It’s fairly well-known that Creed’s production techniques were not universally liked. Creed himself knew that and was often quite dismissive of critics in general. I’ve often quoted Creed himself on this, as early as 1963 he said: These men[musicians], no longer concern themselves with critical limitations, imposed by journalists within the jazz fraternity. More and more of them are looking […]
On the Verge of A Jazz Revival
In another column from the San Francisco Chronicle archive, this time Leonard Feather’s column discusses a jazz revival observed in April 1971, highlighting the growing interest from youth bored with rock music. He reviews notable CTI records, praising works by Hubert Laws, Bill Evans, and Dave Frishberg. Feather suggests that jazz is evolving and remains an essential art form, driven by innovation.
Freddie Hubbard – Live in ’67
Freddie Hubbard has many live recordings, primarily from after 1968. Notably, Resonance Records has released a live set from 1967 at Blue Morocco featuring prominent musicians. The venue, now gone, was noted for its vibrant atmosphere. Hubbard’s live recordings are essential in understanding his musical evolution during this period.
Freddie Hubbard on Jazzwise
Jazzwise, which offers a monthly digital edition not available for download. The website is accessible without a subscription and features quality articles, including reviews of new jazz albums. A notable piece includes Stuart Nicholson’s review and interview with Freddie Hubbard from April 2025.
On This Day – Red Clay – 55 Years ago
This post is a minor update of one written in 2020 to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Including below is a link to all the major streaming services version of “Red Clay”. On this day in 1970, a group of preeminent jazz musicians and a young drummer assembled at Rudy Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to record what […]
Black Music ’75 Live Apollo Theater Hubbard & McCann
Kim Paris from the FM Radio Archive Collection recently shared a interesting live set from 1974 featuring Freddie Hubbard and Les McCann at the Apollo’s Black Music ’75 show. This ambitious event aimed to showcase jazz legends to the Harlem audience. The performance, while receiving mixed reviews, provides a nostalgic glimpse into an iconic era of jazz music.
Happy Born Day Hub’s!
In the band are Will Lee(Bass), Steve Jordan(Drums), Steve Khan(Guitar) – thanks to the eagle-eyed Jean and Doug! Unusually for any artist celebrated here, I have three posts about Freddie Hubbard for today, the anniversary of Freddie Hubbard’s birthday on April 7th, 1938, 85 years ago. This post is a personal recollection on April 24th, 1984 when Hubs appeared on […]
Freddie, Jazz and People Movement
This post is the second of three to celebrate Freddie Hubbard’s born day in 2023. In this post, I’m going to examine his involvement in the Jazz And People’s Movement (JPM). Despite numerous telephone calls and emails, I could only find contemporary views on the JPM, but I did discover a somewhat skewed view published in Downbeat. It’s most likely […]
Freddie Sings A Song Of Protest
This post is the third of three to celebrate Freddie Hubbard’s born day 2023, I’m going to take a look at probably the least well known album of the Freddie Hubbard pantheon, one that received “pushback”. I think this album stands-up well 53-years later; Freddie himself was less than positive about this period and the criticisms he received. It’s most […]
On This Day: Sky Live
It’s October 30th, that means that 49-years ago, not far from where I live now, Freddie Hubbard and his quartet of trusty sidemen George Cables, Kent Brinkley, Ralph Penland and Junior Cook, were getting ready to perform at the Ebberts Field. No, not the home of the Dodgers in Brooklyn, but its namesake in Denver. The quartet played for 6-nights […]
Freddie Hubbard in 2022
There are two new-old Feddie Hubbard releases this month. Breaking Point The first is rereleased by Blue Note in their “Tone Poet” series, Freddie’s 1964 album “Breaking Point”. The album was remastered in 2003/2004 for CD release and has also been released is Hidef files and MP3. The Tone Poet release contains the same five tracks as the original release, […]
First Light Live
It’s September 14th, this year marks 50-years of the start of recording at the Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey of Freddie Hubbard’s Grammy winning album “First Light“. I wrote about it on this date last year[1]On This Day: First Light – Creed Taylor Produced (ctproduced.com) This year, I have a video of the title track from the album, along […]
On This Day: First Light GRAMMY Award
Today, March 3rd, is the day to play your copy of #freddiehubbard First Light album. It was winner of the #grammys for Best Jazz performance by a group. Recorded 50 years ago this year, released 49 years ago and awarded 48 years ago. Almost ignored by critics at the time, First Light is one of the definitive Creed Taylor produced […]
On This Day: First Light
On this day, September 14th, 1971 – Freddie Hubbard went into the studio to record what would become his Grammy winning album, First Light. Recorded over two days, the 14th and 16th, and Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs studio, using an ensemble cast containing many of the CTI “All Stars” with arrangements and conducting by Don Sebesky. Among the sidemen […]
One Night With Blue Note
Strictly not a Creed Taylor produced effort, but a tribute to Blue Note founders, Alfred Lion, Max Margulis, and Francis Wolff. Notwithstanding that, the recordings here were recovered from laserdiscs, and feature many artists, both leaders and sidemen that were signed to, or performed for CTI, including Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, Grover Washington Jr, and many more. As […]
CTI Artists on TV
Enjoy two great live performances from artists from CTI. Both comes from VHS tapes I managed to buy from ebay. I was hoping to avoid getting into converting VHS tapes, as they are often more trouble than they are worth. On the full length video of the 1976 awards, George Benson performs his hit “Breezin’” but his years of work […]