Goodbye Freddie

Today while reading some of the posts on a trumpet jazz forum, I discovered that one of my earliest inspirations in jazz trumpet passed away on December the 28th 2008. He was the great Freddie Hubbard whom to most people may seem like no one but to the trumpet world was very highly regarded. The first time I heard Freddie Hubbard play was at a friends house. We were listening to a vinyl recording of him and Stanley Turrentine in a live concert. It featured as backup the virtually 'who's who' in jazz. Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on Bass and Jack DeJehonnette on drums. It was a full recording that only contained two songs.The moment I heard Freddie on the trumpet, I wondered if I should pursue my interest in the instrument or give it up altogether because I couldn't believe that someone could play like that. Subsequently, I started investing in jazz recordings. The first jazz trumpet cassette that I owned was Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay album. Upon receiving my next paycheck I bought Keep Your Soul Together( which is currently out of print). Then I got a hold of Love Connection on vinyl. To date, I have at least ten of his recordings and consider them some of my favourites.

I was hoping to see him live perhaps during MPO's jazz season. O well. Goodbye Freddie, I will miss you but will continue to buy and listen to your CD's.

The links below are wiki's info on Freddie Hubbard and a Youtube video of his performance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Hubbard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3FsJ8ZU414&feature=related