The story behind puzzle No. 50
Freddie Hubbard · Red Clay · CTI · 1970
Hard bop meets electric piano. Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay helped set the sound for a whole record label.
Freddie Hubbard recorded Red Clay in January 1970 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, for CTI. He wrote the title track.
The band is Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone and flute, Herbie Hancock on electric piano and organ, Ron Carter on bass and Lenny White on drums.
Writer Bill Milkowski said the album defined Hubbard's direction for the next decade and set the template for future CTI recordings.
Critic Thom Jurek called it Freddie Hubbard's finest moment as a leader.
The track opens with a long, loose introduction before the groove locks in. Listen to Hancock's electric piano, a sound that was still new in jazz.
Hubbard's solo is bright and fiery, then Henderson follows with a darker, twisting tenor line.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Hubbard, Hancock and Carter also play on Maiden Voyage (puzzle No. 34), recorded five years earlier.
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