![]() ![]() From the flawless rendition of “Body And Soul” which he embraces, completely subduing the instrument’s brassiness, to the sharper and more piercing approach to Ellington’s “Chocolate Shake” and the experimental vibe of “Clarence’s Place” featuring Eric Dolphy’s jabs and jolts. ![]() With exceptional arrangements by Wayne Shorter in three distinctive settings (big band, strings and small group), the album “The Body & The Soul” is a window into the work of a musician in complete control. It was an era when musicians like Hubbard weren’t only making great music. ![]() There’s never been a better way to trace his development as an artist or own some of the most significant music of his long career. Thanks to a special arrangement with the labels, we were able to package “The Complete Freddie Hubbard Blue Note & Impulse ‘60s Studio Sessions” in one box, representing every studio date he led from 1960 to 1966. Now at last Freddie gets his own seven-CD box set, with a special twist. Other groupings through the years include Sam Jones, Cedar Walton, Larry Ridley, Jimmy Heath, Julian Priester, Elvin Jones, Art Davis, Wayne Shorter, Bernard McKinney, John Gilmore, Tommy Flanagan, Louis Hayes, Curtis Fuller, Art Davis, Reggie Workman, James Spaulding, Herbie Hancock, Eric Dolphy, Ronnie Mathews, Eddie Khan, Joe Chambers, Joe Henderson, Harold Mabern, Big Black, and Kiane Zawadi. Hubbard’s collaborators on these Blue Note and Impulse! dates run the gamut from newcomers (in 1960) like Clifford Jarvis and McCoy Tyner, with the always-underrated Tina Brooks, to established royalty like Paul Chambers, Philly Jo Jones, and Hank Mobley just a year later. That relationship yielded ten albums and introduced such Hubbard classics as “Down Under,” “Crisis,” “Up Jumped Spring” and “Thermo.” His work with Art Blakey’s sextet from 1961 to ‘64 catapulted his compositional and improvisational talents to the world stage. He became known mostly for a sound associated with Blue Note Records and hard bop, but quickly he was everywhere doing everything - with Eric Dolphy (his roommate) on “Outward Bound,” Ornette Coleman on “Free Jazz,” Herbie Hancock on “Maiden Voyage,” John Coltrane on “Ascension,” Wayne Shorter on “Speak No Evil,” and Oliver Nelson on “The Blues and the Abstract Truth.” No wonder he was busy almost continuously from the moment he hit New York at the age of 20, already a working musician and immediately in demand. As for his soloing, it’s possible that his experience with the Jazz Messengers – which featured an expanded front line leading to shorter solos – taught him the value of what one writer called his “narrative clarity.” Hubbard seemed to say more, and more coherently, without losing the thread in his solo statements.Ī broad spectrum of leaders wanted his power, his weight, his taste, and his inventiveness. He could achieve deep and moving warmth, yet also unleash a ringing, brilliant call-to-attention when the composition demanded. There wasn’t one aspect of trumpet playing that Freddie Hubbard didn’t master on the road to becoming one of the most consummate jazz soloists in the music’s history.Įven at the start of his career, Hubbard’s command over his tone was exceptional. He used his embouchure in new ways to bend and caress the sound, something more associated with saxophone players than brass. Knowing it to be an instrument designed to respond well to dexterity, he became a virtuoso capable of dizzying 16th-note runs through surprising chord inversions, each the exact right note in the moment. Freddie Hubbard didn’t just play trumpet, he played THE trumpet – he played with commanding strength and a rich, broad tone, he played with warmth and seduction, he played its entire spectrum from low register to high. ![]()
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