Joseph Brazil (August 25, 1927 – August 6, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist and educator. Local musicians and touring acts performed in his basement. He taught jazz at Garfield High School, co-founded the Black Music curriculum at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, and founded the Black Academy of Music in Seattle. He appeared on the albums '' Om'' by

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

and '' Mystic Voyage'' by

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

Biography

Detroit (1927–1961)

Joseph Brazil was born August 25, 1927, in Detroit, Michigan. In 1951 he purchased a home in Detroit where he lived with his brother and mother. He built a bar in the basement and installed a baby grand piano. Jam sessions took place in his basement, with musicians such as trumpeter

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...

, saxophonists

Sonny Red Sylvester Kyner Jr. (December 17, 1932 – March 20, 1981), known as Sonny Red, was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist and composer associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles. Sonny Red played with Art Blakey, Curtis Fuller, ...

and Brazil, pianist Barry Harris, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer

Frank Gant Frank Gant (born May 26, 1931- July 19, 2021) was an American jazz drummer. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Gant recorded with Donald Byrd, Sonny Stitt, and extensively with Yusef Lateef in the late 1950s and then Red Garland before becoming a membe ...

. Tapes of saxophonist John Coltrane practicing were made at his house. A tape of a jam session was recorded in his basement on September 25, 1958, with trumpeter Donald Towns, saxophonists Coltrane,

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and very occasional flute player. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day an ...

, Brazil, Red, pianist Hugh Lawson, bassist Ernie Farrow, and drummer

Roy Brooks Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American Jazz drumming, jazz drummer. Biography Early life Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in c ...

. Euphonium player Kiane Zawadi (Bernard McKinney) and saxophonist Kenneth Winfrey lived down the street and often played at his house. Coltrane met drummer George Goldsmith in his basement and once asked Goldsmith to substitute for drummer

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

. While living in Detroit, pianist Alice Coltrane (then Alice McLeod) was also a regular: pianist Kenny Cox suggests that it was here that she met her second husband, John Coltrane, although their formal introduction occurred in New York.

Seattle (1961–2008)

Brazil moved to Seattle to work as a tool maker at Boeing in 1961. In September 1965, he performed with John Coltrane at The Penthouse and, on October 1 of that year, recorded on flute with Coltrane in Lynnwood, Washington. The music was released by

Impulse! Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positive critiques ...

in 1968 as the album '' Om''. The following day, after performing with his own band, Brazil taped Coltrane's band on reel-to-reel using The Penthouse's house system. The tapes sat in Brazil's basement for decades until, five years after Brazil's death, they were found by local saxophonist Steve Griggs. These recordings were released by Impulse! in 2021 as '' A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle''. He taught at Garfield High School's Magnet ProgramStromberg, Rolf. "Film Criticism Uproar Merits More Thought," ''Seattle Post Intelligencer'', 9 December 1969, WS, p. 9. with bassist

Chuck Metcalf Chuck Metcalf (8 January 1931 − 11 January 2012) was an American jazz double-bassist. He taught at Garfield High School's Magnet Program with saxophonist Joe Brazil in 1968. In 1980 he toured with Dexter Gordon. His first solo studio album nam ...

in 1968. He established the Black Academy of Music in 1967 with guitarist George Hurst. The faculty included trumpeter Floyd Standifer, saxophonist Jabo Ward, and bassist Milt Garred. The Black Student Union demanded that he be hired by the University of Washington School of Music. He taught at the University of Washington from 1969 to 1976 but was denied tenure.

Discography

As sideman

With

*'' Mystic Voyage'' (Polydor, 1975) With

*'' Om'' (Impulse!, 1968) With James Moody *''Teachers'' (Perception, 1970)

References

Sources

* Armbuster, Kurt (2011). ''Before Seattle Rocked: A City and Its Music.'' Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. pp. 264–265. * Berkman, Franya (2010). ''Monument Eternal: The Music of Alice Coltrane.'' Middletown, Connecticut. Wesleyan University Press. p. 35. . * Cole, Bill (1976). ''John Coltrane.'' New York, New York: Da Capo Press. p. 169, 180. . * de Barros, Paul (1993). ''Jackson Street After Hours: The Roots of Jazz in Seattle.'' Seattle, Washington: Sasquatch Books. p. 203. . * Kahn, Ashley (2002). ''A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album.'' Middlesex, England: Viking Penguin. p. 179. . * Kahn, Ashley (2006). ''The House that Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records.'' New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. p. 184. . * Porter, Lewis (January 28, 2000). ''John Coltrane: His Life and Music.'' Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. pp. 180, 265, 266. . * Ratliff, Ben (2007). ''Coltrane: The Story of a Sound.'' New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 102. . * Robinson, Marc. "The Early History of the UW Black Student Union" ''Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project.'' * Simpkins, C. O. (1975). ''Coltrane: A Biography.'' Baltimore, Maryland: Black Classic Press. p. 194. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Brazil, Joe 1927 births 2008 deaths Jazz musicians from Detroit American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American music educators African-American jazz musicians 20th-century American saxophonists Educators from Michigan 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American educators 21st-century American educators