In the early 1960s, when fiery young hard bop trumpeters seemed almost as numerous as stars in a clear, autumnal night sky, Freddie Hubbard might have been the brightest burning of them all. Part of the Sixties Blue Note Records cadre of intrepid freeboppers, Hubbard (b. 1938) in the Seventies was instrumental in advancing the cause of the jazzier wing of fusion. Like fellow trumpet giant Miles Davis, he successfully melded improvisation with the dance rhythms and launching pad vamps of soul, funk, and rock--and winning new audiences in the process. This collection, recorded live in Holland in 1980, finds Hubbard (who doubles flugelhorn) in peak form. The set, with four of six numbers written by Hubbard, included excitingly expanded performances of such Seventies signature tunes as “First Light,” “One of Another Kind,” and “Red Clay,” still his most popular original.

with David Schnitter, Billy Childs, Larry Klein, Sinclair Lott