John Benson Brooks

John Benson Brooks (born February 23, 1917 in Houlton , Maine , † November 13, 1999 in New York City ) was an American jazz pianist , arranger and composer of swing and modern jazz . He worked for Tommy Dorsey and Gil Evans .

Live and act

Brooks studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and the Juilliard School of Music in Manhattan . In 1939 he founded his own formation in Boston, but in the 1930s and 1940s worked primarily for band leaders such as Randy Brooks , Les Brown , Eddie DeLange , the Dorsey Brothers and Boyd Raeburn as a pianist, arranger and composer. During this time he worked closely with the songwriter Bob Russell ; they wrote the song Just as Though You Were Here together in 1942 , which Frank Sinatra made a hit with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra. In the 1950s it was also interpreted by Peggy Lee , Perry Como and Johnny Mercer . In 1948 they composed the song You Came a Long Way From St. Louis for Ray McKinley's orchestra . With Harold Courlander he wrote the song Where Flamingos Fly , which Ink Spots and Martha Tilton recorded in 1947 . Courlander had recorded the basic melody during his research on field songs in Haiti ; Brooks then expanded it into a more complex song by adding a middle section.

Already at this time he started working with his friend, the band leader and arranger Gil Evans; for Helen Merrill's album Dream of You , which Evans arranged in 1956, this also resorted to Where Flamingos Fly , which Evans also took up as an instrumental title (e.g. on Out of the Cool ). In the 1970s, Brooks wrote the song Sirhan's Blues for Gil Evans .

In the 1950s, Brooks worked with cool jazz musicians around Zoot Sims and arranger Manny Albam . In 1958 Brooks formed a septet in which saxophonists Al Cohn and Zoot Sims played. In his improvisations and compositions he took a new direction within cool jazz; so he dealt with twelve-tone music and the integration of folk music and older jazz styles. Eventually he formed a band with Art Farmer , Cannonball Adderley , Barry Galbraith and Milt Hinton to record his Alabama Concerto , with which he made a musical contribution to the civil rights movement of the time. The music is based on research on the chants of African American field workers in Alabama , which Brooks previously did with the anthropologist Harold Courlander.

1967 Brooks standing with his trio (consisting of the alto saxophonist Don Heckman and drummer Howard Hart) in the center of the collage Avant Slant that Milt Gabler produced.

Selection discography

Folk Jazz USA (1956)
Alabama Concerto (1958)
Avant Slant ( Decca , 1968)

Web links

John Benson Brooks at Allmusic (English)
Discographic information on the Alabama Concerto

Individual evidence

↑ according to: Cadence Magazine , v. 26 no.1, Jan. 2000.
↑ Harold Courlander (born September 18, 1908, † March 15, 1996) was an American writer , folklore researcher and anthropologist , an expert in studies of life in Haiti . He is the author of 35 books and plays and countless articles on studies of peoples in Africa , the Caribbean and other indigenous peoples and cultures. He did research on oral literature, cults, and the links between African-American culture and Africa.
↑ Eugene Chadbourne, who claims that the song was only recorded in 1956, also suspects that George Martin used parts of the song in the creation of the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby .
↑ Eugene Chadbourne mentions that Brooks was a pianist in the first Birth of the Cool sessions with Gil Evans, Miles Davis and Gerry Mulligan . The latter referred to Brooks as "our dreamer of impossible dreams".
^ In November 1956 the John Benson Brooks Ensemble recorded the title Shenandoah ; Other contributors are Sims and Albam, Nick Travis , Herbie Steward , Serge Chaloff , Elliot Lawrence , Buddy Jones and Don Lamond . The title was published on CD in the series Victor Jazz History Vol. 13 - Jazz - Cool & West Coast ( RCA Victor )
↑ The Alabama Concerto was voted one of the best 200 jazz albums in a 25-year period by British critics in the early 1970s.
↑ Information on the album Avant Slant

personal data
SURNAME	Brooks, John Benson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	February 23, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH	Houlton
DATE OF DEATH	November 13, 1999
Place of death	New York City

[1] rding to: Cadence Magazine , v. 26 no.1, Jan. 2000.

[2] Harold Courlander (born September 18, 1908, † March 15, 1996) was an American writer , folklore researcher and anthropologist , an expert in studies of life in Haiti . He is the author of 35 books and plays and countless articles on studies of peoples in Africa , the Caribbean and other indigenous peoples and cultures. He did research on oral literature, cults, and the links between African-American culture and Africa.

[3] Eugene Chadbourne, who claims that the song was only recorded in 1956, also suspects that George Martin used parts of the song in the creation of the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby .

[4] Eugene Chadbourne mentions that Brooks was a pianist in the first Birth of the Cool sessions with Gil Evans, Miles Davis and Gerry Mulligan . The latter referred to Brooks as "our dreamer of impossible dreams".

[5] In November 1956 the John Benson Brooks Ensemble recorded the title Shenandoah ; Other contributors are Sims and Albam, Nick Travis , Herbie Steward , Serge Chaloff , Elliot Lawrence , Buddy Jones and Don Lamond . The title was published on CD in the series Victor Jazz History Vol. 13 - Jazz - Cool & West Coast ( RCA Victor )

[6] The Alabama Concerto was voted one of the best 200 jazz albums in a 25-year period by British critics in the early 1970s.

[7] Information on the album Avant Slant