NOTED saxophonist/flutist/percussionist Cedric ‘Im’ Brooks, who died last Friday at age 70, was not only an accomplished musician. He was a spiritual man committed to African culture.

Though he had pop hits (Money Maker, Mystic Mood) with trumpeter David Madden and worked on Burning Spear’s 1969 debut album, Brooks also made his mark as a mentor and teacher.

As musical director for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, he founded the Light of Saba band which recorded a number of Afro-conscious songs and also performed in Jamaican prisons.

Brooks and his sister Ettosi were the backbone of Journey to Africa, a non-profit organisation dedicated to educating and uplifting Africans.

Through this initiative, Brooks conducted classes in African and Caribbean rhythms. His Journey to Africa Heritage Showcase was an entourage of dancers, drummers, singers, poets and models who performed in various communities.

In the 1980s, Brooks taught Afro-American and Caribbean rhythms at the Edna Manley College for the Performing Arts.

Like many Jamaican musicians, Cedric Brooks was a graduate of the Alpha Boys School in Kingston.

After graduating in the late 1950s, he played with The Vagabonds band before exploring jazz with the celebrated pianist Cecil Lloyd.

Moving to the United States in the early 1970s, Brooks was inspired by jazz luminaries Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra and Leon Thomas.

Returning to Jamaica, he joined Count Ossie and the African Drummers to form the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari.

Brooks, who died at hospital in Queens, New York from cardiac arrest, had been ailing for four years.

Since February, 2010 he had been in a coma-like state.