Customer Reviews

Open Sesame

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It's 1960. Freddy Hubbard still looks like a teen-ager. It's his first feature recording. His sidemen? An unknown pianist named McCoy Tyner (who would become Coltrane's accompanist, one of the great keyboard stylists). For tenor, try the new kid from North Carolina, Tina Brooks, who sounds like a reborn Lester Young. Delighted with their invitation to record for Blue Note, they blow fresh and clear with no pretension, and probably have no idea they're making a classic.

This set is deftly re-mastered by the great Rudy Van Gelder. Buy it NOW if you care about modern jazz or even about history. The blowing is tight, passionate yet cool. It shimmers with an innocence all too fragile, since Tina Brooks would self-destruct after only a handful of recordings and Hubbard would never find such clarity and lightness again. Brooks' compositions ('Open Sesame' and 'Gypsy Blue') are eloquent bop structures based in the blues with a Horace Silver tinge. They're destined to enter the canon of great bop recordings. Of no less merit is the funky Rudolph Toombs composition, 'One Mint Julip'. Hubbard's own 'Hub & Nub' gets a sharp treatment, as good as any later version. And the two ballads ('But Beautiful', 'All Or Nothing At All') are treated with maturity and lyricism. This CD has alternate takes of Brooks' compositions, as finely crafted as the other two versions.

We have an important addition to the canon of classic bebop here, no less beautiful for its youth and innocence. Right up there with Lee Morgan's 'Sidewinder' and Hancock's 'Takin' Off.' Rarely does such rediscovery come to us! And if you're a tenor sax player like me, here's a precious footnote to the short tragic history of Tina Brooks, who would have been a titan had he stayed this fresh and avoided the addictions that ruined so many of his troubled generation.

You like tight? Listen to this exceptional session led by a trumpet player who receives nowhere near the recogition he richly deserves. This is absolutely a gem of release. Thank you Kenny Mathieson for turning me onto it in your "Hard Bop..." book.

There is not one filler on this CD. The overall work is brilliant: Hubbard is supurb; young McCoy Tyner shows why he would rise to the hights he has, Tina Brooks is as great here, if not better, than he is on the excellent Blue Note sessions he led; and Sam Jones and Clifford Jarvis are a perfect fit.

Listen to "One Mint Julep," you'll want another right away.

"Open Sesame" is, without a doubt, Hubbards best work for bluenote. His tone is clear and he gets the fullest sound out of his instrument. If there ever was a straight ahead Hardbop album recorded, this is it. The way Hubbard picked his sidemen, you can tell that he knew what he was doing, for example there is Tina Brooks with the sharp puncturing sound, McCoy Tyner with the swift technical fluidity, Sam Jones with the big beautiful sound, and Clifford jarvis with hard penetrating drive. Sometimes it seems that the sidemen are overshadowed by their brilliant leader yet they get their fair share too. The title track, which alternates between latin-samba and swing, has a catchy melody and has incredible solos from Freddie an Brooks. The real cooker, though, is the fiery version of the standard "All or nothing at all". Harold "Tina" Brooks was another unsung bluenote genius who lived much to short to gain any real recognition. Though this session belongs to Hubbard, without Brooks, Tyner, Jones, and Jarvis, it wouldn't be half as good as it is. "Open Sesame" is a killer session. Any fan of jazz should have this one.

Hubbard's first session as a leader is one of my favorites from the 60's Blue Note era. This recording along with a few from Hank Mobley really define what the Blue Note hard bop sound was all about. Thankfully it's been re-released as part of the Rudy Van Gelder series (which BTW is one of the greatest things to happen to jazz in the last few years). The enthusiasm Hubbard shows was characteristic of a lot of the young blowers at that time, but his maturity was something you didn't see in artists his age. Definitely an indication that a new talent with unlimited potential had landed.

This is a great starting point if you're just starting to listen to Freddie Hubbard. Add to that the fact that the criminally under-recorded Tina Brooks is present on sax makes this a must have cd. Once you get this you'll also want "Hub-Tones" and "Goin'Up" and then get Mobley's "Roll Call", whose first horn you hear on that recording is, you guessed it, Freddie Hubbard's.

