The year ended bitterly with the news that one of the greatest and most influential trumpeters in the history of jazz, Freddie Hubbard, died on Dec. 29 in a Los Angeles hospital. He had suffered a heart attack in November.
An Indianapolis native, Hubbard's professional career began as a teenager playing with Wes Montgomery and his brothers. Moving to NYC in 1958, the 20-year-old played with Sonny Rollins, J.J. Johnson, McCoy Tyner, Eric Dolphy and John Coltrane, among others. Hubbard's big break came in 1961 when he replaced Lee Morgan in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
He recorded several albums with Blakey and also appeared prominently on some of the most important albums of the 1960s. Coltrane's Africa Brass and Ascension, Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch, Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz, Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage and Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil are just some of the important albums to feature his fiery trumpet work.
In the early '70s, Hubbard began a long association with CTI Records and produced a number of albums as a leader, including Red Clay, First Light, Straight Life and Sky Dive. However, Hubbard's later CTI work became increasingly more commercial. The trumpeter later returned to his hard bop/post bop roots, until suffering a serious injury where he split his lip by blowing too hard without warming up. Although he never regained his exceptional abilities, Hubbard continued to play (often on flugelhorn) and remain active on the music scene.
Hubbard was influenced by Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan, but developed his own style of playing in which he attempted to produce the same types of sounds as those being produced by saxophonists like Coltrane and Rollins. Combining a prodigious hard blowing technique with previously unheard of legato lines on the trumpet, Hubbard became a hero to an entire generation of trumpet players.
Hubbard is survived by his wife Briggie and son Duane.
Hubbard protege, trumpeter Richard Boulger had this to say about his mentor:
Freddie Hubbard was a master innovator in every sense of the word -- as
a trumpet player, improviser and composer. Even more so, he had the
rare ability to play with pure heart and soul. He touched each of us
in ways that only true spirit could. Listening to Freddie is like
listening to all of life singing its song.....
As a friend, Freddie was always kind, deeply supportive and quick to
share his keen insight and vast experiences on and away from the horn.
Rest in peace Freddie, your Fire burns on in all of us.
