Tina Brooks - True Blue (1981 Japanese Blue Note First Stereo Pressing LP)

Vinyl: NM
Sleeve: EX
Obi: None

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Tina Brooks - True Blue Vinyl LP - 1981 Japanese Blue Note Collectors' Item Series First Stereo Pressing

• First stereo pressing ever - originally released mono only in 1960, this 1981 Japanese edition reveals new sonic detail
• Underappreciated hard bop masterpiece - Brooks' finest hour with young Freddie Hubbard
• Historic Japanese pressing - first stereo and first Japanese edition of this Blue Note classic

Tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks' masterpiece, recorded on 25 June 1960 at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio. Featuring 22-year-old trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (months before his own Blue Note debut), pianist Duke Jordan, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art Taylor, the sextet performs six Brooks compositions demonstrating his gift for memorable melodies and sophisticated harmonic movement. Brooks' tenor saxophone sound, influenced by Sonny Rollins yet distinctly his own, combines technical command with deeply personal expression, his playing on tracks like the title composition "True Blue" and "Miss Hazel" revealing why fellow musicians revered him despite his lack of commercial recognition. Released in Japan in 1981 by King Record Co. Ltd. as part of Blue Note's Collectors' Item Series, this represents the album's first stereo pressing—Blue Note's original issue was monaural only—and its first Japanese pressing.

Brooks' compositional voice emerges fully formed across these six tracks, each theme balancing accessibility with harmonic sophistication. His playing demonstrates the influence of Rollins' thematic development alongside his own darker, more introspective approach. The frontline pairing with the young Hubbard creates ideal contrast, Hubbard's bright, assertive trumpet meeting Brooks' more brooding tenor sound. Duke Jordan's piano, drawing from bebop traditions, provides both harmonic support and melodic invention, while Jones and Taylor's rhythm section swings with authoritative precision.

True Blue revealed Brooks as one of hard bop's most distinctive and accomplished voices, his premature death in 1974 at age 42 robbing jazz of a major talent. This 1981 Japanese pressing represents historic significance as the album's first stereo edition, Van Gelder's original stereo recording finally available after two decades of mono-only availability. Manufactured by King Record Co. Ltd. as part of Blue Note's Collectors' Item Series, this pressing documents a lost classic finally receiving its due recognition.