Archive for the ‘Freddie Hubbard’ Category
Sam Rivers – Contours (2004 – Blue Note)
Unlike pianist Andrew Hill, who, late in life, is finally being awarded the accolades he deserves, saxophonist/flautist Sam Rivers never received his proper due and continues to work in relative obscurity. Sure, his name is known amongst those who know, but mention him to casual jazz listeners and most will go “Sam who?” or perhaps, with the recent release of the Miles Davis Seven Steps box, “Oh yeah, the guy who played with Miles for one tour and then got fired.”
And it’s a shame, because along with Hill and others, including another sadly-overlooked artist, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, Rivers was at the forefront of the mid-’60s movement that evolved hard bop towards a more left-leaning avant-garde. And while Rivers recorded fewer albums as a leader for Blue Note than Hill, his contributions are equally significant, just in a different way. While Hill leaned towards complex, convoluted compositions that set the stage for more oblique improvisations, Rivers, while no less cerebral, was a looser spirit, more disposed towards a liberated approach that combined heady themes with enough swing to satisfy the hard bop enthusiast, and exploratory soloing that took it all to a different place for the more enthusiastic experimentalist. None of Rivers’ Blue Note releases combined these elements more successfully than ’65’s Contours , finally reissued in remastered form with an alternate take of the aptly-titled “Mellifluous Cacophony” included as a bonus.
Joining Rivers on the date are trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, drummer Joe Chambers and, most significantly, pianist Herbie Hancock and bassist Ron Carter, two players who were also exploring a more intellectual avenue between tradition and invention with Miles Davis, albeit with a more elastic time sense thanks to drummer Tony Williams. Chambers, who emerged seemingly out of nowhere around ’64, was no less investigative than Williams but, on sessions with artists including Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter and Hill, demonstrated a lighter touch, less of the explosive power that was Williams’ inclination. Whereas Hancock, Carter and Chambers had proven themselves with more outer-reaching material, the surprise of the set is Hubbard, a player who typically leaned more towards the hard bop centre, but on this set is positively on fire, matching Rivers note-for-note on “Dance of the Tripedal,” a more-or-less swinging ¾ time piece that is anchored by Chambers until Hancock’s abstract solo breaks down the time and Chambers confidently reasserts it.
Rivers’ tenor is sharp and incisive as always, but it’s his reedy, oboe-like soprano that sets the pace on “Point of Many Returns,” a piece with a challenging but memorable theme. Chambers and Carter swing hard through Hubbard and Hancock’s spots but become more adventurous with time during Rivers’ visceral but clearly considered solo. And on the more transcendent “Euterpe” Rivers’ flute combines with Hubbard’s muted horn to create an attractive texture.
Rivers would ultimately go on to further heights of freedom, but with Contours he posits a formal yet less rigid compositional alternative to Hill’s more intricate constructions that is essential listening.
John Kelman – All About Jazz
Recording on 21st, May 1965 – Remastered (2004) – Label: Blue Note Records
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Freddie Hubbard: Here To Stay (Blue Note – 1962)
This album has certainly had a sad history. It was left in the Blue note vaults for fourteen years. Then it was reissued in a double-vinyl set with Hub Cap, a coupling that doesn’t reveal either session in the best light.Then a decade later, it finally was released as a single album. And that brings us to the present version, on which occasion the devout Bob Blumenthal seems to say in his liner notes (well, he hedges around the fact) that this is just fine, but he’d might rather listen to other Hubbard Blue Notes. That leaves the impression that perhaps Blue Note was right for keeping this in the vaults for so long.
Here’s an attempt to redeem “Here to Stay,” perhaps one of Hubbard’s finest ever, and surely misunderstood as well as undervalued. The case for this album’s value can be built simply. Forget the original track sequence. Begin with Hubbard’s cover of “Body and Soul,” a completely remarkable ballad performance marked for the maturity of the individual interpretation the young trumpeter (who was 24 years old in 1962) brings. Hubbard is thinking hard—harder than most trumpeters double his age have thought—about the lyrics, holding a lot of passion in reserve while maintaining a determined, probing tone. I think only the classic Coleman Hawkins’ original recording outclasses Hubbard’s reading.
