dreadpirateroberts Hubbard’s Columbia releases are more hit and miss when compared to his early hard bop peaks or his CTI output. For Taylor, he made classics like ‘First Light’ and ‘Red Clay’ which hint quite strongly where he’d end up by the mid 70s and after – up until his hard bop return in the 1980s that is – but here sadly, some of the snap and inventiveness is missing.

‘Liquid Love’ seems to occupy a space between his early CTI records and a pop-funk album with occasional hard bop solos, in some ways making for predictable 70s-era fusion. That’s not really a huge problem, it’s more so the relatively few highlights and the diffused effect that results. While his early 1970s work could easily incorporate its range of influences into a cohesive body, ‘Liquid Love’ doesn’t seem to manage the same feat. The pop cover, Maria Muldaur's ‘Midnight Oasis’ is slick but the rhythm section doesn’t really fire up even when Hubbard does, and the title track overstays its running time (despite sounding a little like a sped-up remake of ‘First Light’). ‘Put it in the Pocket’ is a little punchier and the group vocals are fun enough but I personally missed having one of Hubbard’s wonderful ballads on ‘Liquid Love’ and while ‘Yesterday’s Thoughts’ approaches that territory, the synthesiser clashes with the mood his trumpet attempts to create.

The best piece on the album has been saved for the end. ‘Kuntu’ is an African, reverb-laced fusion feast, where the band gets to display some more fire, as opposed to the fairly comfortable funk they mostly play prior. An oddly effective blend of space-hints and Latin jazz, it’s the song I return to the most, with a fantastic groove and some wilder soloing from Hubbard and band. George Gables’ keys are also given more of the spotlight on this track, with its slight Bitches Brew feel and general aggression.

How to sum this album up? Not every piece here is forgettable, but neither are individual songs going to rival his best work. If you’re a fan of the lighter blend of funk and jazz fusion then you’ll still enjoy this. However, if you’re interested in sticking to albums by Hubbard that manage a simultaneous artistic and creative highlight, then don’t rush out to find a copy of ‘Liquid Love’ just yet.

Sean Trane Like most jazz legends that had to delve in jazz-rock and fusion, Hubbard jumped some months later than Miles did, but if this didn’t make them groundbreakers, they were still consolidating the new genre’s foundations. This album’s cast features some jazz giants like Cables, Randall, Rainey or Webb, but also some pop-rock or fusion names like Ian Underwood (Zappa) or Johnny Guitar Watson, to name just those two. Actually, when being familiar with FH’s discography, taking seriously this album is a bit hard, because of the weird (and ill-fitting) fantasy artwork, but never mind that, because LL is an outstanding JR/F album, even if it comes a tad later than Byrd’s Ethiopian Knights or his own Straight Life. But by the time of this album’s release, both had evolved into more commercial areas, while Freddie was still Hubba-rding around red hot fusion. One of the constant traits on the present album is the use (sometimes nearing abuse) of string synths, but it’s kind of a era signature, but certainly not too cumbersome.

Well the album opens on the soft Midnight At The Oasis, a reprise I think, where the synth string layers are adding a certain dimension, until the outstanding middle section kicks in, with Hubbard’s trumpet is underlined by Watson & Parker’s funky guitars. The following ultra-funky Put In The Pocket is the only sung track (well chorus lines-only) and a co-composition between Hubbard and Randall, but does it ever smoke. Ending the A-side is a 12-mins+ Lost Dreams, a Cables composition, where Underwood’s Minimoog give a few discreet twitches of genius for extra flavour, especially once the middle section kicks in. Cables’ Clavinet solo is simply astounding, but once Randall’s sax comes in, he unloads a ton of spine chills down you speaker cones that you simply stuck to edge of your seat, before the track shifts into a 100mph speed and Hubba-Hubba’s trumpet drives the final nail through your coffin, to wake you up and then, almost definitely, finish you off. Awesome stuff, really!!

The album closes on the spectacular (or should I say: auracular?) 13-mins+ Kunta piece, which opens on a delightful intro, then goes through a multitude of moods and climates, where Hubbard bugle soars like an eagle over the incredible soundscapes laid out by Rainey’s awesome bass bed, Clark’s excellent congas and cowbells, Webb’s awesome drumming. Not totally unlike Santana’s Caravanserai. The piece is interrupted by a conga solo (unlike drum solo, they’re often entertaining if not too long), and once the bass comes back in, one cannot help but being overwhelmed by the finale’s solemnity.

While an unjustly under-estimated album of Hubbard, LL is probably one of the most consistent and even album he ever made, regardless of the styles he went in. Much recommended is you like your fusion to come with huge layers of moleten magma flowing from your speakers.