Cedric Brooks
Encyclopedia
Cedric "Im" Brooks, is a Jamaica
n saxophonist and flautist
known for his solo recordings and as a member of The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, The Light of Saba, and The Skatalites.
aged 11, where he learned music theory and clarinet
. In his late teens he took up tenor saxophone and flute
.
Brooks was a member of groups such as The Vagabonds and the Granville Williams Band in the early 1960s, but it would be the late 1960s when he would find his first major commercial success, as part of a duo with trumpet
er David Madden
, Im & David. The duo released a series of instrumental singles for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd
's Studio One label. Brooks also became a regular studio musician at the Brentford Road studio, playing on many recording sessions, and released several solo singles in the early 1970s.
In 1970 he first teamed up with Rastafarian drummer Count Ossie
, releasing tracks such as "So Long Rastafari Calling", "Black is Black", and "Give Me Back My Language and Culture" as Im and Count Ossie. The pair would later form The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, with Brooks acting as musical director and leader of the horn section. From this collaboration resulted the triple LP-Set Grounation. Brooks left in 1974 to form a new band, the Divine Light (later called The Light of Saba). After a single, "Demauungwani", the group recorded their first album for the Institute of Jamaica, From Mento to Reggae to Third World Music, a collection exploring the history of Jamaican music, incorporating mento
, junkunoo, ska
, rocksteady
, and reggae
. The band made two further albums of jazz-influenced Rastafarian reggae, The Light of Saba and The Light of Saba in Reggae, before Brooks left, again going solo with his 1977 album, Im Flash Forward, featuring Studio One rhythms from the early 1970s, and regarded as one of the greatest Jamaican instrumental albums. The following year, Brooks assembled a new band of musicians to record the United Africa album.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Brooks released a few singles but largely worked as a session musician. In particular, he worked with Carlos Malcolm in San Diego, California, in 1998 as part of a 20-piece ska and mento orchestra known as "Zimbobway's King Kingston Orchestra." These albums featured Im both on saxophone and percussion in many of the 24 recordings. In 1999, after the death of Rolando Alphonso, former saxophonist of the Skatalites, Brooks joined the band.
Compilations
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n saxophonist and flautist
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
known for his solo recordings and as a member of The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, The Light of Saba, and The Skatalites.
Biography
Brooks became a pupil at the renowned Alpha Boys SchoolAlpha Boys School
Alpha Cottage School is a school on South Camp Road in Kingston, Jamaica, run by Roman Catholic nuns...
aged 11, where he learned music theory and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
. In his late teens he took up tenor saxophone and flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
.
Brooks was a member of groups such as The Vagabonds and the Granville Williams Band in the early 1960s, but it would be the late 1960s when he would find his first major commercial success, as part of a duo with trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er David Madden
David Madden
David Madden may refer to:*David Madden , American novelist*David Madden , Australian entrepreneur associated with progressive causes*David M. Madden, former mayor of Weymouth, Massachusetts*Dave Madden, Canadian actor...
, Im & David. The duo released a series of instrumental singles for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
's Studio One label. Brooks also became a regular studio musician at the Brentford Road studio, playing on many recording sessions, and released several solo singles in the early 1970s.
In 1970 he first teamed up with Rastafarian drummer Count Ossie
Count Ossie
Count Ossie, born Oswald Williams was a Jamaican drummer and band leader.-Biography:As a young boy Ossie grew up in a rasta community where he learned techniques of vocal chanting and hand drumming under the tutelage of Brother Job...
, releasing tracks such as "So Long Rastafari Calling", "Black is Black", and "Give Me Back My Language and Culture" as Im and Count Ossie. The pair would later form The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, with Brooks acting as musical director and leader of the horn section. From this collaboration resulted the triple LP-Set Grounation. Brooks left in 1974 to form a new band, the Divine Light (later called The Light of Saba). After a single, "Demauungwani", the group recorded their first album for the Institute of Jamaica, From Mento to Reggae to Third World Music, a collection exploring the history of Jamaican music, incorporating mento
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
, junkunoo, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
, and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. The band made two further albums of jazz-influenced Rastafarian reggae, The Light of Saba and The Light of Saba in Reggae, before Brooks left, again going solo with his 1977 album, Im Flash Forward, featuring Studio One rhythms from the early 1970s, and regarded as one of the greatest Jamaican instrumental albums. The following year, Brooks assembled a new band of musicians to record the United Africa album.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Brooks released a few singles but largely worked as a session musician. In particular, he worked with Carlos Malcolm in San Diego, California, in 1998 as part of a 20-piece ska and mento orchestra known as "Zimbobway's King Kingston Orchestra." These albums featured Im both on saxophone and percussion in many of the 24 recordings. In 1999, after the death of Rolando Alphonso, former saxophonist of the Skatalites, Brooks joined the band.
With Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari
- Grounation (1973) MRR/Vulcan/Ashanti
- Tales of Mozambique (1975)
- One Truth
With The Light of Saba
- The Light Of Saba (1974) Total Sounds
- From Mento to Reggae to Third World Music (1975) Doctor Bird
- The Light Of Saba in Reggae (197?) Total Sounds
Compilations
- Cedric Im Brooks & The Light Of Saba (2003) Honest Jon's
With the Skatalites
- Bashaka (2000)
- From Paris With Love (2002)
- The Skatalites In Orbit, Vol. 1 (2005)
- On The Right Track (2007)
Session Work
- NegrilNegril (Peter Tosh album)Negril is an instrumental album originally released in 1975 from a session produced, arranged and mostly composed by Eric Gale, and including some of Jamaica's best-known musicians...
(LP, 1975. Micron Music Ltd.) (CD, 2003. 3D Japan)