Hubbard, Freddie

▪ 2009

Frederick Dewayne Hubbard 

      American jazz musician

born April 7, 1938, Indianapolis, Ind.

died Dec. 29, 2008, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

played bravura trumpet solos with a harmonic-rhythmic flair that made him the most exciting late-bop virtuoso on his instrument. Early in his career, while influenced by bop-era trumpeters (including Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan), Hubbard developed a big, commanding tone and a subtle style of inventing melodies that flowed and, alternately, burst into dramatic contrasts. A prolific and daring recording artist, he not only was a major hard-bop figure but also played free jazz with Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy and modal jazz with Wayne Shorter. After performing (1961–64) in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Hubbard led combos, including 1970s jazz-rock fusion groups that recorded the popular albumsRed Clay and First Light (Grammy Award, 1972). He also played (1976–79) with Shorter and Herbie Hancock in the all-star quintet V.S.O.P. and on sound tracks for films, including Blowup. Years of intense trumpeting led to a lip infection in 1992 that severely curtailed Hubbard's career. In later years he played the less-demanding flugelhorn, rather than the trumpet, accompanied by the New Jazz Composers Octet.

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