John Brooks

Gospel Singer Essie Mae Brooks is finally getting a taste of the life her father envisioned for her many years ago.
Her late father, Ulysses Davis, was a drummer who performed locally around the family’s Perry, Georgia home playing "that Saturday night stuff," Brooks says. His dreams for young Essie Mae began after she excelled in singing in school. "Daddy always said if he had the money he would put me on the road, but he never had the money," recalls Brooks. "There were 10 of us children and we grew up on a farm, so there was not much money." Today, Brooks has five grown children and 15 grandchildren and still lives on the family farm in Perry. Through Music Maker she’s done some traveling, having performed in concerts in New York and Washington, DC, as well as in Italy…..

John Hicks - In The Mix (1995) {Landmark LCD-1542-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 297 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 115 Mb
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© 1995 Landmark Records | LCD-1542-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Straight-Ahead Jazz / Piano

The prolific John Hicks, whose output of trio recordings has been enjoyed during the past 25 years, now offers this mixture of trio, quartet and quintet formats with the powerful addition of Vincent Herring on alto and soprano sax. That should be enough for anyone. The opener is a trio version of the Hicks tune "In the Mix," a fast-mover that highlights the spirited drum work of Cecil Brooks, followed by the quartet's interpretation of "Yemenja," a beautiful composition that Hicks named after his daughter, which, quite naturally, has plenty of felling, while Herring's soprano adds just the right touch of flavor.