Today’s Jazz Brunch is dedicated to the late Freddie Hubbard. Frederick Dewayne “Freddie” Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern jazz and bebop.
Hubbard achieved his greatest popular success in the 1970s with a series of albums for Creed Taylor and his record label CTI Records, overshadowingStanley Turrentine, Hubert Laws, and George Benson. Although his early 1970s jazz albums Red Clay, First Light, Straight Life, and Sky 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 1972 Grammy Award and included pianists Herbie Hancock and Richard Wyands, guitarists Eric Gale and George Benson, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and percussionist Airto Moreira. In 1994, Freddie, collaborating with Chicago jazz vocalist/co-writer Catherine Whitney, had lyrics set to the music of First Light.
Red Clay-1970
Red Clay is a soul/funk-influenced hard bop album recorded in 1970 by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. It was his first album released onCreed Taylor’s CTI label and marked a shift away from Hubbard’s long time recording affair with Blue Note Records and another shift toward the soul-jazz fusion sounds that would dominate his recordings in the later part of the decade. It was the album that established Taylor’s vision for the music that was to appear on his labels in the coming decade.
Enjoy the sounds of Freddie Hubbard!