Freddie Hubbard

一九三八年四月出生的Freddie Hubbard（佛瑞迪·赫巴德）与波士顿塞尔提克队神射手赖瑞·柏德都是印第安那州人。赫巴德的小号声调风格被认为介於快眩神奇的克利佛·布朗(Clifford Brown)与狂野不羁的李·莫根(Lee Morgan)之间，当他於一九五八年移居纽约后，他的黄金年代与此展开，先是与长笛之神艾瑞克·道菲(Eric Dolphy)同台，接著先后加入菲力·乔·琼斯(Philip Joe Jones)、桑尼·罗林斯、杰·杰·强生的乐团，一九六○年他更参与了自由爵士的大师欧涅·寇曼的「Free Jazz」录音，与萨克斯风救世主John Coltrane一起录音。 但他生命当中最辉煌灿烂的一页却才要到来，一九六一年至一九六四年间，他加入了爵士鼓大师亚特·布莱基(Art Blakey)领导的「爵士信差」(The Jazz Messengers)，赫巴德第一次遇到最能激发他潜力的对手：韦恩·萧特(Wayne Shorter)，萧特变幻莫测的萨克斯风即兴遇到了无论如何都能接招回应的赫巴德，再加上背后控制场面稳如泰山的亚特·布莱基，这个组合被许多人认为是历任「爵士信差」(The Jazz Messengers)团员搭档中创作默契最佳的组合。 无论从哪个角度来看，Freddie Hubbard的初试啼声之作《Open Sesame》，其演奏成熟度真是惊人！这张专辑命名为《芝麻开门》，颇有双关语的味道：蓝调之音的老板Alfred Lion慧眼识英雄，像是天方夜谭中阿里巴巴的角色，敞开音乐大门，向大家介绍爵士新秀胡巴德。对胡巴德而言，透过蓝调之音发行首张个人创作，透过傲人的演奏实力崭露头角，也为自己开启了在纽约大显身手之门。 《Open Sesame》以专辑同名曲开场，在火热的合奏声中，带出胡巴德热切激昂的独奏，萨克斯风手Tina Brooks接续于后，两位乐手你来我往，互相呼应，紧紧扣住对方丢出来的点子再予以发挥，令人想到精纯咆勃培育中心，也就是由鼓手Art Blakey领军的「爵士信差」乐团的演奏模式：精彩的和声、漂亮的独奏以及舒畅又不失紧凑的摇摆节奏感。 除了胡巴德老练沉稳的表现之外，这张专辑最值得一提的，就是萨克斯风手Tina Brooks。他与胡巴德相识于纽约的俱乐部，两人都是精纯咆勃的忠实信徒。才华洋溢的Tina Brooks拥有Lester Young的性感音色，Dexter Gordon的尾劲，以及Charlie Parker漂亮而又肌理分明的即兴乐句，是胡巴德非常器重的好友。Tina Brooks为Open Sesame专辑写了两首曲子，分别为开场曲「Open Sesame」和「Gypsy Blue」的曲子，并为抒情歌谣「But Beautiful」编曲，在整张专辑中扮演了吃重的角色。事实上，接下来编号4041的True Blue，仍是由Tina Brooks与胡巴德合作，只是改由Tina Brooks挂名而已。终其短暂一生，Tina Brooks都不是锋芒毕露型的乐手，但他隽永的蓝调即兴乐句，特别是在「Gypsy Blue」中畅快的独奏，却永远存于乐迷心中。
by Scott Yanow
One of the great jazz trumpeters of all time, Freddie Hubbard formed his sound out of the Clifford Brown/Lee Morgan tradition, and by the early 70s was immediately distinctive and the pacesetter in jazz. However, a string of blatantly commercial albums later in the decade damaged his reputation and, just when Hubbard, in the early 90s (with the deaths of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis), seemed perfectly suited for the role of veteran master, his chops started causing him serious troubles.
Born and raised in Indianapolis, Hubbard played early on with Wes and Monk Montgomery. He moved to New York in 1958, roomed with Eric Dolphy (with whom he recorded in 1960), and was in the groups of Philly Joe Jones (1958-1959), Sonny Rollins, Slide Hampton, and J.J. Johnson, before touring Europe with Quincy Jones (1960-1961). He recorded with John Coltrane, participated in Ornette Colemans Free Jazz (1960), was on Oliver Nelsons classic Blues and the Abstract Truth album (highlighted by Stolen Moments), and started recording as a leader for Blue Note that same year. Hubbard gained fame playing with Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers (1961-1964) next to Wayne Shorter and Curtis Fuller. He recorded Ascension with Coltrane (1965), Out to Lunch (1964) with Eric Dolphy, and Maiden Voyage with Herbie Hancock, and, after a period with Max Roach (1965-1966), he led his own quintet, which at the time usually featured altoist James Spaulding. A blazing trumpeter with a beautiful tone on flügelhorn, Hubbard fared well in freer settings but was always essentially a hard bop stylist.
In 1970, Freddie Hubbard recorded two of his finest albums (Red Clay and Straight Life) for CTI. The follow-up, First Light (1971), was actually his most popular date, featuring Don Sebesky arrangements. But after the glory of the CTI years (during which producer Creed Taylor did an expert job of balancing the artistic with the accessible), Hubbard made the mistake of signing with Columbia and recording one dud after another; Windjammer (1976) and Splash (a slightly later effort for Fantasy) are low points. However, in 1977, he toured with Herbie Hancocks acoustic V.S.O.P. Quintet and, in the 1980s, on recordings for Pablo, Blue Note, and Atlantic, he showed that he could reach his former heights (even if much of the jazz world had given up on him). But by the late 80s, Hubbards personal problems and increasing unreliability (not showing up for gigs) started to really hurt him, and a few years later his once-mighty technique started to seriously falter. Freddie Hubbards fans can still certainly enjoy his many recordings for Blue Note, Impulse, Atlantic, CTI, Pablo, and his first Music Masters sets.