Freddie Hubbard - Blue Spirits torrent

Review
by Scott Yanow & Thom Jurek
This CD, Freddie Hubbard\'s last Blue Note release of the 1960s (with the exception of the blowing session The Night of the Cookers), adds two numbers to the original LP program and features the great trumpeter in three challenging settings ranging from a sextet to an octet. Hubbard uses such sidemen as altoist James Spaulding, tenors Joe Henderson and Hank Mobley, the euphonium of Kiane Zawadi, pianists Harold Mabern, McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock, bassists Larry Ridley, Bob Cranshaw and Reggie Workman, drummers Clifford Jarvis, Pete La Roca and Elvin Jones, the congas of Big Black, and on one song, bassoonist Hosea Taylor. The set is comprised of seven diverse Hubbard originals and, even though none of the songs caught on to become standards, the music is quite challenging and fairly memorable. The 2004 Rudy Van Gelder edition features completely remastered sound, and the addition of two bonus tracks recorded in 1966, a year after the album sessions. \"The Melting Pot\" and \"True Colors\" feature a third lineup, that includes tenorman Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, saxophonist and bassoonist Hosea Taylor, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums.



Track listing

\"Soul Surge\" - 10:24
\"Blue Spirits\" - 12:14
\"Outer Forces\" - 9:35
\"Cunga Black\" - 5:15
\"Jodo\" - 7:07
\"The Melting Pot\" - 7:36 Bonus track on CD
\"True Colors\" - 9:53 Bonus track on CD
All compositons by Freddie Hubbard
Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on February 19, 1965 (tracks 1 & 4); February 26, 1964 (tracks 2, 3 & 5) and March 5, 1966 (tracks 6 & 7).