R.I.P. Freddie Hubbard

[Michael Weiss]

Early this morning.

[Chuck Nessa]

Damn.

[CJ Shearn]

RIP. Thank you for the GREAT music all these years.

[jazzbo]

Damn. RIP Freddie. . .

[sheldonm]

.....sad news about a fellow hoosier. Got a call from a friend of mine that grew up him in Indy about the news.....very sad! RIP~

[Elissa]

tristessa. rip

[AndrewHill]

RIP Freddie. Thanks for all the great music.

[MartyJazz]

Wow, a major sad surprise this morning. Age 70, I believe. Cause?

[JSngry]

Hate to hear this...really hate to hear this... I've been thinking a lot about Freddie lately, and have come to the conclusion that so much of the criticism he's received over the years might be fair, but in the grand scheme of things is besides the point, unless the point is that it's better to be a wuss and be "right" than it is to be a man (or woman, adult, grownup , whatever works for whoever you are/want to be/need to be/are trying to be/in the process of becoming)) and be wrong. I know there's all sorts of unpleasant repercussions that can come from that attitude, but there's also some bodaciously good ones as well. Life's like that sometimes, ain't it now...

Here's to being able to play the trumpet (or just do anything) really, really well, here's to being able to navigate the most simple and the most difficult musics with equal aplomb, here's to feeling good about being able to do that, and most of all, here's to not feeling the least bit guilty about feeling good about being able to do that. In short, here's to life, with all it's ups, downs, triumphs, and fuckups.

I'd not want a jazz that was all Freddie Hubbards, but I'd for damn sure even less want one without him.

Carpe diem, I believe I heard the man say...

Edited December 29, 2008 by JSngry

[Cyril]

Oh no, NOT Freddie!!!!

R.I.P. Freddie and thanks for all the music!!!

[Stereojack]

With all of the news in the last couple of weeks, this doesn't come as a total surprise, but I was hoping he would recover. Freddie was a real motherfucker, and this is a major loss to the world of music.

RIP, Freddie.

[sheldonm]

...here are a couple photos from this summer in Indy. One is of him playing along side of Jimmy Sapulding and David Weiss....out of the photo are Curtis Fuller, George Cables and I believe Javon Jackson.

The other is a photo of David, Freddie and a local jazz dj Chuck Workman doing an interview at the Jazz Kitchen tent after their set. Freddie was pretty funny and other than not haviing his old chops....seemed to be in good spirits and looked well. He told me a funny story about his brother, who is also a musician....which I cannot repeat!

RIP

[J.A.W.]

Sad news... again. He'll be sorely missed.

[DrJ]

Wow, another giant gone. Very sad news.

[sheldonm]

....

[Daniel A]

Thanks for your wonderful playing, Freddie.

R.I.P.

[Free For All]

Very sorry to hear this. Freddie was a distinct voice in the music, always instantly identifiable. I loved his Bluenotes, his CTIs and pretty much everything he did. So many great sideman appearances as well. He will always be one of the greats IMHO.

Glad his suffering is over, but sorry he's no longer with us. RIP.

[Hot Ptah]

I witnessed some truly excellent live performances by Freddie in the 1970s. By today's standards of what qualifies as a good live trumpet performance, they were off the charts spectacular. His talent should never be forgotten as other things are brought up.

[Shawn]

I can't imagine what it must have been like to still have all this music in your head...but without the technical facility to bring it out. (Actually I can, my Grandmother was an artist who lost her eyesight). I'm sure frustration doesn't even come close to describing that, maybe "soul-killing" would be a better choice.

Regardless, the physical and mental pain is over, Freddie is at peace and we've got decades of recordings to celebrate his contributions to this world we live on.

Think I'll listen to my favorite Hubbard performance this morning, his take on "I Wished I Knew" from the Goin' Up album.

[Big Al]

Sad but not wholly unexpected. I was seriously bummed when he cancelled his show in Ft. Worth last summer because of health issues. My dad and I had planned to go see him, my dad being wholly responsible for me liking jazz and knowing who Freddie Hubbard was thru the Blakey MOSAIC album, and we were pretty bummed when that didn't pan out.

So many beautiful solos, but if the only solo he'd ever done was the one for Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance," that would've been enough to make me a fan for life.

So many great albums, I don't even know where to begin. Open Sesame, Ready for Freddie, Hub-Tones, Blue Spirits, Straight Life, Red Clay.... and that doesn't even touch on the Atlantic stuff that I've never heard.

And sideman appearances! The cat was as busy as Billy Higgins!

RIP Freddie. Thanks for the great music, of which there was BEAUCOUPS. Keep your soul together.

Edited December 29, 2008 by Big Al

[papsrus]

Sad news. RIP

[makpjazz57]

Mark, as always, thanks for sharing the great photos.

[B. Clugston]

R.I.P.

One of the trumpet greats and he should also be remembered as an excellent composer and arranger.

[cymbalgroove]

Freddie had a certain fire that made your hair stand up and send chills down your spine. I've been playing along to Goin Up a lot lately. He's SO KILLIN on that one!! The guy played with incredible conviction and creativity. RIP Freddie!

[sidewinder]

What can I say? - I was really hoping like mad he would pull through all of this OK.

I only saw him the once and that was around 1980 and the stage was well in the distance. Couldn't mistake the magnificent power of that playing though. And his Blue Note recordings both under own name and with Blakey, Shorter etc. are fantastic and will surely grow even more in significance with time. RIP Mr Hubbard and thank you for the music.