FREDDIE HUBBARD — High Energy

Jazz music community with discographies, reviews and forums

FREDDIE HUBBARD - High Energy cover
4.42 | 3 ratings | 1 review
Buy this album from MMA partners

Album · 1974

Filed under Funk Jazz
By FREDDIE HUBBARD

Tracklist

A1 Camel Rise 6:23
A2 Black Maybe 4:58
A3 Baraka Sasa 10:29
B1 Crisis 5:44
B2 Ebony Moonbeams 6:55
B3 Too High 6:37

Line-up/Musicians

Bass – Kent Brinkley
Clavinet, Organ – Joe Sample
Conductor, Arranged By – Dale Oehler
Congas – King Errisson
Drums – Ralph Penland
Electric Piano – George Cables
Flute, Tenor Saxophone – Junior Cook
Guitar – Dean Parks
Percussion – Victor Feldman
Synthesizer [Arp] – Ian Underwood
Timbales – Carmello Garcia
Trombone – Dick Hyde, George Bohanon
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Freddie Hubbard

About this release

Columbia – KC 33048 (US)

Recorded completely live at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, CA, April 29-May 2, 1974

Thanks to snobb for the addition and JS for the updates



Buy FREDDIE HUBBARD - HIGH ENERGY music

FREDDIE HUBBARD HIGH ENERGY reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

No FREDDIE HUBBARDHIGH ENERGY reviews posted by specialists/experts yet.

Members reviews

FunkFreak75
Employing pretty much the same lineup as the previous album, Freddie decided to try his luck with a new record company (Columbia)--even going so far as taking his band to the West Coast to record the next album.

Line-up / Musicians: - Freddie Hubbard / trumpet, flugelhorn - Kent Brinkley / bass - Joe Sample / clavinet, organ - Dale Oehler / conductor, arranged by - King Errisson / congas - Ralph Penland / drums - George Cables / electric piano - Junior Cook / flute, tenor saxophone - Dean Parks / guitar - Victor Feldman / percussion - Ian Underwood / synthesizer [Arp] - Carmello Garcia / timbales - Harvey Mason / drums (A2, B1) - Ernie Watts / flutes (A1, B3), soprano sax (B2) - Dick Hyde / trombone solo (B1) - Pete Christleib / sax solo (B3) Trombones: Dick Hyde, George Bohanon

A1. "Camel Rise" (6:23) long sustained notes issued from Freddie and his horn section open this before a SANTANA-like wide assortment of collaborators jump into the fray. The expanded lineup and sound palette on this George Cables song sounds great: again, very SANTANA-like--even allowing for some funky wah-wah guitar and keyboard soloing over the percussion-rich rhythm section. Kent Brinkley does a fine job handling the bass duties on his own (on the previous album he was supported/doubled up by veteran Ron Carter--who was expressing more and more his distaste for the electric bass, his preference for the good old stand-up double bass) and the multiple keyboards and multiple horns playing a little more loosely than in standard big band formation. Nice Latin flavors like a Herb Alpert, Eumir Deodato, or Burt Bacharach easy listening tune even though the palette is so busy and full. (9.125/10) A2. "Black Maybe" (4:58) a late night contemplative tune (originally penned by Steve Wonder for his then-wife's 1972 album, Syreeta) that presents minimal support from bass, synth, and percussion and beautiful melodic flugelhorn play from Freddie. One of his most deeply connecting performances. With George Cables' Fender Rhodes play this could very well have been the template Vanegelis was using when creating "Blade Runner Blues" for the Blade Runner original soundtrack--and certainly the palette that Jack Elliott and The "New American Orchestra" (called "The Big 'O'" for its existence as the music producer for The Academy Awards ceremonies for 30 years) used for their Warner Brothers Studios-sanctioned version of the same song that they covered in order to produce the first public release of Blade Runner soundtrack-inspired music, which was published in 1982. (Vangelis did not release his own "official" OST until 1994 and his preferred "Final Cut" version in 2007.) Nice orchestration by David Oehler. (9.33333/10)

A3. "Baraka Sasa" (10:29) an awesome theatric opening on this Freddie Hubbard original leads into a funky DEODATO-like mid-speed motif that fully-displayed the multiple keyboards (clavinet, synths, Fender Rhodes), complex arrangements for the professional horn section, and fully-stocked percussion section. This awesome groove provides the support for some cool experimental trumpet soloing in which Freddie and his engineers play with some long delay, echo, and slow-fade effects--all the while a outer-spacey synth oscillates its tone like someone searching the radio for stations using their old hand dial. Big kudos to bassist Kent Brinkley, conga player King Errisson, Joe Sample's clavinet work, and Ralph Penland's drumming as well as Ian Underwood's spacey ARP play and Freddie's trumpeting. A very tight and well-performed high-quality composition even if the chorus comes up short in terms of hooking the listener. (18.25/20)

B1. "Crisis" (5:44) this song--which is another Freddie Hubbard original--is funky and sassy with Kent Brinkley's bass, Joe Sample's clavinet, Ralph Penland's drumming, and Dean Parks' amazing rhythm guitar work. Dale Oehler's orchestra contribution is also significant (though I think the song would be better off without the orchestral strings) (the horns are great), and Freddie and Junior Cook take full advantage of the mood and encouragement to produce some great solos. (9/10)

B2. "Ebony Moonbeams" (6:55) the album's second George Cables composition proves to be a sophisticated Latin-jazz tune with several tempo, stylistic, and motif changes throughout its seven minute length. The flow and suite-like feel are interesting and admirable but, like a lot of the George Cables melody making that I've heard, his gift for creating major melodic hooks is in the middling range. It's pleasant enough but it's nothing special enough to write home about. (13.333/15)

B3. "Too High" (6:37) another cover of a Stevie Wonder song (from Innervisions). It's funky, and jazzy with its horn arrangements, but the bass line, drum, percussion, and horn hits, for me, completely loose the staccato "punch" power that Stevie's original had. I like Freddie's solo work--both the experimental sound effect use and the straightforward play--but the rest is, for me, just missing the mark--and the only other soloists are sax players Junior Cook and Pete Christleib, in the middle. (8.75/10)

Total time: 41:06

Freddie is definitely on board with a full and serious commitment to sophisticated Jazz-Rock Fusion--and he's definitely got the funk working on all ofthise songs.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of peak era Jazz-Rock Fusion.

Ratings only

  • Mssr_Renard
  • vfloriao

Write/edit review

You must be logged in to write or edit review

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson : IA11 Edition Jazz Related Improv/Composition
CARLOS NIÑO & FRIENDS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Jacques Schwarz-Bart / Grégory Privat : 22 Post Bop
JACQUES SCHWARZ-BART
Buy this album from MMA partners
Landscape Fusion
SOUND ODISSEY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lazy Afternoon Fusion
SOUND ODISSEY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Committed Soul Jazz
RAPHAEL WRESSNIG
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Dlo Pann
JACQUES SCHWARZ-BART
snobb· 15 hours ago
Where Do We Go From Here
ATLANTIC JAZZ COLLECTIVE
js· 4 days ago
Mount Meander - Swung
MOUNT MEANDER
js· 4 days ago
JUICE
BERNELL JONES II
js· 4 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us