Freddie Hubbard | |
|---|---|
 Hubbard in 1976 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Frederick Dwayne Hubbard (1938-04-07)April 7, 1938 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | December 29, 2008(2008-12-29) (aged 70) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1958–2008 |
| Labels | |
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an Americanjazz trumpeter.[1] He playedbebop,hard bop, andpost-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern jazz and bebop.[2]
Hubbard started playing themellophone and trumpet in his school band atArsenal Technical High School inIndianapolis,Indiana.[3] Trumpeter Lee Katzman, former sideman withStan Kenton, recommended that he begin taking trumpet lessons at theArthur Jordan Conservatory of Music (now the Jordan College of the Arts atButler University) with Max Woodbury, principal trumpeter of theIndianapolis Symphony Orchestra. In his teens, Hubbard worked locally with brothersWes andMonk Montgomery,[4] and worked with bassistLarry Ridley and saxophonistJames Spaulding.
In 1958, at the age of 20, he moved to New York and began playing with some of the best jazz players of the era, includingPhilly Joe Jones,Sonny Rollins,Slide Hampton,Eric Dolphy,J. J. Johnson, andQuincy Jones.[5][4] On June 19, 1960, Hubbard made his first record as a leader,Open Sesame, at the beginning of his contract withBlue Note Records, with saxophonistTina Brooks, pianistMcCoy Tyner, bassistSam Jones, and drummerClifford Jarvis. Six days later he returned the favor to Brooks and recorded with him onTrue Blue.
In December 1960, Hubbard was invited to play onOrnette Coleman'sFree Jazz, after Coleman heard him performing withDon Cherry.[6] In May 1961, Hubbard played onOlé Coltrane,John Coltrane's final session forAtlantic Records. Coltrane also hired Hubbard,Eric Dolphy andArt Davis, who all appeared onOlé, to recordAfrica/Brass, Coltrane's first album withImpulse!, which was begun just afterOlé.
In August 1961, Hubbard recordedReady for Freddie (Blue Note), which was also his first collaboration with saxophonistWayne Shorter. Hubbard became Shorter's bandmate when he replacedLee Morgan inArt Blakey'sJazz Messengers later in 1961.[4] He played on more than 10 live and studio recordings with Blakey during one of the most acclaimed eras of the Jazz Messengers, includingCaravan,Ugetsu,Mosaic, andFree for All. In all, during the 1960s, he recorded eight studio albums as a bandleader for Blue Note, and more than two dozen as a sideman.[7]
Hubbard remained with Blakey until 1966, leaving to form the first of several small groups of his own, which featured, among others, his Blue note associateJames Spaulding, pianistKenny Barron and drummerLouis Hayes.[4] This group recorded for Atlantic. It was during this time that he began to develop his own sound, distancing himself from the early influences ofClifford Brown and Morgan, and won theDownBeat jazz magazine "New Star" award on trumpet.[8]
Throughout the '60s, Hubbard played as a sideman on some of the most important albums from that era, includingOliver Nelson'sThe Blues and the Abstract Truth,Eric Dolphy'sOut to Lunch!,Herbie Hancock'sMaiden Voyage, andWayne Shorter'sSpeak No Evil.[9] Hubbard was described as "the most brilliant trumpeter of a generation of musicians who stand with one foot in 'tonal' jazz and the other in the atonal camp".[10] Though he never fully embraced thefree jazz of the 1960s, he appeared on two of its landmark albums: Coleman'sFree Jazz and Coltrane'sAscension, as well as on Sonny Rollins' "new thing" track, "East Broadway Run Down" (on the 1966 album of the same name), withElvin Jones andJimmy Garrison.
