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 Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

's film '' I'm No Angel'' (1933).

Career

Brooks toured and recorded with

Mamie Smith Mamie Smith (née Robinson; May 26, 1891 – September 16, 1946) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist, and actress. As a vaudeville singer she performed in multiple styles, including jazz and blues. In 1920, she entered blues histor ...

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. 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 Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was b ...

’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. In season three of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

TV series '' Big Mouth'', Brooks is shown mentoring a young

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

Selected discography

* Paul Howard's Quality Serenaders, recorded in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

April 29, 1929 :50877-1 – ''Stuff'' (stomp),

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charle ...

(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),

(drums, vocal) * Joe Darensbourg and his Dixie Flyers, recorded live at The Lark,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, October 1957 : ''Live'', American Music Records (1957) (re-released 1997) : Musicians: Mike Delay (trumpet), Warren Smith (trombone), Joe Darensbourg (clarinet, soprano sax, vocal), Harvey O. Brooks (piano),

Al Morgan Al Morgan (January 16, 1920 – March 3, 2011) was an American producer of ''The Today Show'' during the 1960s, and a novelist best known for his trenchant look at media personalities, ''The Great Man'' (Dutton, 1955), which reviewers compared ...

(bass), George Vann (drums, vocal), Richard Kenner (vocal)

Filmography

*'' I'm No Angel'' (1933) * ''I Found A New Way To Go To Town'' (1933) *: music by Harvey O. Brooks *: lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison *: (uncredited) *: sung by Mae West * ''I Want You, I Need You'' (1933) *: music by Harvey O. Brooks *: lyrics by Ben Ellison *: (uncredited) *: played on a piano and sung by Mae West * ''I'm No Angel'' (1933) *: music by Harvey Brooks *: lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison *: (uncredited) *: sung by Mae West at the end and during the closing credits * ''(No One Love Me Like) That Dallas Man'' (1933) *: music by Harvey O. Brooks *: lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison *: (uncredited) *: played on a record on which Mae West sings * ''They Call Me Sister Honky Tonk'' (1933) *: music by Harvey O. Brooks *: lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison *: (uncredited) *: sung by Mae West *''

Dark Manhattan ''Dark Manhattan'' is a black and white American film produced in 1937 by a partnership of African Americans Ralph Cooper and George Randol. Harry Fraser directed the film, which was written by Randol who was also the executive producer. The ...

'', with Ben Ellison

Other selected compositions

* ''Blow, Man, Blow!'' *: words & music by Harvey O. Brooks & Ellis Lawrence Walsh * ''Finger Wave'' (1936) *: music by Harvey O. Brooks * ''It's A Mighty Pretty Night For Love'' *: music by Harvey O. Brooks * ''

A Little Bird Told Me "A Little Bird Told Me" is a popular song. It was written by Harvey Oliver Brooks (1899–1968) and was published in 1947. Recordings *The recording by Paula Watson was released by Supreme Records as catalog number 1507. It first reached the ' ...

'' (1947) *: music by Harvey O. Brooks *: see Federal court case over "covering" * ''Love In The First Degree'' (1936) *: music by Harvey O. Brooks * ''Shack In The Back'' (1936) *: music by Harvey O. Brooks * ''That's The One For Me'' *: music by Harvey O. Brooks & Ellis Lawrence Walsh

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Harvey Oliver 1899 births 1968 deaths American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz pianists American male pianists American film score composers American male film score composers 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians