R.I.P. Freddie Hubbard

Jazz fans worldwide are mourning the passing of one of the all time greats. Legendary trumpeter Freddie Hubbard died today from complications after suffering a heart attack on Nov. 26. He was born Apr. 7, 1938 in Indianapolis and moved to New York in 1958. After meeting John Coltrane in a club, he started playing with just about everyone in jazz. Hubbard made his recording debut as a leader in 1960 but the key event in his career was when he replaced Lee Morgan in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1961. Hubbard remained with Blakey until 1966 while recording his own albums on Blue Note and appearing on landmark albums by Herbie Hancock (Maiden Voyage) & Wayne Shorter (Speak No Evil). Hubbard really hit his stride in the early 70s when he signed with former Verve producer Creed Taylor's CTI label. Albums like Red Clay, Straight Life & First Light were best sellers and First Light won a 1972 Best Jazz Album Grammy award. Hubbard moved to Columbia in 1974 but the albums were too commercial and aren't his best work. But he did tour with Herbie Hancock's VSOP quintet in 1977 and showed that he still had what it takes. Hubbard continued to tour in the 80s. But he started having health problems and suffered a ruptured lip in 1992. He was never able to perform at a high level after that. He hasn't been that active in recent years and his 70th birthday celebration On The Real Side was released on CD by Four Quarters Records in June 2008. The National Endowment for the Arts honoured Hubbard with the NEA Jazz Masters award in 2006. For those interested in getting into Hubbard's music, I would suggest some of his CTI albums like Red Clay & Straight Life. I also recommend the Blue Note comp The Artist Selects featuring songs selected by Freddie Hubbard. Here's Freddie Hubbard performing Straight Life with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White & Airto at the 1975 Down Beat Awards. R.I.P. Freddie Hubbard.