RIP Freddie Hubbard
A lot of important, influential, famous people died in '08. Hometown legend Tim Russert was, perhaps, the most celebrated. George Carlin's passing hit me in a weird way, since I had recently started studying a lot of his performances. I wish my brain was as sharp as his was. But, by far, the death that hit home the most was Freddie Hubbard's recent passing.
Freddie died a couple days ago. He was a jazz musician, played some of the most stellar trumpet in the history of mankind, dropped classic albums in three different eras and, could arguably be considered hip-hop's most sampled jazz artist. If he isn't, he's right up there with Herbie, Miles and Donald Byrd in terms of hop's go-to jazz musicians. I am positive that Red Clay -- Freddie's most popular and influential album -- is the most sampled jazz album of all-time. Most famously, Tribe pulled the bass-drum-keys rhythm from the head of Red Clay's title track. What bugs me about this is that the obits in the big papers don't mention this, which is criminal. Anytime a musician has a profound effect on the foundation of a brand new genre, specifically the forward-thinking production we heard on Native Tongue recordings, then that needs to be mentioned near the top of his obit since it makes him more than just a giant in his own genre.
That's thing about Freddie, though. He's maligned. He started off as a prodigious young voice in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (tho he was overshadowed by Wayne Shorter who happens to be, probably, the greatest songwriter in jazz history). Then he dropped a string of albums as a bandleader -- Ready For Freddie being my favorite -- that showcased what was an unparalleled expertise on his horn (tho, for all the greatness of that music, it seem staid when compared to what the Miles Quintet was doing at the time). Then he dropped two early 70s albums -- Red Clay and Straight Life -- that are among the greatest albums ever made...in all of music. Freddie is one of those jazz artists that can give you some cred with me. If namedrop Freddie (or Billy Harper or Joe Henderson or Tony Williams, etc) and have a working knowledge of his discog, then I know that you aren't one of the zillion jazz impostors out here that simply SAY they dig jazz. What happened to Freddie, though, is that, by the mid-70s, he was making some fairly corny albums. I say that with a heavy heart, but it was true. Even still, there were some gems on those joints.
As I write, I'm listening to "Kuntu" off of Liquid Love. It's a storied album around these parts, an album my Pops sold when he was a young father in a financial bind then spent years trying to track down. But because Columbia hadn't re-released much of Freddie's mid-late 70s catalog, it remained unattainable. (This was before EVERYTHING was koppable on mininova, isohunt, itunes or some pirate-blog). At any rate, my boy Rek tracked down the elusive vinyl copy about six or seven years ago, had it transferred to CD and dropped it on us during one of our sessions. I think my Pops' brain burst. I went into a coma. The track has this afro-cuban rhythm with Freddie going berserk on top. Liquid Love stands out as a tremendous effort in the midst of a bunch of duds. Freddie's labels, chiefly CTI, wanted to make pop-jazz and Freddie followed suit, often with disastrous results. Then, Freddie busted up his top-lip and lost his chops, had trouble blowing his horn in his later years. I just think that the stupid four or five year period in the 70s unjustly mars an incredible career.
Whenever I listen to The Black Angel's title track I swoon -- same thing with "Sky Dive". Straight Life's "Mr. Clean" is filthy. Freddie's rollin on "Far Away" off Breaking Point. He may not have emoted and influenced like Miles or created new language and vocabulary like Satchmo and Diz, but Freddie could do ANYTHING on that horn. He'd probably win a game of Trumpet HORSE on his horn...and he made great music for a good 20 years. He deserves a better eulogy than what he got.
Freddie died a couple days ago. He was a jazz musician, played some of the most stellar trumpet in the history of mankind, dropped classic albums in three different eras and, could arguably be considered hip-hop's most sampled jazz artist. If he isn't, he's right up there with Herbie, Miles and Donald Byrd in terms of hop's go-to jazz musicians. I am positive that Red Clay -- Freddie's most popular and influential album -- is the most sampled jazz album of all-time. Most famously, Tribe pulled the bass-drum-keys rhythm from the head of Red Clay's title track. What bugs me about this is that the obits in the big papers don't mention this, which is criminal. Anytime a musician has a profound effect on the foundation of a brand new genre, specifically the forward-thinking production we heard on Native Tongue recordings, then that needs to be mentioned near the top of his obit since it makes him more than just a giant in his own genre.
That's thing about Freddie, though. He's maligned. He started off as a prodigious young voice in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (tho he was overshadowed by Wayne Shorter who happens to be, probably, the greatest songwriter in jazz history). Then he dropped a string of albums as a bandleader -- Ready For Freddie being my favorite -- that showcased what was an unparalleled expertise on his horn (tho, for all the greatness of that music, it seem staid when compared to what the Miles Quintet was doing at the time). Then he dropped two early 70s albums -- Red Clay and Straight Life -- that are among the greatest albums ever made...in all of music. Freddie is one of those jazz artists that can give you some cred with me. If namedrop Freddie (or Billy Harper or Joe Henderson or Tony Williams, etc) and have a working knowledge of his discog, then I know that you aren't one of the zillion jazz impostors out here that simply SAY they dig jazz. What happened to Freddie, though, is that, by the mid-70s, he was making some fairly corny albums. I say that with a heavy heart, but it was true. Even still, there were some gems on those joints.
As I write, I'm listening to "Kuntu" off of Liquid Love. It's a storied album around these parts, an album my Pops sold when he was a young father in a financial bind then spent years trying to track down. But because Columbia hadn't re-released much of Freddie's mid-late 70s catalog, it remained unattainable. (This was before EVERYTHING was koppable on mininova, isohunt, itunes or some pirate-blog). At any rate, my boy Rek tracked down the elusive vinyl copy about six or seven years ago, had it transferred to CD and dropped it on us during one of our sessions. I think my Pops' brain burst. I went into a coma. The track has this afro-cuban rhythm with Freddie going berserk on top. Liquid Love stands out as a tremendous effort in the midst of a bunch of duds. Freddie's labels, chiefly CTI, wanted to make pop-jazz and Freddie followed suit, often with disastrous results. Then, Freddie busted up his top-lip and lost his chops, had trouble blowing his horn in his later years. I just think that the stupid four or five year period in the 70s unjustly mars an incredible career.
Whenever I listen to The Black Angel's title track I swoon -- same thing with "Sky Dive". Straight Life's "Mr. Clean" is filthy. Freddie's rollin on "Far Away" off Breaking Point. He may not have emoted and influenced like Miles or created new language and vocabulary like Satchmo and Diz, but Freddie could do ANYTHING on that horn. He'd probably win a game of Trumpet HORSE on his horn...and he made great music for a good 20 years. He deserves a better eulogy than what he got.
posted by Twistinado @ 11:53 AM
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