Hubbard achieved his greatest popular success in the 1970s with a series of albums forCreed Taylor and his record labelCTI Records, overshadowingStanley Turrentine,Hubert Laws, andGeorge Benson.[11] Although his early 1970s jazz albumsRed Clay,First Light,Straight Life, andSky Dive were particularly well received and considered among his best work, the albums he recorded later in the decade were attacked by critics for their commercialism.First Light won a 1972Grammy Award and included pianistsHerbie Hancock andRichard Wyands, guitaristsEric Gale andGeorge Benson, bassistRon Carter, drummerJack DeJohnette, and percussionistAirto Moreira.[12] In 1994, Hubbard, collaborating with Chicago jazz vocalist/co-writerCatherine Whitney, had lyrics set to the music ofFirst Light.[13]
In 1977, Hubbard joined the all-star V.S.O.P. band, which also featuredHerbie Hancock,Tony Williams,Ron Carter andWayne Shorter. All of the band's members except Hubbard were members of the mid-1960sMiles Davis Quintet.[4] Several live recordings of this group were released asV.S.O.P,V.S.O.P. The Quintet,V.S.O.P. Tempest in the Colosseum (all 1977) andV.S.O.P. Live Under the Sky (1979).[2]
Hubbard's trumpet playing was featured on the track "Zanzibar" from the 1978Billy Joel album52nd Street (the 1979 Grammy Award Winner for Best Album). The track ends with a fade during Hubbard's performance. An unfaded version was released on the 2004 Billy Joel boxed setMy Lives.
In the 1980s Hubbard was again leading his own jazz group – this time withBilly Childs andLarry Klein, among others, as members – attracting favorable reviews, playing at concerts and festivals in the US and Europe, often in the company ofJoe Henderson, playing a repertory ofhard bop andmodal jazz pieces.[4] Hubbard played at theMonterey Jazz Festival in 1980 and in 1989 (withBobby Hutcherson). He andWoody Shaw recorded two albums as co-leaders for Blue Note and played live concerts together from 1985 to 1987. In 1987, he was a co-leader withBenny Golson on theStardust album.[4]
In 1988, he again teamed up with Blakey at an engagement in the Netherlands, from which cameFeel the Wind.[4] In 1988, Hubbard played withElton John, contributing trumpet and flugelhorn and trumpet solos on the track "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)" for John'sReg Strikes Back album. In 1990, he appeared in Japan headlining an American-Japanese concert package which also featured Elvin Jones,Sonny Fortune, pianistsGeorge Duke andBenny Green, bass playersRon Carter, andRufus Reid, with jazz vocalistSalena Jones.[4] He also performed at the Warsaw Jazz Festival, at whichLive at the Warsaw Jazz Festival (Jazzmen 1992) was recorded.[2]
Following a long setback of health problems and a serious lip injury in 1992 when he subsequently developed an infection, Hubbard was again playing and recording occasionally, even if not at the level he set for himself during his earlier career.[14] His best records ranked with the finest in his field.[15]
On December 29, 2008, Hubbard died inSherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, from complications caused by a heart attack he suffered on November 26.[16][17] Hubbard's body was cremated, with his ashes given to his family.[18]
In 2006, theNational Endowment for the Arts accorded Hubbard its highest honor in jazz, theNEA Jazz Masters Award.[8]
Hubbard had close ties to theJazz Foundation of America in his later years. The Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians' Emergency Fund took care of him during times of illness. He is quoted as saying: "When I had congestive heart failure and couldn't work, the Jazz Foundation paid my mortgage for several months and saved my home! Thank God for those people."[19] After his death, Hubbard's estate requested that tax-deductible donations be made in his name to the Jazz Foundation.[19]
