rosenthal wrote it is "an authentic hard-bop classic" where "pathos, irony and rage come together in a performance at once anguished and sinister."
Track 2 recorded on September, 1960; the other tracks on October 20, 1960.
Tina Brooks
Harold Floyd "Tina" Brooks was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and composer.-Early years:Harold Floyd Brooks was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was the brother of David "Bubba" Brooks. The nickname "Tina", pronounced Teena, was a slight variation of "Teeny", a childhood moniker....
recorded in 1960 and released posthumously. The tracks first appeared on a Mosaic 12" LP (MR4-106) entitled The Complete Blue Note Recordings of The Tina Brooks Quintets. The album was originally intended as BLP 4052, but, for some reason, it was shelved at the time. Only on January 27, 1998, Rudy Van Gelder decided to release the session in its entirety on a remastered Blue Note CD (purple cover, Blue Note 21737), then reissued in 2006 (green cover, BST 84052). Both editions are now out-of-print. A song recorded during the session, "David the King", was rejected since it "never made it to releasable quality". Said piece, however, made it to Brooks' final recording for Blue Note, The Waiting Game
The Waiting Game (album)
The Waiting Game is the final recorded session of hard-bop tenor Tina Brooks, recorded on March 2, 1961 for Blue Note. It was shelved until 2002...
.
It features performances by Brooks, Blue Mitchell
Blue Mitchell
Richard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:...
, Kenny Drew
Kenny Drew
Kenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Born in New York City, New York, he first recorded with Howard McGhee in 1949, and over the next two years recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Milt Jackson, Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich, and Dinah Washington...
, Paul Chambers
Paul Chambers
Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. was a jazz bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic...
and Art Taylor
Art Taylor
Arthur S. Taylor, Jr. was an American jazz drummer of the hard bop school.After playing in the bands of Howard McGhee, Coleman Hawkins, Buddy DeFranco, Bud Powell, and George Wallington from 1948 to 1957, he formed his own group, the Wailers...
. This group of musicians was also responsible for one of the sessions from the Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean
John Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
album Jackie's Bag
Jackie's Bag
Jackie's Bag is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1959 and 1960 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 4½ stars and stated "the music on Jackie's Bag finds McLean in a staunchly hard bop mode, with occasional hints...
recorded a month earlier.
Reception
Stephen Erlewine, writing for Allmusic, states "Listening to Back to the Tracks, it's impossible to figure out why the record wasn't released at the time, but it's a hard bop gem from the early '60s to cherish."David Rosenthal, in his work Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music 1955-1965 dedicated a number of pages to Brooks. Of his composition Street Singer, Rosenthal wrote it is "an authentic hard-bop classic" where "pathos, irony and rage come together in a performance at once anguished and sinister."
Track listing
All compositions by Tina Brooks except those indicated- "Back to the Tracks" - 8:03
- "Street Singer" - 10:21
- "The Blues and I" - 8:55
- "For Heaven's Sake" (Meyer / Bretton) - 6:05
- "The Ruby and The Pearl" (Livingston / Evans) - 5:08
Track 2 recorded on September, 1960; the other tracks on October 20, 1960.
Personnel
- Tina BrooksTina BrooksHarold Floyd "Tina" Brooks was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and composer.-Early years:Harold Floyd Brooks was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was the brother of David "Bubba" Brooks. The nickname "Tina", pronounced Teena, was a slight variation of "Teeny", a childhood moniker....
– tenor saxophone - Jackie McLeanJackie McLeanJohn Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
– alto saxophone (track 2 only) - Blue MitchellBlue MitchellRichard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:...
– trumpet - Kenny DrewKenny DrewKenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Born in New York City, New York, he first recorded with Howard McGhee in 1949, and over the next two years recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Milt Jackson, Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich, and Dinah Washington...
– piano - Paul ChambersPaul ChambersPaul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. was a jazz bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic...
– bass - Art TaylorArt TaylorArthur S. Taylor, Jr. was an American jazz drummer of the hard bop school.After playing in the bands of Howard McGhee, Coleman Hawkins, Buddy DeFranco, Bud Powell, and George Wallington from 1948 to 1957, he formed his own group, the Wailers...
– drums