Freddie Hubbard: Without A Song Live In Europe 1969

[Mike Schwartz]

Freddie in great form....not a working band....mostly standards.
1,2,3,4, & 7 recorded in the UK December 1969
5 & 6 recorded in Germany early December 1969
"Body & Soul" track previously released on Jazz Wave [Blue Note]
All other selections released for the first time.

Roland Hanna - piano
Ron Carter - bass
Louis Hayes - drums

Tracks
1. Without A Song
2. Things We Did Last Summer, The
3. Night In Tunisia, A
4. Blues By Five
5. Body & Soul
6. Space Track
7. Hub Tones

[bigtiny]

I've been waiting for this....but somebody please tell me.....does Blue Note have like the WORST cover art lately?!?!?!? This looks like one of those bad (and I don't mean 'hip' bad) Liberty covers from the late 60s.....cheezy!!!! Freddie deserves better than that....

bigtiny

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by bigtiny

I've been waiting for this....but somebody please tell me.....does Blue Note have like the WORST cover art lately?!?!?!? This looks like one of those bad (and I don't mean 'hip' bad) Liberty covers from the late 60s.....cheezy!!!! Freddie deserves better than that....

bigtiny

Here's another one from BN that's another 'discovered' recording from musicians that have passed. Would have to think this is the same artist.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by bigtiny

This looks like one of those bad (and I don't mean 'hip' bad) Liberty covers from the late 60s.

Maybe they were going for the period feel.

[lonely-at-the-top]

Release date over here is next week and I had the feeling that its some quick "Freddie's gone lets make some money" kinda thing?
How about the sound quality?
I love the keystone bops but would not go for less in sound(not even for Freddie )
thx

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by lonely-at-the-top

Release date over here is next week and I had the feeling that its some quick "Freddie's gone lets make some money" kinda thing?
How about the sound quality?
I love the keystone bops but would not go for less in sound(not even for Freddie )
thx

Freddie was alive and invloved in bringing this project forward; David Weiss mentions in the album notes that Freddy was very pleased to have this see the light of day (while they listened to the tapes together).

There's no problems with the sound that I can tell...

[makpjazz57]

I've heard some good advance reviews from friends on this and thanks for the reminder to pick this one up!

[Mike Schwartz]

David Weiss posted the complete unedited liner notes elsewhere.....would have to think he wouldn't mind these going up here.

Because of space limitations, my liner notes were edited (I'm sure many here know about that intimately). I did the edits myself but since I'm a little frustrated that the whole thing never saw the light of day, I'm going to post them below if anyone cares. It might help alleviate my frustration at least.


Listening to music with Freddie Hubbard is almost as inspirational and rewarding as playing music with him. To say he is an active listener is an understatement. He can be quite animated but also very critical, especially when it comes to his own music. He doesn’t get down on himself per se to often though he would cringe the couple of times he would actually go for something and not execute it as perfectly as he usually did. He will on occasion let out a chuckle when he hears himself execute one of those near impossible jaw-dropping runs that he is wont to do. There would also be howls of approval when the rhythm section reacted to something he did and take the music to a higher place but if one the musicians (usually in the rhythm section) missed something or didn’t go where he thought they should go, he’d be all over them. This process was always very educational to me as I saw how examining this music critically is the best way to find ways to improve it and yourself and Freddie always strove to be the best possible musician and trumpet player.
Freddie and I listened to the three concerts the music on this CD is culled from while we were working on what turned out to be his final album On The Real Side. Every day while driving back and forth from the studio we would pop this music into CD player and soak it all in. Freddie really enjoyed this music and this time around rarely had a critique. What is immediately apparent in this music is the symbiotic relationship between Freddie and the drummer on these dates, Louis Hayes. Louis was one of Freddie’s favorite drummers (along with Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones) and they lived in the same apartment building in Brooklyn for a few years in the ‘60s and would practice often together, almost every day according to Freddie. Freddie also told me they practiced the more difficult music from what turned out to be the album High Blues Pressure (“True Colors” and “For B.P.” in particular) together for a year before recording it. The rapport these two great musicians enjoy is apparent from the first downbeat of this recording.
The music on this CD was recorded in December of 1969 at various locations in Europe as part of what was called Jazz Wave on Tour. It was a jazz revue of sorts put together by producer Sonny Lester that featured a number of jazz acts touring Europe together. Also involved were the Thad Jones and Mel Lewis Orchestra, Jeremy Steig, Kenny Burrell and Jimmy McGriff. The groups shared some of the musicians as Jimmy McGriff performed with Thad and Mel’s band, Ron Carter and Louis Hayes also backed Jeremy Steig and Richard Davis and Mel Lewis also backed Kenny Burrell. All the artists joined each other at the end for a grand finale. They did a ten city tour of Europe and three of these concerts were recorded and the material on this CD comes from these recordings. One recording called Jazz Wave documenting this tour was released on Blue Note Records in 1970 that included one track of Freddie’s “Body and Soul”. Also during this tour Freddie made a record with the group for MPS in Germany entitled A Hub of Hubbard, which also featured Eddie Daniels and Richard Davis (in for Ron Carter), on loan from Thad and Mel’s band.

