John Benson Brooks
John Benson Brooks (February 23, 1917, in Houlton, Maine – November 13, 1999, in New York City) was an American jazz pianist, songwriter, arranger, and composer. Brooks worked early in his career as an arranger for Randy Brooks, Les Brown, Boyd Raeburn, and Tommy Dorsey. He worked often with lyricists Eddie DeLange and Bob Russell in the 1940s; he and DeLange wrote the song "Just as Though You Were Here," a hit for Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra as vocalist. He wrote "You Came a Long Way from St. Louis" with Bob Russell for Ray McKinley, released as a single in 1948. In 1956, Brooks worked with Zoot Sims and Al Cohn on the recording, "Folk Jazz U.S.A.", and was recognized as a composer during this time. His works blend elements of folk music and dodecaphony with the idioms of modern jazz. In 1958, he composed a work entitled Alabama Concerto and assembled a cast of sidemen for a recording which included Cannonball Adderley, Art Farmer, Barry Galbraith, and Milt Hinton. The recording was eventually re-issued under Adderley's name. Brooks was a close friend of Gil Evans. Evans later recorded his works "Sirhan's Blues" and "Where Flamingos Fly" (the last co-written with Harold Courlander and Elthea Peale). Brooks and Courlander collaborated on a book of transcriptions of rural blues and spirituals in Alabama, which provided some of the inspiration for the Alabama Concerto. A trio Brooks formed In the 1960s performed at the International Jazz Festival in Washington in 1962 with a composition called "The Twelves," based on improvisations on twelve-tone rows. This became part of an LP called "Avant Slant," which was a collage of new and already recorded sounds and songs from Milt Gabler, the poet Robert Graves, LeRoi Jones, Lightnin' Hopkins, and others. |
Birth and Death Data: Born February 23, 1917 (Houlton), Died November 13, 1999 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1942 - 1967
Roles Represented in DAHR: arranger, piano, songwriter, composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 26-48 of 48 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Decca | 73552 | 5/2/1946 | Surrender | Randy Brooks Orchestra | arranger | |||
Decca | 73553 | 5/2/1946 | More than you know | Randy Brooks Orchestra | arranger | |||
Decca | 73558 | 5/8/1946 | One love | Randy Brooks Orchestra | arranger | |||
Decca | 73559 | 5/8/1946 | Holiday forever | Randy Brooks Orchestra | arranger | |||
Decca | 73560 | 5/8/1946 | Beyond the blue horizon | Randy Brooks Orchestra | arranger | |||
Decca | 74001 | 7/14/1947 | Lamplight | Randy Brooks Orchestra | arranger | |||
Decca | 74002 | 7/14/1947 | Tenderly | Randy Brooks Orchestra | arranger | |||
Decca | 74003 | 7/14/1947 | The man with the horn | Randy Brooks Orchestra | arranger | |||
Decca | 119405 | 9/7/1967 | But where are you? | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119406 | 9/7/1967 | Love is psychedelic | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119407 | 9/7/1967 | El bluebirdo | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119525 | 10/24/1967 | Avant slant-1 | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119526 | 10/24/1967 | Avant slant-2 | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119527 | 10/24/1967 | Avant slant-3 | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119528 | 10/24/1967 | When I first came to town-4 | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119532 | 10/30/1967 | The king must go | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119533 | 10/30/1967 | Cherries are ripe | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119534 | 10/30/1967 | Ornette | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119535 | 10/30/1967 | Satin takes | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119556 | 9/7/1967 | What's a square? | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119557 | 11/6/1967 | The Gods on high-1 | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119558 | 11/6/1967 | Avant slant (assorted music) | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 119559 | 11/6/1967 | Mend them fences | John Benson Brooks | instrumentalist, piano |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Brooks, John Benson," accessed November 10, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/109402.
Brooks, John Benson. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 10, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/109402.
"Brooks, John Benson." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 10 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: John Benson Brooks
Discogs: John Benson Brooks
Allmusic: John Benson Brooks
IMDb: John Benson Brooks
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Brooks, John Benson, 1917-1999 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no92025659
Wikidata: John Benson Brooks - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1699319
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/75884138
MusicBrainz: John Benson Brooks - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/98f07826-bf8b-4b6e-a12e-5ea9a365fa20
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