Select a month

Back to The Archives

Freddie Hubbard Archive

Freddie Hubbard – First Light – CTI 6013 (1971) – Pure Pleasure Records (2017)

Freddie Hubbard – First Light – CTI 6013 (1971) – Pure Pleasure Records (2017)

by | Feb 13, 2018 | Jazz CD Reviews, SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

This vinyl recording is a wonderful addition to any jazz library. Freddie Hubbard – First Light – CTI 6013 (1971)/Pure Pleasure Records (2017) 180-gram stereo vinyl, 33:32 ****1/2: (Freddie Hubbard – trumpet, flugelhorn; Jack DeJohnette – drums; Ron Carter – bass; Richard Wyands – piano; George Benson – guitar; Airto Moreira – percussion; Phil Kraus – vibes; Wally Kane – flute; Hubert Laws – flute; George Marge – flute, clarinet Romeo Penque – flute, English horn, clarinet, oboe; Wally Kane – bassoon; Jane Taylor – bassoon; Ray Alonge – French horn; James Buffington – French horn; Margaret Ross – harp; Alfred Brown – viola; Emmanuel Vardi – viola; Charles McCracken – cello; George Ricci – cello; (David Nadien; Psul Gershman; Emmanuel Green; Harold Kohon; Joe Malin; Gene Orloff; Matthew Raimondi; Tosha Smaroff; Irving Spice) – violins; with arrangements by Don Sebesky) As jazz emerged into the 70’s, things were changing rapidly. Miles Davis led a foray into electric instrumentation and West Coast Jazz was born. A sub-genre of cool jazz, players were evolving out of the bebop and hard bop molds into a calmer sound. At the heart of this movement was CTI Records. Artists like Stanley Turrentine, Wes Montgomery, […]

Jazz Haunts & Magic Vaults : The New Lost Classics Of Resonance Vol. 1

Jazz Haunts & Magic Vaults : The New Lost Classics Of Resonance Vol. 1

by | Jan 15, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews

Jazz Haunts & Magic Vaults : The New Lost Classics Of Resonance Vol. 1 HCD-2026, 77:37 ****: A number of tasty offerings designed to entice the most discriminating listeners.  (Jaki Byard; Dennis Coffey; Bill Evans; Tommy Flanagan; Stan Getz; João Gilberto;  Gene Harris; Shirley Horn; Freddie Hubbard; Thad Jones;  Scott LaFaro; Mel Lewis;  Charles LLoyd; Wes Montgomery; Sarah Vaughan; Larry Young) In the January 2017 (Issue #171) of The New York City Jazz Record, Resonance Records was chosen as one of the Best Labels of the Year 2016 in the non-profit category. While being a non-profit jazz label might be somewhat of an oxymoron, the owners of the label are to be commended as they have done a yeoman job of unearthing recordings of historical interest and bringing them to the listening public. This compilation Jazz Haunts & Magic Vaults (back in day of LPs, such releases were called samplers) showcases a variety of tracks from either projects that the label already has on the market, or that would be forthcoming. There are a number of tasty offerings that should clearly entice listeners to purchase the entire album, depending on their musical proclivities. The bold-face names who are represented on […]

Freddie Hubbard, trumpet – The Hub of Hubbard – MPS vinyl

Freddie Hubbard, trumpet – The Hub of Hubbard – MPS vinyl

by | Sep 1, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

The Hub of Hubbard- prime time Freddie… Freddie Hubbard, trumpet – The Hub of Hubbard – MPS 0210991MSW (vinyl) 1969 ****: (Freddie Hubbard – trumpet; Eddie Daniels – tenor sax; Roland Hanna – piano; Richard Davis – bass; Louis Hayes – drums) Freddie Hubbard’s quintet was touring Europe in the winter of 1969 when Joachim Berendt, the owner of MPS Music, based out of West Germany, enticed the band to record at the label’s studio on a day off from the tour. Berendt was known to have a “hands-off” approach when recording American jazz icons. (Oscar Peterson found MPS to be a receptive label and recorded often at the MPS Studio in Villingen in the idyllic Black Forest area). On Dec. 9, 1969, the quintet laid down four extended tracks – three standards, and a 12-bar blues written by Freddie to honor his son, Duane. The rhythm section consisted of veterans: Roland Hanna, Richard Davis, and Louis Hayes, while the tenor sax chair was held by the (then) young Eddie Daniels, who has gone on to fame more as a clarinetist. Time on the road had sharpened the quintet’s cohesion and a single day was more than enough to cut […]

Quincy Jones And His Orchestra, Live In Ludwigshafen 1961 – SWR Jazzhaus

Quincy Jones And His Orchestra, Live In Ludwigshafen 1961 – SWR Jazzhaus

by | Jun 22, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Quincy Jones And His Orchestra, Live In Ludwigshafen 1961 – SWR Jazzhaus JAH-455, 75:49 ****: A treasure-trove of superb big-band playing. (Quincy Jones and His Orchestra featuring Benny Bailey; Freddie Hubbard; Melba Liston; Curtis Fuller; Ake Persson; Eric Dixon; Phil Woods; Sahib Shihab; Les Spann; Stu Martin; Carlos ‘Patato’ Valdes) Before Quincy Jones morphed into “Q”, a one-man musical conglomerate,  during the general period before this recording was made, he had been a section trumpeter for several formations including those of Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Farmer. Somewhat later, he was recording as leader, composer, conductor, and arranger for  big bands bearing his own name, including the one heard on this release. At the time of this recording in March 1961, the band  had been travelling and recording in Europe, and a little later with a slightly different iteration played the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1961. However none of the other recordings from this period, contain the breadth of material of Live In Ludwigshafen 1961. This is a full-throttled aggregation playing straight-ahead jazz, from mostly recognizable material,with arrangements generally by Quincy Jones. That old Benny Goodman war-horse “Air Mail Special” charges out of the gate with the reed […]

Blue Note xrcd24 Reissues – a Cause for Celebration

Blue Note xrcd24 Reissues – a Cause for Celebration

by | Oct 13, 2013 | Special Features

For years the XRCD re-issue series from JVC put out among the very best “Red Book” CDs of any jazz label. Their attention to detail was beyond reproach.  Original issues in the 1990s were manufactured in the JVC manufacturing plant in Yokohama, Japan. They involved the use of the 20-bit Sony PCM-9000 magneto-optical disc combined with JVC’s K2 20-bit analog-to-digital converter. Jitter and distortion were largely eliminated. The end product produced the highest quality transfer from the original master tapes to compact disc. At that time JVC issued primarily releases from  Fantasy/OJC, well before those labels were sold to Concord Records. [Although these discs are down-sampled to CD 44.1K/16-bit standards and are playable on any CD player, we are still listing these latest versions individually in our Hi-Res Section because the fidelity has been enhanced to the point that they now truly sound more hi-res than standard CDs…Ed.] In 2006 Elusive Disc took over the JVC XRCD line when JVC USA shut down their operations here. With former JVC employee Kevin Berg as production coordinator, and Robert Bantz as executive producer, under the moniker Audio Wave (marketed by Elusive Disc), they have been re-issuing classic Blue Note issues from the […]