Freddie Hubbard

Frederick “Freddie” Dwayne Hubbard (b. Indianapolis, April 7, 1938 – d. Sherman Oaks, California, December 29, 2008) – Trumpeter. After learning to play the mellophone and trumpet at Arsenal Tech High School, Hubbard moved to New York City in 1958 and played with J.J. Johnson and Slide Hampton (both from Indianapolis). After participating in the landmark Free Jazz album led by Ornette Coleman in 1960, Hubbard replaced Lee Morgan as trumpeter with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and also played on landmark recordings in the 1960s under John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and Herbie Hancock. Meanwhile, he led several of his own albums, mostly on Blue Note. In short, his fiery—yet traditional—approach made him a leading trumpet player in several sub styles including hard bop, free jazz, funky, and commercial. Lastly, he won a Grammy for First Light in 1972, when he was making albums in a more commercially oriented style. Although a serious lip injury in the early 1990s severely limited his performance activities in the last two decades, he recently attempted a comeback at age seventy. Only months after an appearance at the Indy Jazz Fest of 2008, he died of a heart attack on December 29, 2008.