Description
Label Review.
16 classic albums 'Open Sesame', 'Hub Cap', 'Hub-Tones' and 'The Artistry Of Freddie Hubbard', a well as albums led by Art Blakey, Eric Dolphy, Tina Brooks and Oliver Nelson.
Our Overview.
In the pantheon of jazz trumpeters, Freddie Hubbard stands as one of the boldest and most inventive artists of the bop, hard-bop and post-bop eras. Although influenced by titans like Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, Hubbard ultimately forged his own unique sound – a careful balance of bravado and subtlety that fuelled more than fifty solo recordings and countless collaborations with some of the most prominent jazz artists of his era. Shortly after his death at the end of 2008, Down Beat called him “the most powerful and prolific trumpeter in jazz.” Embedded in his massive body of recorded work is a legacy that will continue to influence trumpeters and other jazz artists for generations to come.
As his official site further tells us of his genius: “Hubbard was born on April 7, 1938, In Indianapolis, Indiana. As a student and band member at Arsenal Technical High School, he demonstrated early talents on the tuba, French horn, and mellophone before eventually settling on the trumpet and flugelhorn. In 1958, Hubbard moved to New York at age 20 and quickly established himself as one of the bright young trumpeters on the scene, astonishing critics and fans alike with the depth and maturity of his playing.
Per a recommendation from Miles Davis, Hubbard was signed to Blue Note, where he recorded Open Sesame, his solo debut, in 1960 at the age of 22. In 1961, Hubbard released what many consider to be his masterpiece, Ready For Freddie, which marked his first Blue Note collaboration with Wayne Shorter. Later that same year, he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In the span of a few short years, this hard-blowing young lion had quickly established himself as an important new voice in jazz. He achieved his greatest popular success in the 1970s with a series of crossover albums on Atlantic and CTI Records. His early ‘70s jazz albums for CTI – Red Clay (1970), Straight Life (1970) and First Light (1971) – were particularly well received (First Light won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance). Later in the decade, he returned to the acoustic, hard-bop idiom with the V.S.O.P. quintet, which teamed him with members of the 1960s Miles Davis Quintet: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams and Ron Carter. Hubbard also stepped briefly into the pop arena when he played a solo on “Zanzibar,” a track from Billy Joel’s Grammy-winning 1978 album, 52nd Street.As the ‘80s got under way, Hubbard was once again leading his own group, playing at concerts and festivals in the U.S. and Europe. He frequently collaborated with Joe Henderson, playing a repertory of hard-bop and modal-jazz pieces. Other associations throughout the decade included Monterey Jazz Festival dates with Bobby Hutcherson; studio projects with Woody Shaw and Benny Golson; and a live recording in Holland (Feel the Wind) with Blakey in 1988.
In 1990, he appeared in Japan in an American-Japanese concert package that also featured Elvin Jones, Sonny Fortune, George Duke, Benny Green, Ron Carter and Rufus Reid. He also performed at the Warsaw Jazz Festival – a date that was recorded and released in 1992. Other pursuits in the early ‘90s included the formation of a new band of emerging young artists: Christian McBride, Javon Jackson, Carl Allen and Benny Green. He continued to seek out fresh young talent as the decade unfolded by collaborating with the New Jazz Composers Octet. Hubbard performed and recorded with the Octet – a collective led by fellow trumpeter David Weiss – for the last decade of his career, culminating with his final recording, On The Real Side, released in 2008.
At his peak, Freddie Hubbard was a brilliant virtuoso performer with a rich, full tone that remained consistent in slow passages as well as fast ones. As one of the greatest hard-bop trumpeters of his era, he created impassioned blues lines without sacrificing the context of the music he was playing. He was perhaps one of the greatest technical trumpeters ever to play in the jazz idiom, and arguably the most influential.”
If you are a fan of this great man as we are here at Keymailorder, this is one bargain basement deal to indulge in the great Freddie Hubbard.