An Influence and an Acolyte

Ornette Coleman: Ramblin'
From Change of the Century (1959)
Ornette Coleman - alto sax
Don Cherry - pocket trumpet
Charlie Haden - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

Tina Brooks: Theme for Doris
From True Blue (1960)
Tina Brooks - tenor sax
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Duke Jordan - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Art Taylor - drums

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Last week I mentioned how Ornette Coleman had been a major influence on Jackie McLean's sound. Well, this particular song, which has Ornette playing in a sort of bouncing blues shuffle, offers what I think is a pretty good example of where their sounds overlapped. "Ramblin'" has always been one of my favorite Ornette Coleman compositions. I especially love the section, about four minutes in, where the horns lay out and Haden and Higgins trade fours.

The second song here is by Tina Brooks, who was the understudy for Jackie McLean in the Living Theater production of The Connection, a play about junkie jazz musicians copping heroin between gigs. It was a role that paralleled their lives at the time. Jackie eventually kicked drugs but Tina would be in and out of hospitals and prisons, unable to play for nearly a decade, and dead by forty-two.

True Blue was the only album released under Tina Brooks' name in his lifetime. And, although he was a somewhat obscure character in jazz at that time, his stature has risen considerably in the years since his death, thanks in large part to the highly respected Mosaic Box set which brought to light all of his previously unreleased Blue Note sessions.

“Theme for Doris” is a fairly sunny tune for Brooks, who generally favored minor-key melodies, and it has a distinct Dexter Gordon flavor. It's the kind of song that makes me feel like I should be lounging near the beach, playing dominoes and drinking a mojito.

Read more about Ornette Coleman at:
Wikipedia: Ornette Coleman
Read more about Tina Brooks at:
True Blue: Tribute to Tina Brooks