1962 · Album
Ready for Freddie
Recorded 1961 · Blue Note · Produced by Alfred Lion
Freddie Hubbard Steps Into the Room
Hubbard sounds like he has something to prove here, and that tension makes it worth your time.
By 1962, Freddie Hubbard had already appeared as a sideman on some serious records, but Ready for Freddie (1962) is where he plants his flag as a leader. The band he assembled for this date is genuinely impressive. Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, Art Davis on bass, and Bernard McKinney on euphonium — that last choice alone tells you something about Hubbard's ambitions. The euphonium is an unusual color to bring into a hard bop session, and it gives the record a slightly different texture than you might expect from a Blue Note date of this era.
The playing throughout is sharp and engaged. Tyner and Jones together were near the peak of their work with John Coltrane at this point, and they bring that same intensity to Hubbard's compositions. Shorter fits in naturally — he was always good at adapting to a leader's vision without disappearing into the background. The title track moves with real momentum, and you can hear Hubbard pushing himself, going for longer lines and more harmonic risk than some of his earlier work. He does not always land cleanly, but that slight edge of ambition is part of what makes the record interesting.
This is a strong Blue Note hard bop album, not a revelation, but a genuinely good one. If you already know Hubbard's later work — say, his electric period — this is a useful corrective, a reminder of how clean and direct he could be when the context demanded it. The 2003 remaster added two alternate takes, which are worth hearing if you want to see how the band worked through the material. For anyone building out a Hubbard collection, this belongs in it.
Who's playing
Art Davisdouble bass
McCoy Tynerpiano
Wayne Shortertenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbardtrumpet
Elvin Jonesdrums
Kiane Zawadieuphonium
Where next?
More by Freddie Hubbard
All 13 albums →
The musicians on this record
Nights of Ballads & Blues 1963
McCoy Tyner
plays piano here
plays piano here
Speak No Evil 1965
Wayne Shorter
plays tenor saxophone here
plays tenor saxophone here
Dear John C. 1965
Elvin Jones
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
