LA-based jazz vocalist and recording artist Amber Weekes fulfills her musical destiny with the release of her new album, To Oscar with Love, which celebrates the late, great singer-songwriter, poet and Civil Rights activist Oscar Brown, Jr., who used his many talents to impart his wit and wisdom about the lived experience of Black Americans.
“Oscar Brown, Jr. is one of my musical heroes, perhaps the biggest one,” says Weekes. “It was a privilege to get to know both the man and his music. My hope is that To Oscar with Love will introduce him to new generations, making him as memorable to them as he continues to be to me.”
When, as a child, she first heard “The Snake” on the car radio during a family excursion, it fired her imagination. “My mother made us stop what we were doing to listen,” Weekes recalls. “She wanted us to hear the moral lesson in it,” she remembers. Her mother need not have worried. Brown’s music, his persona, and his unique way with a story hooked a young Amber right away, beginning what has become a lifelong fascination with his artistry. Now, nearly five decades later — and just before Brown would have turned 100 on October 10, 2026 — she marks his centennial with a collection of his songs that resonate in today’s world just as much as they did back then. Weekes has included her seductive rendition of “The Snake” on this album, featuring an evocative trumpet solo by Count Basie Orchestra director Scotty Barnhart.
Weekes did more than just listen. She began her own singing career, feeling in her bones that one day she would produce an album exclusively focused on his work. That album, Weekes’ fifth as a leader, has come to fruition at last. She feels blessed to have had expert support and guidance along the way, especially from her producer and arranger, string master, Mark Cargill, and also from Sue Raney, the legendary vocal coach and film/radio/television/jazz artist who has been there for her for much of her career. “What I do now is in no small part because of Sue,” Weekes maintains, “and she deserves her flowers while she is here to receive them. It has also been a thrill to have Mark in the recording booth in partnership with his amazing sound engineer Greg Cook.”
The album features 12 of Brown’s musical masterpieces on eight newly recorded tracks and four “refreshed” from Weekes’ previous releases, Pure Imagination (2019) and Round Midnight-Reimagined (2021), which Cargill brilliantly burnishes with lush string timbres and complementary instrumental lines.
Over the years, Weekes has spent hours combing through Oscar’s catalog — laughing, crying, nodding in affirmation, contemplating life’s ups and downs. With over 125 published compositions, choosing which of his songs to include was daunting.
On the other hand, some choices were easy. “Hazel’s Hips” landed on her short list right away because it reminds her of her aunt’s real-life romance with actor Sidney Poitier, one of the famous customers who frequented Weekes Luncheonette, her grandparents’ popular eatery in Sugar Hill, Harlem. There, Weekes’ father, aunts, uncle and other relatives often served such celebrated musicians and actors as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billy Strayhorn, Diahann Carroll, and Harry Belafonte.
Weekes found her own way of narrating the tale from a female perspective, using anecdotes about that famous family romance to inform her characterizations. Lyrics that talk about a waitress whose “eyes are divine and her hair is so fine, but her hips bring the tips” resonated with Weekes, especially when that waitress is hip enough to get the last laugh.
The deep connection Weekes feels with all 12 of the songs on the album is palpable. These are songs that truly speak to the profound emotion and humanity of everyday life, spun as only Brown could spin them with his sly lyrics and inimitable straight-from-the-heart style.
“Mister Kicks” — which Weekes first recorded on her 2020 album, Pure Imagination — was Brown’s theme song, all about “the devil and the mischief people can get themselves into.” “Afro Blue,” as she put it, “leans into the roots of Africa that all of us from the African Diaspora have,” as does “Brown Baby,” a timeless, tender expression of the hopes and dreams Brown had for his children, which Weekes related to as a child born during the Civil Rights Era. “Work Song” touched her because it revealed another dimension of the Black experience, highlighting the harshness of incarceration.
In her teens, she discovered “Ladies Man,” a cautionary tale, and was drawn to Brown’s uncommon honesty and ability to genuinely laugh at himself. She was eager to record “A Tree and Me” because, as she put it, “it speaks of wishes for one’s earthly remains,” emphasizing that “Oscar was a master of commentary on the human condition and the lives of Black people in this country.”
Weekes has always appreciated that Brown could still find a happy note when things became a drag, as in “Hum Drum Blues.” And with Adam “Aejaye” Jackson standing in as the voice of the Rag Man, she captured Brown’s perspectives on an earlier time with her version of “Rags and Old Iron,” his ode to the chant of a poor street vendor. Jackson was a natural to take the lead on “Ladies Man” as well, and he and she perform “Hum Drum Blues” as a delightful duet.
