Archive
Freddie Hubbard’s Ready!!
Freddie Hubbard born on this date in Indiana, seems to a favorite of many including myself. My first album of his which introduced him to me was Red Clay and I fell in love with his sound then. He is an incredible artist playing in the style of my favorite genres of jazz, Bop, Hard Bop and Post Bop. Speaking of his sound, it is his own, being influenced by Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan. Ready For Freddie is perhaps his best album on the Bluenote label with stellar sidemen, Bernard McKinney on the euphonium, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner piano, Art Davis bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Recorded in 1961 at the Van Gelder Studios, this particular album has extra tracks and been remastered making it a RVG album. This is brilliant work, way up on the WOW scale, definitely a must own album. Happy Birthday to Freddie Hubbard! Discover and enjoy!
The Freddie Hubbard Show
This afternoon I justed loaded up my Ipod with several Freddie Hubbard albums which I consider his best. Cracked open a bottle of my favorite red and had an old fashioned jam session right in the comfort of my livingroom. I actually connected the Ipod into my stereo system and let Mr. Bose deliver the goods. I started out with Goin’ Up a 1960 Blue Note album featuring the talents of Hank Mobley, McCoy Tyner, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. The rhythm section is top notch and set the stage for Hank and Freddie to square off for some really great improvisations and some classic jazz. Freddie always had a certain identifiable sound that sometimes you just have to hear and re-live, Nice! The next album to kick in was my first introduction to Freddie Hubbard and that would be Red Clay, a 1970 album on the CTI label with Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter and Lenny White. This album has maybe a hint of “Rock/Fusion” mixed with a large dose of Hardbop in its musical recipe, makes for some interesting and fresh sounds. To round out this kind of homemade gig I included his album from 1962 “Hub Tones” for Blue Note again. On this album James Spaulding, Herbie Hancock, Reggie Workman and Clifford Jarvis are all in top form and you add the fact that Freddie wrote all the songs on this one and this album becomes very special indeed. Freddie’s talent as composer really comes thru on this set. After a couple of hours and a glass of wine the mood is set for a good time and I have just listened to one of the finest jazz trumpeters to play a gig. Discover!!
Goin' Up
Red Clay
Hub Tones
Horace Parlan
Happy Birthday to an incredible Hard Bop and Post Bop Pianist. Born on this day in 1931, Pittsburg, Penn. Best know for his work on Charles Mingus albums “Mingus Ah Um” and “Blues and Roots”.
Us 3 is a great album for your collection with George Tucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums.
Horace Parlan
Horace Parlan (born January 19, 1931 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American hard bop and post-bop piano player.
Noted for his contributions to the classic Charles Mingus recordings Mingus Ah Um and Blues & Roots, Parlan often bridges the divide between the chordal sophistication of the bop idiom and the African-American “roots.”
This album was recorded in 1961 for Bluenote, Horace Parlan Trio was the house band at Minton’s Jazz Club at the time. He is joined by Grant Green guitar and Booker Ervin on sax. Amazon
Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller (born in Detroit, December 15, 1934) is a United States hard bop trombonist, primarily known as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.
Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records first heard him playing with Miles Davis in the late fifties, and featured him as a sideman on record dates led by Sonny Clark and John Coltrane; Fuller’s work on the latter’s Blue Train album is probably his best known recorded performance. Fuller led four dates for Blue Note, though one of these, an album with Slide Hampton, was not issued for many years. Other sideman appearances over the next decade included work on albums under the leadership of Bud Powell, Jimmy Smith, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan and Joe Henderson (a former room mate at Wayne State University in 1956). Fuller is particularly proud of being the only trombonist to have recorded with Coltrane, Powell and Smith, all in August or September 1957.
He was also the first trombonist to be a member of the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet, later becoming the sixth man in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1961, staying with Blakey until 1965. In the early 1960s he recorded two albums as leader for Impulse! Records, having also recorded for Savoy Records and Epic after his obligations with Blue Note had ended.
In the late sixties he was part of Dizzy Gillespie’s band, and he went on to tour with Count Basie and to reunite with Blakey and Golson. He continues to perform and record.
Hey… I’ve Just Discovered Pepper Adams!!!
Considered the most significant and influential baritone saxophonist in jazz. Baritone Sax wasn’t considered a “Hard Bop” instrument but Pepper Adams style and technique was quick with a big sound that fit well with this music. He was nick-named ‘The Knife’ for his sound on the horn, he can be heard on John Coltrane’s Dakar, Lee Morgan’s The Cooker, and Charles Mingus’s Blues and Roots. As a leader I suggest 3 albums, Encounter, 10 to 4 At The 5 Spot, and The Adams Effect. His collaborations with Donald Byrd and his double album At The Half Note Cafe are MUST HAVES.
Mosaic: The Blue Note 7
The Amazon Exclusive is a JOY!!! I down loaded the MP3 2 CD set last night and I enjoyed some of my favorite music from the label. Then as a bonus only from Amazon they give you the 8 original tracks. It was really neat to hear this great new group perform these classics and then be given the originals to compare to. A Great BUY!!! Amazon’s downloader works well and will load it right into Itunes along with the cover. Give this a try, a great addition to any size library.
Jazz Listeners Guide 