Freddie Hubbard
Red Clay

After "Out to Lunch" and "Speak no Evil," but before "Headhunters" and "Spectrum," there is "Red Clay," the same year as "Bitches Brew." Yes, in 1970. For Freddie Hubbard, as well as for jazz in general, it's time to change. After having made his mark as one of the best hard bop trumpeters of his time, electric sounds and soul-funk begin to dilute his compositions, producing a work of great class, in my opinion among the best of the era.

We're not talking about a lightning bolt out of the blue that only Mr. Miles knew how to unleash, nor a musically "developed" work compared to what the destiny of the '70s genre deployed soon after. But let's be clear: there are no journeys to the brink of psychedelia as in "Bitches Brew" with its electric forays, nor jazz-funk orgies like in "Headhunters." The tracks stand in the middle of the revolution. However, it's a rather quiet version of the revolution presented here, remaining musically anchored in the past without excessive experimentation like others. The unpredictability of classic jazz remains, but it now enjoys a structure made of driving rhythms, with endless loops of drum-bass (electric) and piano solos (also electric) played by an Hancock who won't think twice about reprising music clearly inspired by Red Clay a couple of years later.

Who's playing? Besides Hubbard and the already mentioned Hancock, here you'll also find Ron Carter, Lenny White (recruited the same year by Davis), Joe Henderson, and serving in live performances, Billy Cobham.

A historically important album, and with great music that jazz lovers surely already know.