Freddie Hubbard 1938-2008

TRUMPET HEAVYWEIGHT PASSES AWAY

Jazz legend Freddie Hubbard passed away in Sherman Oaks Hospital on December 29, 2008 in Sherman Oaks California at the age of 70. The cause of death was complications of a heart attack he suffered on November 26.

David Weiss, his longtime manager, arranger and producer who also organized and played trumpet in Hubbard’s last band, The New Jazz Composers Octet, recalls “He played faster, longer, higher and with more energy than any other trumpeter of his era.”

The fiery trumpeter, composer and NEA Jazz Master help define jazz in the 1960’s. He played with artists John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Bobby Hutcherson, Oliver Nelson, Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner and countless others. Hubbard also recorded on over 300 albums as a leader and sideman with an imposing solo legacy on such storied labels as Impulse!, Blue Note, Atlantic and CTI Records, where he had his biggest success with the album Red Clay. He later recorded for Columbia, Elektra, MPS, Music Masters, Telarc, Enja and Hip Bop Records, where he made his final album, On the Real Side, released June 24, 2008.

Frederick DeWayne Hubbard (born April 7, 1938) in Indianapolis is survived by his wife of 35 years, Briggie Hubbard and his son Duane. Funeral services are pending. A memorial tribute in New York is in the works.