Harvey Oliver Brooks (February 17, 1899 – June 17, 1968) was an American pianist and composer. He is the first black American to have written a complete score for a major motion picture: Mae West's film I'm No Angel (1933).[1]
Career
Brooks toured and recorded with Mamie Smith in the early-1920s, then settled in California. Beginning in 1923, he and Paul Howard co-led the Quality Four, a quartet with vocalist named after the Quality Cafe at 12th and Central in Los Angeles. Its members included Paul Howard on clarinet and tenor saxophone.[2]
Brooks recorded with the Quality Four and Howard's Quality Serenaders. He remained a member of both until 1930. Brooks was the music director for Les Hite’s orchestra from 1931 to 1935. In this role, he worked for Hollywood film studios, composing soundtrack music. Brooks later worked as a leader of his own band, played in Kid Ory’s band (from 1952), and performed and recorded with Teddy Buckner (1955–1956) and Joe Darensbourg (1957–1960). Beginning 1961, he became a member of the Young Men of New Orleans (dixieland jazz group), which he led in the last year of his life.[3][4][5][6]
50877-1 – Stuff (stomp), Lionel Hampton (vocal), music by Brooks, Victor (V–38122–B)
George Orendorff (trumpet), Lawrence Brown (trombone, arranger), Charlie Lawrence (clarinet, alto sax, arranger), Paul Howard (tenor sax, director), Harvey Brooks (piano), Thomas Valentine (banjo, guitar), James Jackson (tuba), Lionel Hampton (drums, vocal)
Joe Darensbourg and his Dixie Flyers, recorded live at The Lark, Los Angeles, October 1957
Musicians: Mike Delay (trumpet), Warren Smith (trombone), Joe Darensbourg (clarinet, soprano sax, vocal), Harvey O. Brooks (piano), Al Morgan (bass), George Vann (drums, vocal), Richard Kenner (vocal)
^Reginald T. Buckner, A History of Music Education in the Black Community of Kansas City, Kansas, 1905-1954, Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Summer, 1982), pp. 91-106
