Freddie Hubbard – Breaking Point: Blue Note Tone Poet Series (180g Vinyl LP)

All-Analog 180g Vinyl LP of Freddie Hubbard’s Breaking Point! Mastered from the Original Master Tapes by Kevin Gray & Pressed at RTI: Reference-Caliber Blue Note Reissue Helmed by Music Matters’ Joe Harley

Despite having performed on several of the most revolutionary avant-garde jazz records of the 1960s, including Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz and John Coltrane’s Ascension, Freddie Hubbard’s own albums tended to hew closer to the mainstream. Perhaps no other single album captures the trumpeter’s awe-inspiring breadth of ability and versatility than Breaking Point!, which was recorded in May 1964 shortly after Hubbard had departed Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in order to form his own band. On this 6-song set featuring 5 of Hubbard’s original compositions, his new quintet – with James Spaulding on alto saxophone and flute, Ronnie Mathews on piano, Eddie Khan on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums – moves assuredly across vast stylistic terrain. On the stunning title track alone the band shifts from free-form exploration into a playful Calypso and back with ease. The rest of the program traverses modal jazz (“Far Away”), the blues (“Blue Frenzy”), and stunningly beautiful balladry (Chambers’ “Mirrors”) to create one of the more remarkable albums in Hubbard’s formidable Blue Note oeuvre.

Musicians:
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet
James Spaulding, alto saxophone & flute
Ronnie Mathews, piano
Eddie Khan, bass
Joe Chambers, drums

Features:
• Blue Note Tone Poet Series
• Curated by Music Matters co-founder Joe Harley
• Audiophile-quality 180g vinyl LP
• All-analog mastering (direct from the master tapes) by Kevin Gray
• Manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated
• Deluxe gatefold jacket packaging

1. Breaking Point
2. Far Away
3. Blue Frenzy
4. D Minor Mint
5. Mirrors