Tina Brooks - The Waiting Game

Tina Brooks released only four LPs and the Waiting Game was the hardest for me to find. It may not be the best session of his, but it's still such a wonderful hard bop date. One look at a typical Blue Note cover and a typically gorgeous set of musicians made me sure I'm gonna spend another 40 minutes listening to this album once again. Jazz, and bebop especially, really helps me forget about all the trouble I've got and keeps me focused enough not to drift away.

Johnny Coles is on trumpet, he's the guy who played with Mingus on his 1964 tour which speaks for itself. Enough to love him ;) Kenny Drew's on piano. He's a very bright pianist - I have only one album of his called Undercurrent and he certainly is groovin' the blues. Rhythm section is as follows: Wilbur Ware (known for his masterful playing with Sonny Rollins) and Philly Joe Jones - who was admired by you know who ;)


Tina Brooks doesn't overuse minor tones, even plays cheerfully at times. His interplay with Johnny Coles is absolutely amazing and the way Kenny Drew plays behind them sends chills down my spine - not to mention his solos, and he gets quite a few of them. Of the six songs, all of them are rather short, clocking at about 5-7 minutes - I'd love to hear those tunes played live by Tina's band, stretched to the limit.

There are quieter moments but don't wait for ballads - even if some moments are slow, they are loud and proud. The songs that I find the best are the opening track ("Talkin' About") and eponymous closing track. I rate those compositions higher than many of the well-known ancient jazz standards played to death on too many occasions during the 40s and 50s.

All in all, the Waiting Game is not as overwhelming as Tina's masterpiece, True Blue. It isn't exciting enough to be in every jazz enthusiast's collection. Neither it's original or rare enough to cost you fifteen bucks - unless you're a bebop lover. And I'm quite a maniac now ;) I wildly crave for jazz LPs that are swinging like famous Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder" but are challenging enough not to be called "radio-friendly". On this album, Brooks gets close.