Freddie Hubbard's first album as a leader, "Open Sesame," was originally released in the States on CD in the late 80s only to be deleted quickly thereafter by numbers crunchers at Capitol. This was truly a shame because this album is one of Hubbard's great recordings, and one of the classic titles in all jazz from the early 60s. Thank goodness wiser heads prevailed and "Open Sesame" has been rissued in the RVG series. Freddie shows remarkable musical maturity and sophistication for someone who was only 22 at the time of this June 1960 session. The quintet for this date is the unheralded Tina Brooks on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Sam Jones on bass, Clifford Jarvis on drums, and of course Hub on trumpet. Recorded just 6 days before Tina Brooks' masterpiece "True Blue," "Open Sesame" features a similar style and flavor to that great recording. And that's not surprising, considering the personnel for both albums was similar (the only changes were Duke Jordan on piano instead of Tyner and Art Taylor on drums instead of Jarvis), and Brooks contributed most of the original compositions for both sessions. On "Open Sesame," Brooks has authored the disc's first three tunes, the title track, "But Beautiful" and "Gypsy Blue," while Freddie only contributes one, the concluding "Hub's Nub." The album also features two standards, the lovely ballad "All Or Nothing At All" and the R&B tinged "One Mint Julep." "Open Sesame" was a lead-off home run for a trumpeter who has had a four decade long career filled with hall of fame moments.

Open Sesame is Freddie Hubbard's standout debut as a leader on Blue Note. Enlisting the help of the underrated Tina Brooks on tenor (who wrote "Open Sesame", "But Beautiful", and "Gypsy Blue"), as well as McCoy Tyner on piano, Clifford Jarvis on drums, and Sam Jones on bass. Freddie sounds amazing here, especially considering this was his first session assuming the leadership mantle. Brooks is fabulous as well and his three compositions shape the overall flavor of the album. "Open Sesame" and "Gypsy Blue" have some Eastern tinges and "But Beautiful" is an elegant ballad. "All or Nothing at All" is a fast paced version of the standard. The group turns in a funky performance of "One Mint Julep" before turning to Freddie's one contribution, the swinging "Hub's Nub", offering a brief glimpse at Hubbard's future contributions to the jazz lexicon. The RVG edition includes alternate takes of "Gypsy Blue" and "Open Sesame". This is a great album, well worth checking out.

It'd be hard to find a funkier version of "One Mint Julep" out there. These men were incredible. The rest of the CD is a bonus to Julep. I'm on the prowl for the Tina Brooks box set next. And remember that this is the same McCoy Tyner that would record with the Jazztet this same year. And then became Coltrane's pianest. Tyner's 1960 work would be a career for most.

I have mixed feeling about Freddie Hubbard.No doubt full of talent hi Blue Note albums were not as exciting as either Morgan's or Byrd's IMHO.He had some great Lp from many era's from "Body And Soul" on Impulse to "Backlash" on Atlantic.But other than "Ready For Freddie" I am hard pressed to think among all the Lp's from Blue Note ones which blew me away the way this one did.And there's a reason.The great tragic figure Tina Brooks wrote all but one of the tunes.Great band.Great record.'Nuff said this time.
Peace
Chazz

From the magnificent Rudy Van Gelder Edition is jazz brilliance at its greatest! In his early days, Freddie Hubbard had a pure sound and brilliant timing. He is without peer on this cd. Tina Brooks was the hottest tenor sax around in the 50's and 60's. McCoy Tyner, a reknown jazz pianist, is still a giant today in the jazz world. Sam Jones, a bassist who was in big demand in the mid-50's to early 60's can't be beat. And the drummer, Clifford Jarvis, equally as fine as the others, adds color and texture to the Latin songs. If you love Freddie Hubbard or just fine jazz from the early 60's, latch on to these infectious songs.

Freddie Hubbard's inaugural record as a leader is also the first in series of stellar, stellar records he put out on Blue Note in the '60s. Just an amazingly vital run.

There's only one original composition on the set (Hub's Nub) but it is a scorcher.

The lineup on Hubbard's records would improve as time went on (especially the drum slot) but start at the beginning and get a taste of what was to come.