Junior Cook (tenor sax), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), George Cables (electric piano), Kent Brinkley (bass), Ralph Penland (drums) and Juno Lewis (percussion). From the album Keep Your Soul Together (1973).
This album is the fifth one that Freddie Hubbard recorded for the CTI label. The music is sometimes funky, but always within the field of jazz with Hubbard in his time of maximum splendor. It’s a delicious jewel at the end of Hubbard’s stay with CTI that usually goes unnoticed due to the great success of his three previous works. However, Keep Your Soul Together contains all the best electric jazz from the early 1970s with brilliant moments.
Hubbard already had enough experience to invite the other musicians to enjoy the trip with him. In addition, George Cables also participates, whose spectacular way of playing the electric piano is like a warm breeze that gives rhythm to the album supporting the soloists in an extraordinary way. “Brigite” is dedicated to his wife and “Spirits of Trane” and “Destiny’s Children” are a challenge at tremendous speed proving that these CTI sessions of the early 1970s are important contributions to the world of jazz.
This is a beautiful ballad with a soft introduction performed by the rhythm section. Then Hubbard exposes its exquisite melody with extreme delicacy showing his deepest feelings. Afterwards follows a passage in which the group plays with enthusiasm and energy, and after calming down, Hubbard makes a well-conceived solo by choosing the notes carefully and creating inspired phrases. The next to intervene is Cables with the velvety sound of his electric piano offering a fluid and consistent speech that he develops with imagination. To conclude, the group re-exposes the theme with the same warmth as at the beginning.
© CTI Records
