Oscar Brashear (August 18, 1944 – July 7, 2023) was an American jazz trumpeter and session musician from Chicago, Illinois.

After studying at DuSable High School and Wright Jr. College (currently known as Wilbur Wright College) under John DeRoule he worked briefly with Woody Herman before going on to join Count Basie in 1968–69, returning to freelance in Chicago with Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon and James Moody. Moving to Los Angeles in 1971, he worked with Gerald Wilson, Harold Land, Oliver Nelson, Shelly Manne, Quincy Jones (with whom he toured in Japan), Horace Silver and Duke Pearson.

Brashear recorded with Teddy Edwards, Jimmy Smith, Sonny Rollins, Benny Golson, Bobby Hutcherson, B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Farrell, The Crusaders, McCoy Tyner, Gene Harris, Randy Newman, Frank Sinatra, Earth, Wind & Fire, Carole King, Benny Carter, Billy Higgins and Ry Cooder.

Brashear died on July 7, 2023, at the age of 78.

Discography
With Nat Adderley
Double Exposure (Prestige, 1975)
With Count Basie
Manufacturers of Soul (Brunswick, 1968) with Jackie Wilson
The Board of Directors Annual Report (Dot, 1968) with The Mills Brothers
Basie Straight Ahead (Dot, 1968)
How About This (Paramount, 1968) with Kay Starr
Standing Ovation (Dot, 1969)
Basic Basie (MPS, 1969)
The Dedication Series, Vol. XI: Retrospective Sessions (Impulse!, 1969)
With Regina Belle
Lazy Afternoon (Peak, 2004)
With Bobby Bland and B. B. King
Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live (MCA, 1976)
With Brass Fever
Brass Fever (Impulse!, 1975) 
Time Is Running Out (Impulse!, 1976)
With Kenny Burrell
Both Feet on the Ground (Fantasy, 1973)
Heritage (AudioSource, 1980)
With Donald Byrd
Caricatures (Blue Note, 1976) 
With Ry Cooder
Paradise and Lunch (Reprise, 1974)
Chicken Skin Music (Reprise, 1976)
Jazz (Reprise, 1978) 
With The Crusaders
Street Life (MCA, 1979)
With Miles Davis
Dingo (Warner Bros., 1991)
With Neil Diamond
Up on the Roof: Songs from the Brill Building (Columbia, 1993)
With Earth, Wind & Fire
The Need of Love (Warner Bros, 1971)
Last Days and Time (Columbia, 1972)
Head to the Sky (Columbia, 1973)
Spirit (Columbia, 1976)
All 'n All (Columbia, 1977)
I Am (Columbia, 1979)
Raise! (Columbia, 1981)
Powerlight (Columbia, 1983)
Heritage (Columbia, 1990)
With Teddy Edwards
Blue Saxophone (Verve/Gitanes, 1992 [1993])
With Joe Farrell
Night Dancing (Warner Bros., 1978)
With Henry Franklin
The Skipper at Home (Black Jazz Records, 1974)
With Dizzy Gillespie
Free Ride (Pablo, 1977) composed and arranged by Lalo Schifrin
With Benny Golson
 California Message (Baystate, 1981) with Curtis Fuller
With Eddie Harris
Bad Luck Is All I Have (Atlantic, 1975)
How Can You Live Like That? (Atlantic, 1976)
With Gene Harris
Astral Signal (Blue Note, 1975)
With Donny Hathaway
Everything Is Everything (Atco, 1970)
With Hampton Hawes
Universe (Prestige, 1972)
Blues for Walls (Prestige, 1973)
with Joe Henderson
Canyon Lady (Milestone, 1973 [1975])
Black Miracle (Milestone, 1976)
With Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins Quintet (Sweet Basil, 1993)
With Richard "Groove" Holmes
Six Million Dollar Man (RCA/Flying Dutchman, 1975)
With Paul Horn
Dream Machine (Mushroom Records, 1978)
With Freddie Hubbard
The Love Connection (Columbia, 1979)
With Bobby Hutcherson
Head On (Blue Note, 1971) 
Inner Glow (Blue Note, 1975) 
Montara (Blue Note, 1975)
Farewell Keystone (Theresa, 1982 [1988])
With Bobbi Humphrey
Fancy Dancer (Blue Note, 1975) 
With Paul Humphrey Sextet
Paul Humphrey Sextet featuring Oscar Brashear (Discovery Records, 1981)
With Ahmad Jamal
Night Song (Motown, 1980)
With Rick James
Bustin' Out of L Seven (Gordy, 1979)
With J. J. Johnson
Pinnacles (Milestone, 1980)
With Karma
Celebration (Horizon/A&M, 1976)
For Everybody (Horizon/A&M, 1977)
With Carole King
Simple Things (Capitol, 1977)
Welcome Home (Capitol, 1978)
With Harold Land
Damisi (Mainstream, 1972)
Xocia's Dance (Muse, 1981)
With Hubert Laws
The San Francisco Concert (CTI, 1975)
With Ray Manzarek
The Golden Scarab (Mercury, 1974)
With Carmen McRae
Can't Hide Love (Blue Note, 1976)
With Blue Mitchell
Stratosonic Nuances (RCA, 1975)
With Oliver Nelson
Skull Session (Flying Dutchman, 1975)
With Willie Nelson
Healing Hands of Time (Capitol, 1994)
With Randy Newman
Bad Love (DreamWorks, 1999)
With Bonnie Raitt
Takin' My Time (Warner Bros., 1973)
With Sonny Rollins
The Way I Feel (Milestone, 1976)
With Patrice Rushen
Prelusion (Prestige, 1974)
Before the Dawn (Prestige, 1975)
With Joe Sample
Did You Feel That? (Warner Records, 1994) 
With Moacir Santos
Maestro (Blue Note, 1973) 
Carnival of the Spirits (Blue Note 1975) 
With Lalo Schifrin
Gypsies (Tabu, 1978) 
With Zoot Sims
Hawthorne Nights (Pablo, 1977)
Passion Flower: Zoot Sims Plays Duke Ellington (Pablo Today, 1980) with the Benny Carter Orchestra 
With Horace Silver
Silver 'n Brass (Blue Note, 1975)
It's Got to Be Funky (Columbia, 1993)
Pencil Packin' Papa (Columbia, 1994)
With Frank Sinatra
L.A. Is My Lady (Qwest/Warner Bros. Records, 1984)
With Gábor Szabó
Faces (Mercury, 1977)
With Stanley Turrentine
Everybody Come On Out (Fantasy, 1976)
With McCoy Tyner
13th House (Milestone, 1981)
With Was (Not Was)
What Up, Dog? (Chrysalis, 1988)
With Gerald Wilson
Jessica (Trend, 1983)
Calafia (Trend, 1985)
Jenna (Discovery, 1989)
Theme for Monterey (MAMA, 1998)
With Valerie Carter
Just a Stone's Throw Away (Columbia, 1977)

References

External Links
 
 

1944 births
2023 deaths
American jazz trumpeters
American male trumpeters
Count Basie Orchestra members
Jazz musicians from Chicago
Swing trumpeters
Wilbur Wright College alumni
American male jazz musicians
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra members
The Tonight Show Band members
The Blackbyrds members
Karma (American band) members