FunkFreak75 Though Freddie had been collaborating for a couple of years with a group of musicians who dabbled with/ circulated on the fringes of the burgeoning Jazz-Rock "Fusion" scene--including Airto Moreira, Ron Carter, Ray Barretto, Jack DeJohnette, Hubert Laws, and, to a lesser degree, George Benson. Freddie's attempts at allowing more rock and electric elements into his stage and studio performances seemed hindered by his own allegiance to (and enjoyment of) more recent trends in jazz--like "hard bop" and "cool jazz." One problem was his relative aversion/avoidance to Latin influences like Afro-Cuban rumba and Brazilian bassa nova--two forms of popular jazz that had had huge influence in American music in the 1960s.Well, this album sees Freddie finally getting his foot in the door--thanks in no small part to his employment of Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira, and Ray Barretto--the former two of whom had been students/musicians with Miles and Carlos Santana and Joe Zawinul's Weather Report (Airto), the latter who had crossed over with the likes of Herbie Mann and Edgar Winter. This is the first album of Freddie's that I feel he has finally figured out how to fuse some of rock 'n' roll's innovations into his jazz music.

1. "Povo" (12:33) after an introductory extract from some man's speech the band enters, settling immediately into a somewhat funky laid-back groove for the solos of George Benson, Freddie, Hubert Laws, and Keith Jarrett (electric piano). A very pretty, engaging, and well-constructed grooving piece that I enjoy from start to finish despite its standard format of turn-taking alternating singular solos over the rhythm section. It's a good thing the basic rhythm track is so good. (22.75/25)

2. "In a Mist" (7:04) sounds like an old-time classic jazz piece with small acoustic combo and some side action big band horns. No infusion of rock (or anything else) here. Keith Jarrett's piano sounds to me like Thelonius Monk. I'm really not interested in old-time jazz, just Jazz-Rock Fusion. (12.75/15)

"Naturally" (5:53) (only available on the CD release) opens up sounding like the late-night musings of a band playing for the thinning crowd of mellowing lounge drinkers. Freddie steps it up a notch with the second verse--the rest of the all-acoustic band keeping up. Hubert Laws gets the second solo on one of his flutes, during which the horn section begins to show itself with gentle accents. Guitarist George Benson is next with his jazz guitar (sans vocal mirroring)--for which the horns and winds combine to provide some dreamy, gentle support. I'm not really into this song cuz I'm looking for Jazz-Rock Fusion, not jazz.(8.5/10)

3. "The Godfather (from the Paramount Motion Picture The Godfather)" (7:21) solo trumpet opens this one with a jazzy rendering of the well-known movie theme. Bassist Ron Carter gets the next shot--also tout seul--then pianist Keith Jarrett joins in and Ron steps into the support role as Billy Cobham's soft jazz drums (mostly brush and cymbal work) joins. Freddie returns to the lead as a bank clarinets add their support from the wings, later the horn banks. Keith Jarrett gets a nice solo in the sixth minute. Finishes off with a repeat of the solo trumpet opening. (8.5/10)

4. "Sky Dive" (7:40) a return to the world of electricity with a smooth, Latin-flavored song. Nice solos from Freddie (a really long one!), George Benson, Hubert Laws, and Keith Jarrett (again on electric piano) as well as really nice work from all of the support staff--especially Billy Cobham as well as some really smooth arrangements for horns and winds from Don Sebesky. (13.5/15)

Total time: 34:38

B/four stars; a very nice jazz album with a couple of fine Jazz-Rock Fusion songs (one funk-lite, the other Latin-lite).

FunkFreak75 The veteran trumpeter was getting on board the jazz-rock fusion train, here using a virtual who's who of proven J-R Fuse musicians in his recording sessions: Ron Carter, Bob James, Hubert Laws, George Benson, Airto.

