Freddie Hubbard – “Pinnacle: from Keystone Korner”
Resonance Records
-out now
4.5 / 5
Wow. Let’s just say that first. One of the most blazing jazz trumpeters in the history of the music comes back from the vaults with this posthumous live release from San Fran. Next, let’s get this out of the way: the sound quality is maybe 3.5/5. It’s recorded live, some 30 years old. Get over it. Now, onto the juice of the matter: Pinnacle is pure gold. We don’t feature jazz often enough, and Hubbard blasts through with “The Intrepid Fox,” tearing a veritable hole in our eardrums – in a good, earth-shattering way – and simply does not relent. The weakest one here is probably “First Light,” which is our favorite studio Hubbard release, and we’d probably put it at a mere four stars, mostly because the album version is still favored. But enough nitpicking: if you’re looking to get into some serious jazz trumpetition, this is an excellent album to get you started on the Hubbard discography. More importantly, this concert MUST be in your Hubbard collection, and we’re not kidding; it’s no watered-down sad handful of songs. Get it, enjoy it, grow to love it more than your significant other. Highly recommended