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Cedric Brooks(Cedric Im Brooks) was born in 1943 in Denham Town, Western Kingston and at the age of eight, when his parents could no longer afford his school fees, he was sent to the nuns at the Alpha Catholic Boys Home And School... home to many of Jamaica's greatest musicians. At Alpha Cedric learned to play clarinet and piano and, when he graduated from that venerable institution, he joined the Jamaica Military Band playing the clarinet. He then joined The Vagabonds playing tenor saxophone on cover versions of pop and R&B songs but, when the rest of the group emigrated to London to become a vital part of London's club scene as Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Cedric remained in Kingston. After working with the Sonny Bradshaw Group and Kes Chin's Souvenirs Cedric joined the Granville Williams Orchestra playing baritone saxophone alongside luminaries of the Kingston jazz scene and stars of ska, rock steady and reggae Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook and Ernest Ranglin. He then moved to the North Coast where he played for a year as a member of the Club 35 house band in Montego Bay.
In 1965 he relocated to the Bahamas where Cedric worked with Teddy Greaves' band in Freeport, Carlos Malcolm's Afro-Jamaican Rhythms and Peanut Taylor in Nassau before moving on to the United States. Playing in the resort clubs was not particularly musically rewarding. The tourists had little enthusiasm for the adventurous jazz that Cedric was becoming increasingly interested in... the influence of John Coltrane and Pharaoh Saunders proving particularly persuasive. He enrolled at Combs College of Music in Philadelphia in 1968 where he met Sonny Rollins, Leon Thomas and Sun Ra and his Arkestra and adopted the name 'I'm'... "That's my real name. That's my spiritual name..."
On his return to Kingston in 1969 Cedric linked up with trumpeter David Madden and, as I'm & David, the pair recorded a string of hits for Coxsone Dodd(CS Dodd) at Studio One. Cedric's ever inventive horn phrases complemented a selection of proven, popular Brentford Road rhythms including John Holt's 'Love I Can Feel' as 'Candid Eye', Burning Spear's 'Call On You' as 'Everyday Skank' and 'Money Maker' a version to The Heptones' risqué 'Fattie Fattie'.
"Since the early '70s, he pioneered the concept of Afro-jazz, a synthesis of jazz horns and Rastafari drumming. His various ensembles - Light of Saba, One Essence and United Africa - recorded and performed music that not only reflected jazz's modernist ideas, but also linked it to Africa and African sensibilities, something that shaped Brooks' philosophical and musical identity in the years to come." Herbie Miller
Cedric had first encountered Ethiopian music whilst working in Montego Bay and now, together with David Madden as The Mystics, he began to scrutinise the Rastafarian religion and to pursue the possibilities of jazz influenced reggae music. In 1971 The Mystics combined with Count Ossie's Band to become the inspirational Mystical Revelation Of Rastafari touring Guyana, Trinidad and the USA and Canada. Their triple album masterpiece, 'Grounation', released in 1973 established Rasta reggae as a viable artistic and spiritual force and still stands as the definitive statement of the importance of Rastafari to the development of Jamaican music. Seeking to educate and elucidate still further Cedric took charge of musical workshops at the University Of The West Indies at Mona before setting up the Divine Light and conducting daily workshops at his home. He was also a devoted member, religious student and musical director of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Cedric's Light of Saba band performed in Jamaican prisons as well as playing weekly sessions at Winston 'Merritone' Blake's celebrated Turntable Club on 118 Red Hills Road.
Much of his experimental work from this period is collected on the 'From Mento To Reggae To Third World Music' first released in Jamaica in 1975 on the Doctor Bird label. By now Cedric Brooks was rightly regarded as one of Jamaican music's leading ambassadors and that year The Light Of Saba toured Cuba at the request of Fidel Castro. The second album from The Mystic Revelation 'Tales Of Mozambique' was critically acclaimed, 'The Light Of Saba In Reggae' was also well received and the classic 'Lambs Bread Collie' seven inch single on the Light Of Saba label was a big underground hit on London's pre-release circuit in 1978.
Cedric's first solo album, 'I'm Flash Forward', was originally released in true Studio One roots fashion in a plain sleeve in 1977. Recorded "when Brooks had just began an analytical study of the rich poly-ridimic quality of Jamaican popular music" it was a creative tour de force showcasing the languid sax of Cedric Brooks over a selection of classic Brentford Road rhythms including his interpretations of The Abyssinians' 'Declaration Of Rights' as 'Father Forgive' and Horace Andy's 'Skylarking' as 'Idle Berg'. A full colour cover, looking nothing like the characteristic pragmatic Studio One designs, belatedly appeared a number of years later and 'I'm Flash Forward' is now regarded as one of THE classic Studio One instrumental albums.
"He gives the ridim equal billing with the melody line as well as shows/showing the ridim directing, supporting and, as it were, walking side by side with the melody..." Verena Reckord
Through the Journey To Africa initiative Cedric conducted classes in African and Caribbean rhythms at the Edna Manley College for the Performing Arts and also led an ensemble of dancers, drummers, singers, poets and models who performed in various communities as the Journey to Africa Heritage Showcase. He then moved back to America, where Cedric continued his studies, returning occasionally to Addis Ababa as a religious and cultural scholar, and working again with Carlos Malcolm on a number of studio recordings. Following the untimely death of Roland Alphonso in 1998 Cedric joined The Skatalites and I feel more than privileged to have been able to witness the music of this legendary band augmented by his unique contribution on their 2001 Tour of the UK.
Cedric Brooks ceaselessly sought to place Jamaican music in its proper international context as a musician, composer and arranger by amalgamating mento, reggae and freeform jazz through the tenets of Rastafari. Although his biggest crossover hit was the ironically entitled 'Money Maker' he eschewed commercial success and concentrated on "the dissemination of spiritually oriented reggae". Cedric Brooks died on 3rd May 2013 from cardiac arrest after a long illness in hospital in Queens, New York. He is survived by his seven children.
All at Dub Store(Dub Store Records) extend their sincere condolences to Cedric's family and friends.
Sources:
Herbie Miller: Cedric 'I'm' Brooks Eclectic And Eccentric The Gleaner 19th May 2013
Jim Dooley: Cedric 'I'm' Brooks Interviews From The Culture Reggae Archive More Axe 9
I Am The Gorgon 2013 |
| Aug 23, 2013 (Jul 5, 2017 Update) Text by Harry Hawks
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