Freddie Hubbard - “Red Clay”
Tracks:
- Red Clay
- Delphia
- Suite Sioux
- The Intrepid Fox
- Cold Turkey
Trying to branch out and find more jazz, I joined the BMG CD Club back in the mid 90’s. And along the way I found a love of trumpet led jazz. So naturally I ended up stumbling along the work of Freddie Hubbard.
Unlike Mile Davis, Freddie Hubbard’s fusion-like days of the early 70’s still had plenty of melodies. This album is a prime example on how it could be done. Where other artists of the time were blending other genres and sounds to create their fusion, this was still heavy on jazz ideals. It was a very updated jazz sound though. Hubbard’s band for this album included Joe Henderson on sax, Lenny White on drums, Ron Carter on bass, and Herbie Hancock on electric piano.
And make no mistake, it’s Freddie’s recording. Though there are some good solos by all four of the other musicians, it’s Freddie’s solos, songwriting, and arranging that shine here. I find myself usually humming or whistling the melodies on this album days after listening to it. The title track and “Suite Sioux” are the two that get me the most. There are some great solos though from the other musicians, like Hancock’s on “The Intrepid Fox” and Henderson’s on “Suite Sioux”.
I know there are a lot of bass purists out there, and probably a couple that will read this, but the one thing I think this recording lacked was it’s bass sound. It needed electric bass. Even though Ron Carter has some great lines, and a very cool solo on the title track that segues back into the theme, it really could have punctuated the songs more with an electric bass.
This is a great album for the jazz purists that didn’t like the 70’s fusion movement. Especially when it came to incredibly progressive jazz area (”just noise” as some refer to it, and I tend to agree from time to time) that albums like Davis’ “Bitches Brew” brought along. Hubbard kept the jazz in fusion with this recording.
Recent Comments