Tina Brooks was an American musician who played hard-bop jazz and blues on the
tenor saxophone in collaboration with other jazz stars of the 1950s as well as a
few of his own recordings. His career was cut tragically short by his early
death at the age of 42 from liver damage caused by heroin addiction.
Born in North Carolina, he was nicknamed Teeny as a child and later became known
as Tina. He studied music at college and had early stints with singer-pianist
Charles Brown, guitarist Joe Morris, pianist Amos Milburn and bandleader Lionel
Hampton. He developed his freestyle jaz...