Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Freddie Hubbard: One Of A Kind

6

Freddie Hubbard: One Of A Kind

By

View read count
Freddie Hubbard: One Of A Kind
It is something of a challenge to review Freddie Hubbard's work from the early 1980s. He had changed direction in the early 1970s with Red Clay (CTI, 1970) moving toward soul-jazz and jazz-rock, although anyone listening to Hubbard's playing would hear his standard vocabulary of licks. Some listeners approved; some listeners did not; and some simply labelled him a sell-out. This certainly was not the Hubbard of Blue Note, and while he returned to playing straight ahead in the mid-1980s on terrific recordings with Woody Shaw, all was not forgiven. Or perhaps he did not forgive himself. One occasionally heard complaints that, even if playing well, Hubbard was going through the motions. The problem with his chops and other distractions still lay ahead, but there was a sense that Hubbard's best playing, certainly his most exciting and innovative, was behind him.

These are, unfortunately, the sort of harsh judgments that well established but aging players—the physical demands of the trumpet only add to the stress—often hear. Like it or not, time runs in only one direction, and the artist deals with it as best as he or she can.

Here one gets a taste of Hubbard live in a quintet that includes Billy Childs and Larry Klein, both solid players. Probably the recorded concert format must have led to the inclusion of some tracks that were intended to close out a set, such as "There is no Greater Love," which starts out as a percussion feature. It barely gives Hubbard enough time to state the theme in a way that makes you think Miles Davis, not Freddie Hubbard On the other hand, "Birdlike" is pure Hubbard, and when Hubbard was doing Hubbard, familiar licks or no, he was always worth listening to. Childs and Klein give a good account of themselves here, and Hubbard's trademark upper-register squeals do draw some love from the crowd. Childs and Klein kick off "One of a Kind," and if Hubbard really does not do anything novel, what he does he does well. The band does seem to get to cooking on "First Light." And that is true of "UK Forty One" which may not break any new ground either, but is, at least, energetic.

No one will mistake what is on offer for classic Freddie Hubbard, but he hardly sounds like a spent force either. Listeners have the luxury of hearing what they want when they want it. Touring musicians, alas, even the stars, are out of luck and not every performance will be memorable. Sometimes, a gig is just a gig.

Track Listing

UK Forty; One of A Kind; First Light; There Is No Greater Love; Love Connection; One of Another Kind; UK Forty One.

Personnel

Additional Instrumentation

Larry Klein: Bass

Album information

Title: One Of A Kind | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Arkadia Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.