Up Tight's Creek – Harold "Tina" Brooks

A complex uptempo bebop tune that goes a lot of places harmonically and melodically.

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Recording: Tina Brooks - True Blue
Recorded on: June 25, 1960
Label: Blue Note (BLP 4041)
Concert Key: F
Vocal Range: , to
Style: Swing (medium up)

Trumpet - Freddie Hubbard
Tenor Sax - Tina Brooks
Piano - Duke Jordan
Bass - Sam Jones
Drums - Art Taylor

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Tina Brooks - Up Tight's Creek

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Our audio excerpt begins with the call and response four-measure intro. The rhythm section has the call as they play four diminished chords descending in whole steps as hits, while the front line plays a harmonized line over the chords as the response. This could also make a great interlude between solos, since the chord progressions of the intro and the melody greatly contrast one another.

Up Tight's Creek is an ideal choice for the ensemble or individual player looking to expand repertoire and knowledge of the great bop/hardbop genre. The melody is masterfully constructed to highlight key target notes within the chords. The rhythmic passages of the melody are perfect for illustrating bebop phrasing within a front line. The rhythm section parts have an important role in supporting the melody: the A sections are swung with melodic hits. The B section (bridge) of the melody changes the feel as the rhythm section lays down a steady Latin groove. The head may be challenging for brass players, but it's well worth working on.

Tina Brooks obviously knew he had some talent as a composer and he liked to write. Through the encouragement of his peers, like Freddie Hubbard, Tina wrote as much of the music as possible for his own recording sessions. He recorded less than a week before this session, on June 19, 1960, with Freddie on Freddie's own "Open Sesame" date, contributing both the title track composition and Gypsy Blue (also available on jazzleadsheets.com). For his own "True Blue" session, Tina was inspired to come up with more great lines featuring Freddie.

Harold "Tina" Brooks

June 7, 1932 – August 15, 1973

Harold Floyd "Tina" Brooks and his twin brother Harry were born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, becoming the youngest of eight children. The family moved to NYC in 1944. By then, Harold was already being called Tina (pronounced Teena), a grade school nickname that came from his tiny or teensy size. Around this time, he started playing the C Melody saxophone, studying with his 10 year older brother David "Bubba" Brooks, Jr. Bubba had become an established R&B tenor saxophonist, and in late 1950, Tina subbed for Bubba for a few months in pianist Sonny Thompson's R&B band. Tina made his first recording with this band. Read more...

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Up Tight's Creek – Harold "Tina" Brooks

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