Tina Brooks
Minor Move-(180Gm Analogue Tone Poet)

‘Minor Move’ was Tina Brooks’ first solo recording session (from March 1958). Trumpeter Lee Morgan and pianist Sonny Clark share the front-line with the tenor saxophonist. The rhythm section shows an unusually subtle Art Blakey alongside bassist Doug Watkins. ‘Nutville’ opens the set with typically Hard swinging Bop. Clark and Brooks dovetail their solos beautifully on the fast-paced standard ‘The Way You Look Tonight’. The catchy ‘Star Eyes’, the compulsive Hard Bop of ‘Minor Move’ and the mellow and melancholy ‘Everything Happens To Me’ complete a fine Blue Note recording that highlights what the Jazz world missed as a result of Brooks foreshortened career, when passed away in 1974 at the age of 42. For those unfamiliar with the tenor saxophonist’s music, his style is similar in many ways to Hank Mobley.