| Recording date | Title | Label | Year released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960–06 | Open Sesame | Blue Note | 1960 | |
| 1960–11 | Goin' Up | Blue Note | 1961 | |
| 1961–04 | Hub Cap | Blue Note | 1961 | |
| 1961–08 | Groovy!/Minor Mishap | Fontana/Black Lion | 1989 | |
| 1961–08 | Ready for Freddie | Blue Note | 1962 | |
| 1962–07 | The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard | Impulse! | 1963 | |
| 1962–10 | Hub-Tones | Blue Note | 1963 | |
| 1962–12 | Here to Stay | Blue Note | 1976 | [2LP] The Blue Note Re-Issue Series |
| 1963–03, 1963-05 | The Body & the Soul | Impulse! | 1964 | |
| 1964–05 | Breaking Point! | Blue Note | 1964 | |
| 1965–04 | The Night of the Cookers | Blue Note | 1965 | Live |
| 1965–06 | Jam Gems: Live at the Left Bank withJimmy Heath | Label M | 2001 | Live |
| 1965–02, 1966–03 | Blue Spirits | Blue Note | 1967 | |
| 1966–10 | Backlash | Atlantic | 1967 | |
| 1967–04 | Fastball: Live at the Left Bank | Hyena | 2005 | Live |
| 1967–11 | High Blues Pressure | Atlantic | 1968 | |
| 1968–12, 1969–01 | A Soul Experiment | Atlantic | 1969 | |
| 1969–05 | The Black Angel | Atlantic | 1970 | |
| 1969–12 | The Hub of Hubbard | MPS | 1970 | |
| 1969–12 | Without a Song: Live in Europe 1969 | Blue Note | 2009 | Live |
| 1970–01 | Red Clay | CTI | 1970 | |
| 1970–07, 1970–08 | Straight Life | CTI | 1971 | |
| 1970–11 | Sing Me a Song of Songmy withİlhan Mimaroğlu | Atlantic | 1971 | |
| 1971–09 | First Light | CTI | 1971 | |
| 1972–10 | Sky Dive | CTI | 1973 | |
| 1973–03 | Freddie Hubbard/Stanley Turrentine in Concert Volume One | CTI | 1973 | Live |
| 1973–03 | In Concert Volume Two withStanley Turrentine | CTI | 1973 | Live |
| 1973–10 | Keep Your Soul Together | CTI | 1974 | |
| 1974–04, 1974–05 | High Energy | Columbia | 1974 | |
| 1975–03 | Gleam | CBS/Sony | 1975 | Live |
| 1975–03, 1975–04 | Liquid Love | Columbia | 1975 | |
| 1976 | Windjammer | Columbia | 1976 | |
| 1977 | Bundle of Joy | Columbia | 1977 | |
| 1978–03, 1978–04 | Super Blue | Columbia | 1978 | |
| 1979–02, 1979–03 | The Love Connection | Columbia | 1979 | |
| 1979–12 | Skagly | Columbia | 1980 | |
| 1980–07 | Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival | Pablo | 1980 | Live |
| 1980–09 | Mistral | East World (Japan)/Liberty | 1981 | |
| 1981–03 | Outpost | Enja | 1981 | |
| 1981–05 | Rollin' | MPS | 1982 | Live |
| 1981–06 | Ride Like the Wind | Elektra/Asylum | 1982 | |
| 1981? | Splash | Fantasy | 1981 | |
| 1981–11 | Keystone Bop: Sunday Night withJoe Henderson,Bobby Hutcherson | Prestige | 1982 | Live |
| 1981–11 | Keystone Bop Vol. 2: Friday & Saturday with Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson | Prestige | 1996 | Live |
| 1981–12 | Born to Be Blue | Pablo | 1982 | |
| 1982–06 | Above & Beyond | Metropolitan | 1999 | Live |
| 1982–08 | Back to Birdland | Real Time | 1983 | |
| 1983–06 | Sweet Return | Atlantic | 1983 | |
| 1983–12 | The Rose Tattoo | Baystate | 1984 | |
| 1985–11 | Double Take withWoody Shaw | Blue Note | 1985 | |
| 1987–01 | Life Flight | Blue Note | 1987 | |
| 1987–06 | The Eternal Triangle with Woody Shaw | Blue Note | 1987 | |
| 1988–10, 1988–11 | Feel the Wind withArt Blakey | Timeless | 1989 | |
| 1989? | Times Are Changing | Blue Note | 1989 | |
| 1989–12 | Topsy – Standard Book | Alfa | 1990 | |
| 1990–12, 1991–01 | Bolivia | MusicMasters | 1991 | |
| 1991–10 | At Jazz Jamboree Warszawa '91: A Tribute to Miles | Starburst | 2000 | Live |
| 1991–12 | Live at Fat Tuesday's | MusicMasters | 1992 | Live |
| 1992–12 | Blues for Miles | Alfa | 1992 | |
| 1994–08, 1995–01 | MMTC: Monk, Miles, Trane & Cannon | MusicMasters | 1995 | |
| 2000–10 – 2000–12 | New Colors | Hip Bop | 2001 | |
| 2007–12 | On the Real Side | Times Square | 2008 | |
| 1967 | On Fire: Live from the Blue Morocco | Resonance Records | 2025 | Live |
Compilation
Sortable table with main artist alphabetically as primal order.
