Freddie Hubbard, widely regarded as the most gifted jazz trumpeter of the post-bebop ’60s and ’70s, died Monday at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Los Angeles. He was 70. The cause of death was attributed to complications from a heart attack he suffered November 26th, according to Dave Weiss, his longtime manager.

From the beginning, Hubbard’s playing was characterized by its strength and assurance, its capacity to roam confidently across the trumpet’s entire range, and his gift for spontaneous melodic invention.

He was barely out of his teens in the late 1950s and working with such established jazz figures as drummer Philly Joe Jones, trombonist Slide Hampton, saxophonist Sonny Rollins and composer/arranger Quincy Jones. His identification as an important new arrival gained him a Down Beat Critics Poll Award when he was in his early 20s.

Hubbard was capable of quickly grasping the subtleties as well as the specific elements of a startlingly wide range of stylistic areas, from the hard bop of his work with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers to the most avant-garde music of the decade.

Like many players in his generation, Hubbard was drawn to pop and rock interests in the ’70s and ’80s. In 1977 he toured with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams in the quasi-Miles Davis ensemble V.S.O.P. And he released a series of rock- and pop-oriented albums on the CTI label.

He received a Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2006. Hubbard is survived by his wife, Briggie, and his son, Duane.

[Source: latimes.com]

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