dreadpirateroberts Across a long career like Freddie Hubbard’s, where do all of the great albums fit that aren’t any better or worse than each other exactly? I often compare this album to ‘Hub Tones’ for some reason, though it’s closer in feel to his first two – it’s basically a good hard bop record.

Freddie Hubbard’s third has numbers that charge ahead (the title track and ‘Plexus’ come to mind) and the ballad or ballad-like piece – here the lovely ‘Cry Me Not’ – and combines them with a few pieces that are typical of the genre and not poor by any stretch, but not truly memorable either. Adding trombone to his line-up has filled out the band at times, but not resulted in any major shifts in sound. While the playing of Philly Joe Jones here is a standout (along with Hubbard who ought to be of course) the pieces don’t exactly stay with me. ‘Luana’ is a little different, though it begins to wear a little in the middle, whereas there’s a bit more swing to other pieces but once again, nothing much to make them standout. In fact, if it weren’t for the opening two and the superb ‘Plexus’ this Hubbard record wouldn’t seem as strong for me.

His next, ‘Ready for Freddie’ is a more distinctive set that demonstrates a little more spark when it comes to arrangement and solos, and reintroduces McCoy Tyner to the line-up, whose playing is always welcome.