While Hubbard recorded with drummer Philly Joe Jones on a number of sessions, I think their chemistry was never as intensely pitched as on this session, particularly on the opening “Philly Mignon,” written by Hubbard for the fiery drummer. This is one of Philly Joe Jones’ supreme moments in the studio, and this CD deserves top-drawer billing for that alone. If you listened to “Body and Soul” first, then skip to “Philly Mignon,” where you’ll drop the cliche of the young Hubbard as all brassy confidence with brio to the brim, and instead hear a mature musical intelligence at work that is as questioning and questing, as conflicted as Lee Morgan’s.Another indication of Hubbard’s well-seasoned taste on this session is revealed in using two of Cal Massey’s most memorable compositions, “Father and Son” and “Assunta.” Listen to the solos by Hubbard and Shorter on “Assunta” and ask yourself if they haven’t slipped to a new phase of their growth, apart from Blakey’s band at this juncture, that’s more darkly introspective.
Norman Weinstein (All About Jazz)
1. Philly Mignon
2. Father and Song
3. Body And Soul
4. Nostrans And Fulton
5. Full Moon And Empty Arms
6. Assunta
Personnel:
Freddie Hubbard (trumpet)
Wayne Shorter (tenor sax)
Cedar Walton (piano)
Reggie Workman (bass)
Philly Joe Jones (drums)
Blue Note Records 1962 – Original Release Date: September 12, 2006
Kenny Drew: Undercurrent (1960 – Blue Note)
The only Blue Note recording under pianist Kenny Drew’s leadership and the last to be released under his name for a thirteen-year period, during which time the pianist would relocate to Europe, Undercurrent is a strong outing by the gifted pianist, composer and session leader. In the latter capacity, his job is greatly facilitated by a frontline of saxophonist Hank Mobley and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, whose instant compatibility had been established just weeks earlier on Mobley’s sterling Roll Call (Blue Note, 1960). Moreover, the rhythm team of bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes had become one of the more efficient power plants in jazz because of its nightly duties with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet during the same year as its best-selling At the Lighthouse (Riverside, 1960), which included the hit single “Sack O’ Woe.”
Undercurrent has nothing as viscerally infectious as the Adderley tune but is an admirable program of Drew originals, ranging from the modal, streaming title piece to the self-descriptive “Funk- Cosity,” a sort of fleshed-out variation on Bobby Timmons’ “Moanin’.” “Lion’s Den” is a welcome change of mood and pace, moving to a major key and an alternating pedal tone/straight-ahead harmonic-rhythmic pattern. Next is the beboppish “The Pot’s On,” an elliptical melody that yields to the reassuringly warm inventiveness at which Mobley has few if any peers. “Groovin’ the Blues,” an ordinary but appealing line, would be an engaging finger-popper were it not such a close twin of “Funk-Cosity,” and the closer, “Ballade,” is a once-through set piece, an appealing romantic melody stated with formal grace and simplicity.
If none of the tunes is strikingly original or memorable, the same might be said of Drew’s otherwise superlative post-Powell piano work. Certainly among the highlights is the opening title tune, set up by an electrifying 38-second introduction: drums and bass walk off eight bars at a flaming tempo, Drew adds a running baroque figure for the next eight, tenor and trumpet harmonize in thirds for the next sixteen then play in unison over a pedal tone for eight more, finally re-harmonizing in thirds for the last eight before Mobley’s tenor is suddenly ejected into the jet stream for the first solo. The latter player is simply wondrous on this and each of his solo turns, as consistently rewarding as he is risk-taking, and clearly in command during the same year that produced his masterpiece, Soul Station (Blue Note, 1960). Hubbard, the comparative newcomer, isn’t as fluent as Mobley but complements his frontline companion with a more aggressive, even puckish approach, alternating between repeated percussive motifs and a soaring, passionate lyricism.