Though Freddie was remarkably consistent throughout his career, I always felt that he peaked twice during the years he was playing at his best. The first was in the late ‘60s where it seemed that all the playing he did during that fertile period with Art Blakey and on all those classic Blue Notes recordings came to a head and his playing and composing seemed to reach even greater heights than we thought possible. I think his albums Blue Sprits (his last for Blue Note), Backlash and High Blues Pressure attest to this higher plane. The second peak came in the early ‘80s after his years with CTI and Columbia as he returned to a more straight ahead small group format first with VSOP and then with his own group. The term super human feats of strength comes to mind when I hear live recordings from this period especially on Above and Beyond and the One Night With Blue Note recordings.
This recording captures Freddie at the height of this first peak period. He was still pretty early in his career as a bandleader at this point but he did have a working band. However, except for Louis Hayes, this was not his regular working band at the time which might account for the program being mostly being made up of standards with a couple of originals sprinkled in. He was allotted 35 or 40 minutes for his part of the show, which usually meant just three tunes, usually a couple of swinging tunes sandwiching a ballad (and they played a different ballad every night they recorded). These recordings probably represent just another day at the office for these guys but what a day at the office. He plays here with such force and commanding authority yet approaches the ballads so lyrically with such beauty and passion.
Freddie was the complete package; huge, fat sound, incredible range, as harmonically complex as they come but also quite the lyricist and boasted perhaps the most prodigious technique of in the history of jazz trumpet. And as these recordings yet again prove, he gave it his all at all times, night after night, year after year. He put everything he had into this music at all times and for 35 years played at a level and intensity that has not been matched by any trumpet player ever. They say the light that burns the brightest burns the fastest yet Freddie was able to play this music at that go for the jugular, all out approach for longer than anyone thought humanly possible. When all the wear and tear on his lip (and body from all the constant touring) finally caught up with him in the mid-‘90s, he still had the hunger to play and compose and be out there on some level and this might have damaged his legacy a bit but now with his recent passing, hopefully we can once again just focus on all the great music he left us. The breadth and depth of his work is almost unparalleled in this music and part of the reason for that is his all out approach at all times with no regard for the potential damage it might eventually cause him. This CD documents this approach in all its glory and as always it’s a wonder to hear a master at the top of his game delivering as he always did, night after night and year after year.

[lonely-at-the-top]

thx Mike for posting the notes. Can't wait to get it.

Also during this tour Freddie made a record with the group for MPS in Germany entitled A Hub of Hubbard,

I knew the line up sounded familiar. Good quality CD btw
cheers

[Deke Thornton]

I also enjoyed Weiss's notes, especially his notion that Freddie enjoyed two different artistic peaks -- he describes the second peak as the early 80s; I'd amend that to include the end of the 70s, when the VSOP recordings were made. I was privileged to hear him live several times during that second period.

[bigtiny]

Got this this afternoon and listened to about half of it. This CD burns! Freddie really plays his ass of on this CD and the band is fantastic. Strongly recommended!

bigtiny