After studying at DuSable High School and Wright Jr. College under John DeRoule he worked briefly with Woody Herman before going on to join Count Basie '68-9, 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 has 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.
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)
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 Joe Farrell
Night Dancing (Warner Bros., 1978)
With Dizzy Gillespie
Free Ride (Pablo, 1977) composed and arranged by Lalo Schifrin
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 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 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)
Xosia'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 Moacir Santos
Maestro (Blue Note, 1973)
Carnival of the Spirits (Blue Note 1975)
With Lalo Schifrin
Gypsies (Tabu, 1978)
With Zoot Sims
1976: Hawthorne Nights
1979: Passion Flower: Zoot Sims Plays Duke Ellington 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)