Weekes was thrilled to meet Brown when they both were living in Los Angeles. When she mentioned that she had recorded “Hazel’s Hips,” he was impressed right away, letting her know that she was the only woman he knew that had done it. Later, he invited her to perform it with him at a fundraiser for Donnie l. Betts’ 2007 documentary, Music Is My Life, Politics My Mistress: The Story of Oscar Brown, Jr. In the days leading up to the event, he became Weekes’ most famous houseguest. The friendship developed further shortly before his death, strengthening her desire to honor him “someday” by recording an album of his music. “I always knew that day would come,” she confirms, and “his centennial just seemed to be the right time.”
Weekes will perform music from To Oscar with Love in Denver on October 26 as part of a centennial celebration honoring Brown in which Betts’ film will be screened.
Amber Weekes
Raised in Los Angeles in a home filled with the sounds of Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Barbara Streisand, Diahann Carroll, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nancy Wilson, Weekes was born to sing. She has performed as a classic and contemporary jazz vocalist all around the United States and the world, including Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. She is a frequent headliner at Hollywood’s famed Catalina Jazz Club on Sunset Boulevard. Weekes’ jazz albums have ranked high as some of America’s best. With each performance and project, she continues to carry the torch for the great legacy of jazz.
ABOUT THE TRACKS + MUSICIAN PERSONNEL
MISTER KICKS
An album of Oscars cannot be done without this song! It’s Oscar’s theme song and the theme song to his musical “Kicks & Co.” When he would perform live, this was one tune, I’d always look forward to hearing. It’s really about the devil and the mischief people can get themselves into. This cut was released previously on my album “Pure Imagination.” It has been remixed, remastered and reorchestrated for this album.
- MISTER KICKS (Featuring Keith Fiddmont) – 2:36 (Oscar Brown, Jr.) Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Co. (Produced by Trevor Ware and Mark Cargill) (Horn Arrangement by Brian Swartz Strings conducted and arranged by Mark Cargill) Piano – Peter Smith, Bass – Trevor Ware, Drums – Charles Ruggerio, Trumpet – Curtis Taylor, Saxophone – Keith Fiddmont, Key Vibes and Rhodes – Gregory Cook
AFRO BLUE
I love this song, because it’s very sensual and leans into the roots of Africa that all of us from the African Diaspora have.
- *AFRO BLUE – 4:08 (Mongo Santamaria and Oscar Brown Jr.) BMG Bumblebee o/b/o Mongo Music Inc. and Edward B Marks Music Co. Piano – Tony Campodonico, Bass – Edwin Livingston, Drums – Fritz Wise, Flute – Scott Mayo Saxophone – Phillip Whack, Percussion – Kevin Ricard
STRONG MAN
I always love to record songs that aren’t heard very often, and this is, in my opinion one of those. I also love that Oscar wrote it for the wonderful Abbey Lincoln. In the documentary “Music My Life, Politics My Mistress” she talks about asking Oscar to write a song about the men she knew as opposed to images of men who were unkind that are sung about in other songs. I also love that this song shows Oscar’s ability to write from another’s perspective and deepens my appreciation for his ability to write about the human condition and all of its dimensions.
- *STRONG MAN – (Featuring Paul Jackson, Jr. & Mark Cargill) – 5:22 (Oscar Brown, Jr.) Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Co. Piano – Tony Campodonico, Bass – Harvey Estrada, Drums – Keith Swan, Guitar – Paul Jackson Jr., Trumpet – James Ford, Violin – Mark Cargill
BUT I WAS COOl Yet another example of Oscar’s ability to make us all laugh at ourselves when things aren’t going so well, and we try to pretend that we have it all together. It shows his incredible wit.
- *BUT I WAS COOL (Featuring Glen Berger) – 3:07 (Oscar Brown Jr) Edward B Marks Music Co. and Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Co. Piano – Tony Campodonico, Bass – Edwin Livingston, Drums – Fritz Wise, Guitar – Gregory Cook, Tenor Saxophone – Glen Berger
BROWN BABY
I love all that this song represents. I am a little younger than most of Oscar’s children, but, I, too was born during the Civil Rights Era. This song expresses all of Oscar’s hopes and dreams for his children. It is timely and timeless, and in fact, “Brown Baby” at this time could evoke thoughts of the current situation regarding immigration. This song was initially released on “Pure Imagination.” It has been remixed, remastered, and reorchestrated for this album.
- BROWN BABY – 5:26 (Oscar Brown, Jr.) Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Co. Bass – Trevor Ware, Strings – Conducted and Arranged by Mark Cargill
HAZEL HIPS
This song is very special to me. This was the first of Oscar’s tunes that I ever recorded. This is a re-release. It was on my “’Round Midnight – Re-Imagined” cd. I love this song, because my grandparents had a diner in Harlem. A young Sidney Poitier was a patron, and he fell in love with one of my aunts who worked in the diner. They were engaged. My grandmother broke up the relationship, because she was afraid that my aunt would wind up supporting a starving actor! Poitier recounts the story in his book “This Life.” I sing this song to celebrate that relationship.