Given the size of the ensemble, the quality of the musicians and the blowing room for each of the soloists, it’s perhaps small wonder that Undercurrent falls just short of a personal triumph for the leader (though arguably essential to any Mobley fan). But as a democratic and exemplary Blue Note session with strong hands vigorously played by five proven winners, this RVG remaster deserves a place alongside more heralded recordings during a truly golden age in the music.
Samuel Chell (All About Jazz)
1. Undercurrent
2. Funk-Cosity
3. Lion’s Den
4. Pot’s On
5. Groovin’ the Blues
6. Ballade
Personnel:
Kenny Drew (piano)
Freddie Hubbard (trumpet)
Hank Mobley (tenor sax)
Sam Jones (bass)
Louis Hayes (drums)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, December 11, 1960
Original Release Date: December 11, 1960 – Label: Blue Note Records
Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil (1964 – Blue Note)
On his third date for Blue Note within a year, Wayne Shorter changed the bands that played on both Night Dreamer and Juju and came up with not only another winner, but also managed to give critics and jazz fans a different look at him as a saxophonist. Because of his previous associations with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, and Reggie Workman on those recordings, Shorter had been unfairly branded with the “just-another-Coltrane-disciple” tag, despite his highly original and unusual compositions. Here, with only Jones remaining and his bandmates from the Miles Davis Quintet, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter on board (with Freddie Hubbard filling out the horn section), Shorter at last came into his own and caused a major reappraisal of his earlier work. The odd harmonic frameworks used to erect “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum,” with its balladic structure augmented with a bluesy regimen of hard bop and open-toned modalism, create the illusion of a much larger band managing all that timbral space. Likewise on the title track, with its post-bop-oriented melodic line strewn across a wide chromatic palette of minors and Hancock’s piano pushing through a contrapuntal set of semi-quavers, the avant-garde meets the hard bop of the ’50s head on and everybody wins. The loping lyric of the horns and Hancock’s vamping in the middle section during Shorter’s solo reveals a broad sense of humor in the saxophonist’s linguistics and a deep, more regimented sense of time and thematic coloration. The set ends with the beautiful “Wild Flower,” a lilting ballad with angular accents by Hancock who takes the lyric and inverts it, finding a chromatic counterpoint that segues into the front line instead of playing in opposition. The swing is gentle but pronounced and full of Shorter’s singular lyricism as a saxophonist as well as a composer.
Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
1. Witch Hunt
2. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
3. Dance Cadaverous
4. Speak No Evil
5. Infant Eyes
6. Wild Flower
7. Dance Cadaverous (alt take)
Personnel:
Wayne Shorter (Sax Tenor)
Ron Carter (Bass)
Original Release Date: December 24, 1964 – Label: Blue Note Records
Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage (1965 – Blue Note)
“Maiden Voyage” is arguably Herbie Hancock’s finest record of the ’60s, reaching a perfect balance between accessible, lyrical jazz and chance-taking hard bop. By this point, the pianist had been with Miles Davis for two years, and it’s clear that Miles’ subdued yet challenging modal experiments had been fully integrated by Hancock. Not only that, but through Davis, Hancock became part of the exceptional rhythm section of bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, who are both featured on Maiden Voyage, along with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and tenor saxophonist George Coleman. The quintet plays a selection of five Hancock originals, many of which are simply superb showcases for the group’s provocative, unpredictable solos, tonal textures, and harmonies. While the quintet takes risks, the music is lovely and accessible, thanks to Hancock’s understated, melodic compositions and the tasteful group interplay. All of the elements blend together to make Maiden Voyage a shimmering, beautiful album that captures Hancock at his finest as a leader, soloist, and composer.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (All Music Guide)
1. Maiden Voyage
