Life Flight (album) explained

Life Flight
Type:Album
Artist:Freddie Hubbard
Cover:Life Flight (album).jpg
Released:1987
Recorded:January 23–24, 1987
Genre:Jazz
Length:42:23
Label:Blue Note
Producer:Michael Cuscuna
Chronology:Freddie Hubbard
Prev Title:Double Take
Prev Year:1985
Next Title:The Eternal Triangle
Next Year:1987

Life Fight is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, recorded in January 1987 and released on the Blue Note label. It features performances by Hubbard, Larry Willis, Stanley Turrentine, George Benson, and Ralph Moore.

Reception

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states:

This CD captures the great trumpeter Freddie Hubbard at the age of 48 just before he began to decline. Hubbard is heard in excellent shape on two selections apiece with two separate bands... Overall this set (from an era when the veteran trumpeter was being overshadowed by Wynton Marsalis) gives listeners one of the last opportunities to hear Freddie Hubbard in peak form".
Written shortly after the album's release, Los Angeles Times jazz reviewer Leonard Feather's assessment was somewhat more mixed:
In this Janus-faced album, Side 1 is another "Let's get Freddie to do something commercial" venture. He has been that route (and abandoned it) several times before, but on this occasion, with George Benson and Stanley Turrentine as guests, it comes off inoffensively. Side 2, with the trumpeter leading a straight-ahead quintet in two of his own works, achieves a splendid level of Hubbard heat in the title tune; after the placebo of Side 1, it's potent medicine. 3 1/2 stars.

Track listing

  1. Battlescar Galorica 8:48
  2. A Saint's Homecoming Song 11:20
  3. The Melting Pot 9:10
  4. Life Flight 13:05

Personnel