Four Classic Albums (Open Sesame / Goin' Up / Hub-Tones / Ready For Freddie)

Freddie Hubbard can be considered a somewhat precocious youngster who began learning to play mellophone and trumpet in his high school band before going on as a young teenager to work locally with Wes and Monk Montgomery. By 20, he was in New York playing with Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy and Quincy Jones. At 22 he had made his first album for Blue Note which opens our set, "Open Sesame"! He would go on to make another seven albums for the label. During the late 1950's and 60's, in fact, Freddie Hubbard was considered to be, the "go to" trumpet player on the scene! The list of great players he has worked with includes just about anyone who was anyone at the time... Tina Brooks, McCoy Tyner, Hank Mobley, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Reginald Workman, James Spaulding, Art Davis, Elvin Jones, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane... With those two latter names Hubbard ventured as far into the avant-garde, free jazz world as he ever would, preferring to stay within his own pre-bop, hard-bop and post-bop boundaries.