Jazz Articles about Hubert Laws

Hubert Laws: In The Beginning

by Dan Bilawsky
July 5, 2011

Hubert LawsIn The BeginningCTI Masterworks2011 (1974) The release of a double album during the LP-era could be a double-edged sword. This format provided a platform for artists to elaborate on their ideas and serve a hefty portion of music to their fans and potential followers, but a single record forced musicians to self-edit a bit more, making them more likely to come out at the other end with a concise artistic ...

Hubert Laws: Flute Virtuoso and NEA Jazz Master

by Greg Thomas
February 23, 2011

After James Moody and Frank Wess established the flute as a solo jazz instrument in the 1950s, and Herbie Mann popularized it in the 1960s, the musician that has become most identified with virtuosic flute performance in jazz is Hubert Laws, who became a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Masters Fellowship in the class of 2011, the penultimate group of honorees before the program closes after the 2012 ceremony. I've been enamored ...

Hubert Laws: Moondance

by John Kelman
April 6, 2004

Returning to the soul jazz of his classic CTI recordings, flautist Hubert Laws delivers Moondance , an album of contemporary grooves and smooth sounds that, while a step above most smooth jazz recordings, is for the most part a little too safe, a little too conservative for a capable artist who has always seemed to represent more about potential and less about realization. There’s certainly nothing wrong with Laws’ tone; there are few flautists on the scene ...

Hubert Laws: Wild Flowers

by Craig Jolley
July 1, 2001

Wild Flower is the best flute record I know of. Hubert Laws plays flawlessly and sensitively as usual, but the record really belongs to John Murtaugh. Murtaugh came up as a Los Angeles tenorist in the 1950's but made his reputation as a writer. The program was thoughtfully considered. Each composition has its own identity and feeling. Taken together there is variety and balance. Five tunes feature Murtaugh's magnificent string writing.

The string sound is dry and tart, not lush ...

Hubert Laws: In The Beginning

by John Sharpe
December 1, 1997

In The Beginning is just one of ten titles Sony has recently released from its famous CTI catalog. Founded in the 70's by producer Creed Taylor, CTI was known for its distinctive cover art, glossy production values and albums that usually contained hefty doses of commercially palatable pop/jazz material. Artists such as George Benson , Freddie Hubbard, Jim Hall and Stanley Turrentine all enjoyed tremendous success with this formula. Originally issued on a double LP, this CD by flautist Hubert ...