BN-LA-356-H2

Freddie Hubbard

Released - 1975

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 19, 1960
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Tina Brooks, tenor sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Sam Jones, bass; Clifford Jarvis, drums.

tk.11 One Mint Julep
tk.22 All Or Nothing At All

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 6, 1960
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums.

tk.2 Blues For Brenda
tk.24 I Wished I Knew

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, April 9, 1961
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Julian Priester, trombone; Jimmy Heath, tenor sax; Cedar Walton, piano; Larry Ridley, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums.

tk.6 Hub Cap
tk.11 Cry Me Not
tk.18 Luana

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 21, 1961
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Bernard McKinney, euphonium #1; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax #1; McCoy Tyner, piano; Art Davis, bass; Elvin Jones, drums.

tk.12 Crisis
tk.13 Weaver Of Dreams

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, May 7, 1964
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; James Spaulding, alto sax, flute; Ronnie Mathews, piano; Eddie Khan, bass; Joe Chambers, drums.

1347 tk.11 Breaking Point
1348 tk.14 Blue Frenzy
1349 tk.23 Mirrors

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 26, 1965
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Kiane Zawadi, euphonium; James Spaulding, alto sax, flute; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Pete La Roca, drums.

1527 tk.3 Jodo

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Crisis	Freddie Hubbard	August 21 1961
I Wish I Knew	B. Smith	November 6 1960
Hub Cap	Freddie Hubbard	April 9 1961
Side Two
Luana	Freddie Hubbard	April 9 1961
Weaver Of Dreams	V. Young-J. Elliott	August 21 1961
Blue Frenzy	Freddie Hubbard	May 7 1964
Side Three
Jodo	Freddie Hubbard	February 26 1965
Cry Me Not	Randy Weston	April 9 1961
One Mint Julep	R. Toombs	June 19 1960
Mirrors	Joe Chambers	May 7 1964
Side Four
Breaking Point	Freddie Hubbard	May 7 1964
Blues For Brenda	Freddie Hubbard	November 6 1960
All Or Nothing At All	J. Lawrence-A. Altman	June 19 1960

Liner Notes

FREDDIE HUBBARD

The rapid ascendency of Frederick Dewayne Hubbard to international prestige and acceptance as a major musical force should come as no surprise to those who have followed his career over the past decade or so. As far back as 1961 Miles Davis, asked if he could think of any young soloist who had impressed him, reflected a moment and replied: "There's one young trumpet player I really like — Freddie Hubbard." The endorsement, one of many bestowed on Freddie by his peers during the 1960s, was clearly justified as evidenced by Hubbard's performances on a long series of Blue Note albums in a challenging variety of settings.

Born April 7, 1938 in Indianapolis, he was exposed early to the dues-paying aspects of life. "My mother and father broke up when I was about nine. I lived with my mother, and we moved from house to house because she couldn't afford the rent. I was always interested in music, but it became a thing of being able to get the instruments, because we were so poor. I was the youngest of six children."

Freddie knew his share of humiliations in the conservative city where, despite the integrated schooling (he was one of about 50 blacks bussed io school in a 4500 enrollment) there was considerable opposition to change. He saw Wes Montgomery and other gifted musicians suffering from the prevalent social and economic conditions.

He studied mellophone, trumpet and French horn in high school, and his French horn work won him a scholarship to Indiana Central College. He turned it down to attend Jordan Conservatory for a year. Freddie's early associates there were the Montgomery Brothers, Larry Ridley and James Spaulding.

"Some of us formed a group called the Jazz Contemporaries. We managed to get a little work, and I went to Indiana U. extension to take a couple of classes. It was a period when I tried to play jazz, which was pretty weird then, because my mother was very religious and didn't like jazz — I guess she thought I was playing the devil's music,"

"The Jazz Contemporaries did pretty well for a while; but there was a limit to what you could do in Indianapolis, After waiting a long time until I could afford it, I finally went to New York in 1958, At first it frightened me so much that I stayed in the house for a month, refusing to go out, Finally I started going to jam sessions at Count Basie's club: but even there I didn't get to play for a month because nobody knew me." "Then one evening I looked up and there was Donald Byrd, and we resembled each other so much I couldn't believe it, So a lot of people sort of identified me with Donald, I kinda sounded like him too, and what with looking like him as well, I started getting a lot of work."

After stints with Slide Hampton, J. J. Johnson and Quincy Jones, Freddie found himself fairly well established, but the imprimatur of an association with Blue Note Records was the mark of potential greatness, and after only two years in New York Freddie began working for that label as a leader of various specially assembled recording groups. It wasn't until after he had spent a couple of years on the road with Art Blakey that he put together his own organized band.

The material in this collection offers an insightful cross-section of the many stimulating settings in which Freddie recorded for Blue Note.

CRISIS, (recorded 8/21/61) one of his best known and most attractive compositions — he has revived it recently — was originally recorded during one of his Blakey dates, but was also cut around the same time by one of Freddie's own recording units. With him on this date were Bernard McKinney (Kiane Zawadi), euphonium; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Art Davis, bass; and Elvin Jones, drums. It is significant that all three members of the rhythm section were known through their work with John Coltrane, since Hubbard at that time stated: "The way in which I am most interested in going is Coltrane-like. I mean different ways of playing the changes, so that you can get a wider play of colors and of the emotions that those colors reveal."

The structure of the tune comprises two 16-bar passages, an eight bar bridge, and a repeat of the 16 bars. An element of surprise is provided by the soft playing in the first twelve bars of each sixteen and the explosive contrast of the final four.

