Hub Cap
Studio album by
Freddie Hubbard
ReleasedOctober 1961[1]
RecordedApril 9, 1961
StudioVan Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
GenreJazz
Length42:21
LabelBlue Note
BST 84073
ProducerAlfred Lion
Freddie Hubbard chronology
Goin' Up
(1960) 		Hub Cap
(1961) 		Ready for Freddie
(1962)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]

Hub Cap is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and was released on the Blue Note label in 1961 as BLP 4073 and BST 84073. It features performances by Hubbard, Julian Priester, Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton, Larry Ridley and Philly Joe Jones.

The pieces

The album's title originates from Hubbard's nickname. The track "Cry Me Not", composed by Randy Weston for the session and arranged by Melba Liston, was considered by Hubbard to be "the most interesting tune on the record". "Luana" is dedicated to Hubbard's niece, whilst "Osie Mae" – a title which sounded "funky" to Hubbard – is characterized by an A-B-A-B pattern. "Earmon Jr.", composed by Hubbard and arranged by Ed Summerlin, was named for Hubbard's brother, a pianist.[4]

Reception

Reviewing the album for The Guardian in 2003, British jazz critic John Fordham wrote:

From Hubbard's opening solo on the flying, boppish title track, which crackles with his trademark urgency, crisp, flaring sound and hell-for-leather attack, the music throws you back into a jazz era when the muscular dynamism of hard-bop was at the sharp end of a still commercially popular jazz.

Jimmy Heath's tenor sax has a dry loquacity, and drummer Philly Joe Jones sustains a constant push and chatter of hi-hat snaps, swishing cymbal caresses and rimshot rattles. And for all the idiom's prevailing speediness, it's the pulsating warmth of the arrangement and Hubbard's balance of spaciousness and fitfully unleashed power on Randy Weston's rhapsodic "Cry Me Not" that is a particular highlight of a memorable set.[5]

Track listing

"Osie Mae"
Osie Mae
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All compositions by Freddie Hubbard, except as indicated

  1. "Hub Cap" – 5:17
  2. "Cry Me Not" (Randy Weston) – 4:49
  3. "Luana" – 10:04
  4. "Osie Mae" – 6:53
  5. "Plexus" (Cedar Walton) – 9:02
  6. "Plexus" [alternate take] (Walton) – 9:10 (1988 Capitol CD re-release only)
  7. "Earmon Jr." – 6:16

Personnel

Technical personnel

References

  1. ^ "Jazz LP's: Strong Sales Potential". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 16, 1961. p. 41 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Hub Cap - Freddie Hubbard | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 732. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ Original album liner notes by Leonard Feather
  5. ^ Fordham, John (14 February 2003). "Jazz CD: Freddie Hubbard, Hub Cap". the Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
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