I originally purchased this album because of the lineup of collaborating artists (I was hugely into Bob James, the Laws brothers, and Ron Carter during this period) but also cuz Freddy was covering two of my all-time favorite soul/R&B songs--both made famous by The Stylistics: "People Make the World Go Round" and "Bethca By Golly, Wow." The former of which Freddie made the best version of the song I've ever heard: here, on Polar AC.

Freddy had been notably trying some of the new rock-infusions on his previous albums from the early 1970s, but had been using his own or the studio's musicians to do so, and they just were't getting it. So, for Polar AC he called in some of the heavy hitters--musicians who had served time on the front lines: with Miles and Tony--including the three drummers here, Jack DeJohnette, Lenny White, and Billy Cobham and percussionist/drummer Airto Moreira.

1. "Polar AC" (6:57) a Cedar Walton tune covered with the help of Jack DeJohnette on drums. (13.125/15)

2. "People Make the World Go Round" (5:50) Lenny White is the drummer on this one. A personal favorite. (10/10)

3. "Betcha By Golly, Wow" (8:09) a good song that actually gets better when Freddie starts to take liberties with the melody lines. (13.5/15)

4. "Naturally" (5:52) a Cannonball Adderly song helped out by Billy Cobham. The song even sounds like a nostalgic look back into the post-My Favorite Things 1960s. Even Hubert Laws' flute feels so Sixties. Pleasant and melodic with very solid traditional jazz play (and sounds) from Freddie's supporting musicians. (8.875/10)

5. "Son of Sky Dive" (13:20) a reconditioning of the title song from one of Freddie's first attempts to foray into the Jazz-Rock Fusion idiom--a more latin rhythm form released in 1972 on which he used a lineup that included Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira, Ray Barretto, Ron Carter, Keith Jarrett, Hubert Laws, and George Benson. This one's better. Lenny White was pretty good, too. Sounds and plays out like "Love Connection Version 1." I absolutely LOVE Lenny White's drum play as well as Ron Carter's bass and keyboard support from George Gables. This is great modern-day jazz without collapsing into the quagmire of an abyss of "Smooth Jazz." (27.5/30)

A-/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of jazz-rock fusion.

FunkFreak75 At the time I was so into Chick Corea and had become a very recent fan of Al Jarreau. Plus, beautiful album cover. After buying the record it a was the amazing orchestration of Claus Ogerman that kept drawing me back in--the same man and lush sound that supported Diana Krall's work in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

1. The Love Connection" (8:17) Freddie Hubbard's trumpet has never ever sounded so good as this song. The amazingly air-tight groove from drummer Chester Thompson and electric bassist Stanley Clarke is amazing but then add Claus Ogerman's production values and the arrangement and recording of those amazing horns and you have a song foundation in which there's no way any performer could not be inspired to play their best! (19.5/20)

2. "Brigitte" (6:57) beautiful strings orchestra arrangement to open this one with double bass, piano, and sensitive jazz drums setting up Freddie for one amazingly beautifully tender performance: great melodies through the first two minutes before the tempo and dynamics jump a couple notches with walking bass line and accented drum and conga play. Nice to hear Chick's Vince Guraldi-like sound and solo in the fifth minute--and the way the horns take it back from him at the end of the sixth minute for a wonderful strings-supported recapitulation of the opening melodies to the end. (13.25/15)

3. "This Dream" (9:00) a Claus Ogerman composition, it opens with the orchestra's low end (horns) revealing the main melody followed by its repetition from the upper end (strings)and then Freddie joins in to give his phrasings. Very interesting interplay on this tense, almost-Wizard of Oz-feeling piece of ambiguity. I'm not sure if Claus and Freddie were able to resolve the tension before the jazz combo join in, but it was interesting to hear them try. Chick on piano, Chuck Damonico on double bass, and Chester Thompson on bare-bones brushed drum kit. Chick plays a nice sensitive solo in the seventh minute over the two rhythm instruments, then the orchestra swells and Chick goes Alice Coltrane glissando mode in order to clear the palette for Freddie and Claus to finish it off the way it started. A pleasant and engaging listen--very cinematic--reminding me of some old movie like Billy Wilder's The Apartment. (18/20)