I WISH I KNEW (recorded 11/6/60) is an attractive, melancholy ballad composition by Billy Smith, a tenor saxophonist friend of Freddie's. Played very sensitively at a slow tempo, It offers solos by Freddie, Hank Mobley on tenor, McCoy Tyner, and bassist Paul Chambers. The drummer is Philly Joe Jones.

HUB CAP (recorded 4/9/61 ) stems from a session with Julian Priester, trombone, Jimmy Heath, tenor sax, Cedar Walton, piano, Larry Ridley, bass, and Philly Joe. The title, of course, is Freddie's nickname. The value of the three man front line becomes evident in the bridge of the first chorus, and again in the four bar launching figure used in the second, which Philly Joe underscores dynamically. While taking full advantage of the excitement created by the sturdily driving rhythm section, Freddie never overreaches into flamboyancy and never sacrifices tone or sensitivity of phrasing to technical effects. Jimmy Heath plays a full bodied solo, followed by a peppery Julian Priester passage, Cedar Walton in a Bud Powell bag and Philly Joe trading eights.

LUANA, (recorded 4/9/61) named for Freddie's niece, is another of his most memorable melodies, built on triads. Opening with a bass vamp by Ridley (this was made at the same session as Hub Cap), it establishes a quiet mood with Freddie, Heath, Priester, Walton and Ridley leading to a dramatic but never melodramatic finale.

WEAVER OF DREAMS (recorded 8/21/61) a product of Crisis session. This 1951 melody by Victor Young was popularized by Nat King Cole, "I heard it when I was working a Jersey City gig with Wild Bill Davis," Freddie recalls, "and I always wanted to include it in an album." Except for a 16 bar solo by Tyner, this track is Hubbard all the way, with just the rhythm section accompanying (the others are Art Davis and Elvin Jones).

BLUE FRENZY (recorded 5/7/64) despite its title, is played at a non-frenzied tempo. The pianist, Ronnie Mathews, opens with a funky 24 bar chorus on this blues waltz. The theme, outlined by Freddie and alto saxophonist James Spaulding, is based on a figure in triplets, repeated rhythmically but varied to match the chord changes, While bassist Eddie Kahn and drummer Joe Chambers lay down a firm and compelling three-beat, the soloists — Hubbard, Spaulding and Mathews — play in a lyrical yet blues-drenched style.

JODO (recorded 2/26/65) was made at a date featuring Spaulding, Mobley, Kiane Zawadi, Tyner, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums. The title is a Japanese word meaning pure land, Freddie says he was inspired to write it during a tour of the Orient. The melody line, though not complex, has an implictly modal subtlety, affording opportunities for incandescent contributions by Hubbard, Spaulding, Mobley, Tyner and a closing statement by La Roca.

CRY ME NOT, (recorded 4/9/61) featuring the same personnel as Hub Cap, was composed specially for the session by Randy Weston, and like most of Randy's work, it was arranged by Melba Liston. The three-horn scoring is used with great skill and Cedar Walton's arpeggios supply an intriguing continuity. Throughout the track, there is a sustained loveliness and passion to Freddie's playing.

ONE MINT JULEP, (recorded 6/19/60) a rhythm and blues song first done by the Clovers, stems from an earlier date, with a young tenor man from the Bronx named Tina Brooks, along with Tyner, Sam Jones on bags and Clifford Jarvis on drums. It is fascinating to hear Tyner at the pre-Coltrane stage of development, as well as Hubbard and Brooks in a basic appealing blues-funk groove. The whole performance, in fact, is interesting not only as music but as an education in Jazz history.

MIRRORS (recorded 5/7/64) comes from the Blue Frenzy session. In addition to showing drummer Joe Chambers' remarkable gifts as a composer, it points up the concern Hubbard has always shown for musical beauty. After a rubato piano introduction, notable for the manner in which it sets the mood, the theme is played, featuring flute work by James Spaulding, Freddie is at his most lyrical and the voicing of the two horns is a lesson in economy.

BREAKING POINT, (recorded 6/7/64) from the same date, is unusual in several respects. This was the first session recorded with Freddie's own organized group; moreover, it was a significant landmark in terms of Hubbard's development as a composer. This work indeed marked a breaking point from the old traditions of the past, yet Hubbard linked the tension and surprise of the free form atonal passages with the simplicity and melodic charm of a Calypso-like theme that emerges here and there by way of contrast. The timing and placing of Ronnie Mathews' chords behind Freddie's long solo, the skill and creativity of Eddie Kahn's bass solo and the rhythmically oblique support of Joe Chambors all contribute to the unconventional character of this unique and, for Freddie, unprecedented performance.

BLUES FOR BRENDA (recorded 11/6/60) again finds Freddie in the company of Hank Mobley, Tyner, Chambers and Philly Joe. One of Hubbard's simpler riff numbers, it is a minor 12-bar blues with plenty of room for everyone to stretch out.

ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL (recorded 6/19/60) has the same personnel as Ono Mint Julep. The 1940 pop song proves to be a suitable vehicle, with high energy forays by Freddie, Tina Brooks and Tyner, There is an exciting series of eight bar exchanges between Hubbard and drummer Clifford Jarvis before the reprise of the melody.

An overview of the music provided in these four sides offers powerful evidence that Freddie Hubbard is as much a major voice in the history of Jazz trumpet as were Armstrong, Eldridge, Gillespie and Davis before him.

LEONARD FEATHER
(Author of From Satchmo To Mlles, Stein & Day)