All
seven tracks were recorded in the 1970s
and are taken from five different albums
– ‘Red Clay and ‘Intrepid Fox’ from
the 1970 recording ‘Red Clay’ and ‘Straight
Life’ from the 1970 release of the same
name. Similarly, ‘First Light’ and ‘Sky
Dive’ were issued under those names
in 1972. ‘Take It To The Ozone’ and
‘Theme From Kareem’ were originally
issued in 1978 as part of the ‘Super
Blue Album.’
The
1960s were the ‘halcyon days’ for trumpeter
Freddy Hubbard after his arrival as
a young man in New York City – mainly
influenced by the playing of Miles Davis,
Clifford Brown and Kenny Dorham. Having
recorded his debut album for Blue Note
in 1960 he progressed to working with
such as Eric Dolphy, Phily Joe Jones
and Sonny Rollins before touring Europe
with the Quincy Jones Orchestra. In
1961 he joined the famous Art Blakey’s
Jazz Messengers.
The
tracks on this CD come from the next
decade which, although not as exciting
as the 60s, did produce some further
‘highs’ for Hubbard including ‘Red Clay’
‘Straight Life’ and ‘First Light’ 1971
which won a Grammy award for the best
small group performance. Hubbard’s concentration
on jazz-rock during this period was
considered by many as a cross-over to
‘easy-listening mood music’ and whilst
his presentation and technique were
as good as ever there was a definite
lack of direction compared with his
earlier work. So, the contents of this
particular compilation are not as memorable
as his ‘influential’ music of the 1960s
but having said that it does represent
part of the career of a musician who
made a valuable and everlasting contribution
to jazz and therefore should not be
viewed in isolation.
Jack
Ashby
CD Reviews
Sony Music EPC 516429 2 