4. "Little Sunflower" (9:20) strings, Chick, and Al Jareau, all at their absolute peak, One of my favorite jazz vocal songs of all-time. (20/20)

5. "Lazy Afternoon" (10:02) the title says it all: and that's just the way I felt as this album side would run its course: all hyped up and blissed out by Al Jarreau, Chick and Freddy's "Sunflower," I would just lay back into the lazy-haze of the adrenal fall and fall asleep to the dulcet breathy tones of Freddie's trumpet and Claus's cinematic orchestrations over the song's first four minutes. But then Chick and the jazz-rock combo join in--with Chuck's surprising funk bass and the saxophone's playing off of Freddie's trumpet spits, but, alas! It's short-lived as the music moves back to soft jazz in the eighth minute for an extended close with just Freddy and Claus' orchestra. But, how appropriate. Those final notes alone make it all so worthwhile! (17.75/20)

A/five stars; a masterpiece of funked up, mellowed down late 1970s pre-Smooth Jazz jazz-rock fusion. The rawness of the jazz-rock fusion that Tony Lifetime and Miles and Johnny Mac and Herbie the Headhunter and Carlos the Santana started has now been refined into what will soon become and be called "Smooth Jazz."

Mssr_Renard Because of all the famous records on Blue Note and the countless Jazz Messengers' albums, I have the feeling the Impulse-albums of Hubbard (this one and The Artistry of..) are kind of overlooked.

This one is a special record, not in the sense that it is out there, but it's just so perfectly crafted.

Here, Freddie's good friend and fellow-messenger Wayne Shorter arranged 6 of the 9 compositions for brass and even strings. Because Shorter is the leader, Freddie can focus on his solo, wich are a-plenty.

Also the featured musicians are wonderful, some great swinging drumming from Philly Jo Jones, some great soloing from yet another Messenger, Cedar Walton, there's even a manic alto-solo from Dolphy on Clarence Place.

All compositions are rather straight forward and easy to grasp, but it is all so beautifully arranged and played. It's not standard hardbop either, more a big band affair. Shorter and Hubbard, really show how good a duo they are. The production is very goofld aswell.

Steve Wyzard SUNSET SHADOWS

Let's address the elephant in the room right away: Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life album will always live in the shadow of its predecessor, Red Clay. There are those of us who believe this comparison is unfair, despite the two very different albums being recorded only 10 months apart. Yet as ground-breaking as the Red Clay album is, it's Straight Life that remains the far more awe-inspiring session of the two, even with its slightly shorter running time.

Straight Life gives us two long jams with an all-star group, and one classic ballad performed as a trio. As soon as you hear Freddie's trade-offs with Jack DeJohnette that open "Straight Life", you will know you're about to hear something special. The first big solo goes to Joe Henderson (tenor sax): a true 4-minute monster that will erase any doubt on whether he belongs among the all-time greats. Then it's Freddie's turn, before Herbie Hancock (banging away on electric piano), George Benson (guitar), and DeJohnette (drums) are given space to strut their stuff before Hubbard returns to wrap it all up. "Mr. Clean" has Hubbard and Henderson playing the main theme in tandem before and between everyone's solo spaces. This track moves and grooves more deliberately than the previous one, and Benson features more prominently. The album closes with a truly beautiful version of "Here's that Rainy Day". Hubbard and Benson duet before being joined by bassist Ron Carter, a truly memorable finish to a truly classic album (with no lost/missing tracks on subsequent re-issues).

So what's not to like? The critical orthodoxy will insist these songs are not compositions, but simply backdrops for soloing (as if that's a bad thing). Occasionally the musical textures (which also include a very busy percussionist, Richie Landrum) can become cluttered, but with all this firepower, why not use it? It was probably strongly suggested to Freddie that he make another Red Clay, but thankfully he didn't, and the jazz world is better for it. Hubbard's future CTI albums would add strings/horns/woodwinds (without Herbie Hancock), and just never be as downright masterful as Straight Life always will be.