Hubbard

There's a lot of horn players out there, and people always have their favorites.. but for me, pound for pound no one's touching Freddie Hubbard.  As a teenager, young Freddie was playing with Wes and Monk Montgomery, and in 1958 at the age of 20, he made it to New York to hit the big leagues.  Touring with Quincy Jones, playing with Eric Dolphy, Sonny Rollins, JJ Johnson, recording with Coltrane, Oliver Nelson, Ornette Coleman and Herbie Hancock to name a few, Freddie was a busy guy.  He gained a lot of attention playing with Wayne Shorter and Curtis Fuller in Art Blakeys' Jazz Messengers from 61-64.

Starting in 1960, while all this was happening, Hubbard was also headlining his own records for BlueNote and appearing on some of the most prominent albums of the decade.  In 1970 he left BlueNote to head for CTI records, where he made a string of heavy hitters playing with seasoned vets like Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham, Eric Gale, George Benson, Airto, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, and Joe Henderson.

These records are some of the best of all time in my opinion, and after he left CTI in 73 it's often said that joining Columbia records was his downfall.  I think the first two albums he cut with them, High Energy, and Liquid Love, show Freddie pioneering further into the electric fusion sounds of the seventies with his own brand of funk.  The video above shows how he was playing in 75, the quality isn't the best but it's a great look back in time.. check out Quincy Jones bringing him on stage.

Here's a little mix for you, by no means a definitive sound set or anything.. just some of my favorites at the time I recorded it.  Mostly a brief glance through his CTI catalogue and a few from the early Columbia years.  Enjoy

1. Mr. Clean
2. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
3. Povo
4. Keep Your Soul Together
5. Destiny's Children
6. Camel Rise
7. Crisis
8. Lost Dreams

http://www.mediafire.com/?cuecq95ecsfei6x

discogs

http://www.danmillerjazz.com/hubbard.html

http://www.dougpayne.com/ctiafh.htm

http://dougpayne.blogspot.com/2009/04/freddie-hubbard-on-columbia.html