- HAZEL’S HIPS – 2:34 (Produced by Mark Cargill and Trevor Ware) (Oscar Brown, Jr.) Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Co. – Piano – Danny Grissett, Bass – Trevor Ware, Drums – Sherman Ferguson, Saxophone – Louis Van Taylor, Guitar – Gregory Cook, Hand claps: Peter C. Ross, Amber Weekes, Sherman Ferguson, Danny Grissett, Trevor Ware, Louis Van Taylor, Atmospheric Sound: Mark Cargill
RAGS AND OLD IRON
This song breaks my heart, and Oscar had such an amazing monologue at the top of it that explains who the rag man was. I appreciate how vividly it describes the devastation of heart break.
- *RAGS AND OLD IRON – 6:33 (OSCAR BROWN JR.) Edward B Marks Music Co. and Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Piano – Tony Campodonico, Bass – Harvey Estrada Drums – David Jackson, Guitar/Harmonica/Vocal Effects – Chris Pierce, Voice of Rag Man – Adam “Aejaye” Jackson, Voice of the Ice Man (intro only) – David Jackson
HUM DRUM BLUES
I wanted to do something light, fun, and as a duet with Adam “Aejaye” Jackson. It’s a great way to kick off the doldrums
- *HUM DRUM BLUES (Featuring Adam “Ayejaye” Jackson, Paul Jackson, Jr., Philip Whack) – 3:22 (Oscar Brown, Jr.) Edward B Marks Music Co. & Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Co Piano – Andy Langham, Bass – Carlos Puerto, Drums – Donald Barrett, Guitar – Paul Jackson, Jr., Saxophone – Philip Whack
THE SNAKE
This re-release is the first of Oscar’s tunes that I ever heard and the reason that as an adult I began to dive into his music. The song was old already when I heard it. My sisters and I were in the car with my mother, and she stopped all activity to make us listen to the song and its story. It stuck!
- THE SNAKE – (Featuring Scotty Barnhart) – 4:42 (Oscar Brown, Jr.) Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Co. (Produced and arranged by Amber Weekes and Trevor Ware) Piano – Peter Smith, Bass – Trevor Ware, Drums – Charles Ruggerio, Trumpet – Scotty Barnhart
WORK SONG
This song hits me hard, because it again is another dimension of the human experience and makes me think about the history of Black incarceration. Somehow, when we were putting this together, it made more sense for me to be the woman observing her man in those circumstances, so I sang it in third person.
- *WORK SONG (Featuring Tony Campodonico and Mark Cargill) – 2:53 (Nat Adderly, Oscar Brown, Jr.) Upam Music Co Piano – Tony Campodonico, Bass – Edwin Livingston, Violin – Mark Cargill, Drums – Fritz Wise, Guitar – Gregory Cook, Tuba – Joseph Jackson, Percussion – Kevin Ricard
A LADIES MAN
I have always loved this (more) spoken word of Oscar’s. It’s alluring and cautionary all at the same time. It had been out for a few years when I hit my teens, but I had a lot of fun listening to it and being attracted to the story and also learning about ladies men. I couldn’t do the album without including it, but it wasn’t going to work for me to tell the story from a woman’s perspective, so, I start it, and interject at points and sing backup, but it was best to have Adam “Aejaye” perform most of this spoken word. Too much fun! As I listen to it, I can imagine Oscar in his younger years.
- *A LADIES MAN (Featuring Adam “Ayejaye” Jackson, Tony Campodonico, and Tom Luer) – 5:16 (Oscar Brown, Jr.) Cmg Worldwide Inc. o/b/o Bootblack Publishing Co. – Piano – Tony Campodonico Bass – Harvey Estrada, Saxophone – Tom Luer, Drums – Donald Barrett, Guitar – Cliff Brown
A TREE AND ME
Again, Oscar was a master at writing about all facets of life, including death. This song is profound and beautiful. Since he’s no longer with us, it seemed like the best way to end the album. A “fun fact” is that I had intended to record this solely as piano and vocal. The day we recorded this tune, Mark let me do it that way and then asked that I record it as a bossa. I was reluctant, but I did it. The initial plan was for me to choose one of the two arrangements. I couldn’t, so they are merged together.
- *A TREE AND ME (Featuring Tony Campodonico, Paul Jackson, Jr.) – 6:23 (Oscar Brown, Jr.) Edward B Marks Music Co. – Piano – Tony Campodonico, Bass – Harvey Estrada, Drums – David Jackson, Flute – Scott Mayo, Guitar – Paul Jackson, Jr., Percussion – Keith Swan and Kevin Ricard
*Strings and Horns arranged and conducted by Mark Cargill