Freddie Hubbard (trumpet)
George Coleman (tenor sax)
Herbie Hancock (piano)
Ron Carter (bass)
Tony Williams (drums)
Oliver Nelson "The Blues And The Abstract Truth" (1961 – GRP)
As Oliver Nelson is known primarily as a big band leader and arranger, he is lesser known as a saxophonist and organizer of small ensembles. Blues and the Abstract Truth is his triumph as a musician for the aspects of not only defining the sound of an era with his all-time classic “Stolen Moments,” but on this recording, assembling one of the most potent modern jazz sextets ever. Lead trumpeter Freddie Hubbard is at his peak of performance, while alto saxophonists Nelson and Eric Dolphy (Nelson doubling on tenor) team to form an unlikely union that was simmered to perfection. Bill Evans (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums) can do no wrong as a rhythm section. “Stolen Moments” really needs no comments, as its undisputable beauty shines through in a three-part horn harmony fronting Hubbard’s lead melody. It’s a thing of beauty that is more timeless as the years pass. The “Blues” aspect is best heard on “Yearnin’,” a stylish, swinging, and swaying downhearted piece that is a bluesy as Evans would ever be. Both “Blues” and “Abstract Truth” combine for the darker “Teenie’s Blues,” a feature for Nelson and Dolphy’s alto saxes, Dolphy assertive in stepping forth with his distinctive, angular, dramatic, fractured, brittle voice that marks him a maverick. Then there’s “Hoedown,” which has always been the black sheep of this collection with its country flavor and stereo separated upper and lower horn in snappy call-and-response barking. As surging and searing hard boppers respectively, “Cascades” and “Butch & Butch” again remind you of the era of the early ’60s when this music was king, and why Hubbard was so revered as a young master of the idiom. This CD is a must buy for all jazz collectors, and a Top Ten-Fifty favorite for many.
Michael G. Nastos (All Music Guide)
1. Stolen Moments
2. Hoe-Down
3. Cascades
4. Yearnin’
5. Butch and Butch
6. Teenie’s Blues
(All tracks composed by Nelson.)
Personnel:
Oliver Nelson – Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone
Eric Dolphy – Alto Saxophone, Flute
George Barrow – Baritone Saxophone
Freddie Hubbard – Trumpet
Bill Evans – Piano
Paul Chambers – Bass
Roy Haynes – Drums
Original Release Date: February 23, 1961 – Label: GRP Records
Eric Dolphy – Out to Lunch! (February 25, 1964 – Blue Note Records)
In 1964, Dolphy signed with the legendary Blue Note label and recorded Out to Lunch (once again, the label insisted on using “out” in the title). This album was deeply rooted in the avant garde, and Dolphy’s solos are as dissonant and unpredictable as anything he ever recorded. Out to Lunch is often regarded not only as Dolphy’s finest album, but also as one of the greatest jazz recordings ever made.
After Out to Lunch and an appearance as a sideman on Andrew Hill’s Point of Departure, Dolphy left to tour Europe with Charles Mingus’ sextet (one of Mingus’ most underrated bands and without a doubt one of the most exciting) in early 1964. From there he intended to settle in Europe with his fiancée, who was working on the ballet scene in Paris. After leaving Mingus, he performed with and recorded a few sides with various European bands and was preparing to join Albert Ayler for a recording.
On the evening of June 28, 1964, Dolphy collapsed on the streets of Berlin and was brought to a hospital. The attending hospital physicians, who had no idea that Dolphy was a diabetic, thought that he (like so many other jazz musicians) had overdosed on drugs, so they left him to lie in a hospital bed until the “drugs” had run their course.
Out to Lunch is one of the finest records of its kind. This record is easily at the caliber of A Love Supreme and The Shape of Jazz to Come. That may seem a mighty bold statement. But this is an outstanding reality once we consider how Dolphy shows himself as solid bandleader and arranger who opens up plenty of room for his players. Much in the ideology of his fellow avant-garde players, the solos exude experiment. Yet Dolphy’s control is masterful and no matter how far out he gets, you can feel his passion and know his path has been well articulated.
Original Release Date: February 25, 1964 (Label: Blue Note Records)
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Dexter Gordon – The Other Side of Round Midnight: (1985 – Blue Note)
Across Rhythm 