Hub Cap (album)

Hub Cap is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and was released on the Blue Note label in 1961 as BLP 4073 and BST 84073. It features performances by Hubbard, Julian Priester, Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton, Larry Ridley and Philly Joe Jones.

Hub Cap
Studio album by Freddie Hubbard
Released	October 1961[1]
Recorded	April 9, 1961
Studio	Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre	Jazz
Length	42:21
Label	Blue Note BST 84073
Producer	Alfred Lion
Freddie Hubbard chronology
Goin' Up (1960) Hub Cap (1961) Ready for Freddie (1962)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[3]

The pieces

The album's title originates from Hubbard's nickname. The track "Cry Me Not", composed by Randy Weston for the session and arranged by Melba Liston, was considered by Hubbard to be "the most interesting tune on the record". "Luana" is dedicated to Hubbard's niece, whilst "Osie Mae" – a title which sounded "funky" to Hubbard – is characterized by an A-B-A-B pattern. "Earmon Jr.", composed by Hubbard and arranged by Ed Summerlin, was named for Hubbard's brother, a pianist.^[4]

Reception

Reviewing the album for The Guardian in 2003, British jazz critic John Fordham wrote:

From Hubbard's opening solo on the flying, boppish title track, which crackles with his trademark urgency, crisp, flaring sound and hell-for-leather attack, the music throws you back into a jazz era when the muscular dynamism of hard-bop was at the sharp end of a still commercially popular jazz.

Jimmy Heath's tenor sax has a dry loquacity, and drummer Philly Joe Jones sustains a constant push and chatter of hi-hat snaps, swishing cymbal caresses and rimshot rattles. And for all the idiom's prevailing speediness, it's the pulsating warmth of the arrangement and Hubbard's balance of spaciousness and fitfully unleashed power on Randy Weston's rhapsodic "Cry Me Not" that is a particular highlight of a memorable set.^[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Freddie Hubbard, except as indicated

1. "Hub Cap" – 5:17
2. "Cry Me Not" (Randy Weston) – 4:49
3. "Luana" – 10:04
4. "Osie Mae" – 6:53
5. "Plexus" (Cedar Walton) – 9:02
6. "Plexus" [alternate take] (Walton) – 9:10 (1988 Capitol CD re-release only)
7. "Earmon Jr." – 6:16

Personnel

• Freddie Hubbard – trumpet
• Julian Priester – trombone
• Jimmy Heath – tenor saxophone
• Cedar Walton – piano
• Larry Ridley – bass
• Philly Joe Jones – drums

Technical personnel

• Alfred Lion – producer
• Rudy Van Gelder – recording
• Francis Wolff – cover photo
• Reid Miles – cover design