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.