JAZZED MAGAZINE                      Issue Date: 2009, March

Remembering Freddie!

Indianapolis, Indiana is one of the many cities in the United States with a vibrant and fertile 20th Century jazz legacy. It has produced some of the finest and
leading historic progenitors of Jazz as an art form. The musical talent that
has emerged from "Naptown" includes the likes of Noble Sissle, Wes,
Monk and Buddy Montgomery, J. J. Johnson, Leroy Vinnager, Carl Perkins,
"Pookie" Johnson and Jimmy Coe.

Frederick (Freddie) Dwayne Hubbard walked among these giants. Known for his fiery sound and kinetic energy, this Indiana
native son passed on December 29, 2008. He leaves his indelible mark on
everyone who knew, admired and loved him, and above all on the music. Fellow
"Naptown" musicians who grew up with him and watched him evolve
from a "Jazz Contemporary", to a "Jazz Messenger" and
ultimately an NEA Jazz Master have joined together to remember this Indiana
jazz legend. Read on to learn about Freddie the Man from his brother and some
of his closest friends.

Earmon Hubbard, Jr., Pianist

"Freddie was my baby brother who I can still see as clearly as if he were here talking with me now. I loved him and will miss him. My Mother would get on me sometimes for
being hard on him when I would play chords on the piano and he wasn't getting
it. I would slap him on the back of his head and Momma would tell me to leave
her baby alone. Years later, he came back to Indianapolis and I played a jazz club gig
with Freddie, Larry Ridley, Jim Spaulding and Clifford Jarvis. I will always
treasure the experience of playing with those guys. It was a highlight in my
life. Freddie grew very quickly and I am proud that he is my brother. He
tried for several years to get me to come to New York but, I was married with several
children. I told him that it was important for me and my wife to raise our
kids in Indianapolis.
Freddie told me that he respected me as a strong man for putting my family
first and turning down an opportunity to pursue a career in music. He left an
outstanding recorded legacy for all of us to enjoy."

James Spaulding, Saxophonist and Flautist

"There is so much to remember about this wild and gifted free spirit. We all are inspired, sharing some of his life. My life is musically richer because of the
"Hub". Larry Ridley pulled us together to form the Jazz Contemporaries
when we were teenagers. I will remember the "Hub" because of the
abundance of his God given talents, much like the natural musical talents of
the Montgomery Brothers. I first heard and met Freddie at a Saturday
afternoon jam session. It was at a bar called the Cotton Club. I believe
"Hub" was 16 years old at the time. He had a sound somewhere
between Clifford Brown and Miles. Already an outstanding player, we all knew
he was destined for stardom. He learned his piano skills from his older
brother Earmon Jr., who was self taught by listening to Bud Powell
recordings. "Hub" listened to his brother playing chords and
developed perfect pitch that I believe was God given. A true Aries, Freddie
had a fiery personality. He was an outgoing spirit, energetic, very funny and
loving. Although we were not always in harmony, I have nothing but love for
my friend. His gift to our lives helped pave another path to a future of
love, peace and harmony. WORLD PEACE!"

Lee Katzman, Trumpeter

"Freddie was a young teenaged friend who evolved to become a truly important stylistic Jazz innovator. I was the person in the mid 1950s that introduced and encouraged
him to study with my teacher Max Woodbury of the Indianapolis Symphony
Orchestra. Max would insist that you practice slowly playing several octaves
and make each note match each other with the same measured even tone, breath,
time and consistency. He would chastise you if you made a mistake. This aided
Freddie in developing his control and technique in all registers of the horn.
You hear this in Freddie's recorded performances. He was a special guy who
will be missed. Thank God we have his recorded legacy to reminisce our
personal relationship with him."

Phil Ranelin, Trombonist

"I first met Freddie Hubbard in 1948 at a place called Hill Community Center while we were
attending grade school in Indianapolis,
Indiana. Freddie was about 10
years old and I was 8. In the spring of 1951 we performed together in an
orchestra that was called the Indianapolis All City Orchestra, a collective
of elementary school kids that showed the most promise on their respective
instruments. Freddie and I hit it off pretty well despite the fact that my
school, P.S. 37 and his school, P.S. 26 were heated rivals. Our next musical
encounter was when we were both attending Arsenal Technical
High School.

Playing with Freddie and Wes Montgomery without question are my very favorite moments in music. I remember the first time Freddie brought his own group back to Indianapolis. I believe
it was 1964. I found out where he was playing and sat at the bar waiting for
him with my horn hidden underneath the bar stool. Freddie had his brother
Earmon Jr. playing piano, Larry Ridley, bass, Clifford Jarvis, drums and
James Spaulding, alto sax and flute. Freddie walked in and asked if I had my
horn. I told him I did and he said "I want to hear you but don't come up
on the first tune because you'll want to get paid!" I said
"cool" and ended up playing the whole night after the first tune.
Freddie was my favorite trumpet player and was undoubtedly a genius.

In an interview I was asked, "What made Freddie Hubbard so special and what was the one thing that stood out in his playing?" I answered that there wasn't one thing
that stood out. It was everything: his tone, the warmth of his sound, the
technical brilliance, his sense of harmony, rhythm and overall musical
intelligence. If that did not grab you, his tremendous heart would."

David Hardiman, Trumpeter

"Freddie and I came up on the Eastside of Indianapolis, and went to Public School 26 and Arsenal Technical High School. We studied with the same teachers. Coming from very meager means, as most of
us at that time, I watched Freddie develop into one of the world's greatest
jazz trumpet players. I went to Indiana
University and Butler University
to study music. Freddie remained in Indianapolis
and developed his improvisational and trumpet skills playing with James
Spaulding, the Montgomery Brothers, and was influenced by many of the great
musicians of that time. His move to New York
in 1958 enabled him to connect with Indianapolis
great, trombonist "Slide" Hampton and other famous musicians. When
I visited Freddie during the World's Fair in 1964, he was playing with Max
Roach in Long Island. I remember Freddie
coming to San Francisco
several times after that, and noticing his incredible ability to articulate
with great facility, agility, range and creative ideas like no one since
Clifford Brown. His discography documents his rise to greatness. Freddie
became one of my greatest influences and inspirations along with
"Dizzy", Miles, Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan. Freddie Hubbard's
great musical genius, as a composer/arranger, band leader, and master jazz
trumpet player places him among the "Jazz Trumpet Kings" of the
20th Century. He will be greatly missed by every one of his many friends and
fans."

Dr. Willis Kirk, Drummer

"I have known Freddie Hubbard and his family since he was a student at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, IN.
I came up performing with fellow Indianapolis Jazz Greats, Wes, Monk and
Buddy Montgomery, Slide Hampton, Carl Perkins, Leroy Vinnegar, Earl Grandy,
Jimmie Coe, Lee Katzman and other wonderful musicians who played on Indiana Avenue.
Because he was under age, Freddie used to stand outside the clubs and listen
to us play.

Larry Ridley formed a teenage group called the "Jazz Contemporaries" with Freddie, pianist Walt Miller (later Al Plank on piano), Paul Parker on drums, and
Jimmy Spaulding on saxophone. They played frequently at George's Bar on Indiana Avenue.
Freddie really began to develop during this period. He also played with many
of us older musicians, Wes, Monk, Buddy, Slide, Leroy and others. In 1958, he
left for New York
where his career really moved to another level. He was influenced by Clifford
Brown, Lee Morgan, Dizzy, Miles, Kenny Dorham and others. His musical genius
was recognized by many of the world's musicians as he traveled and recorded
with Art Blakey, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, J.J., Philly Joe and other Jazz
greats. Indianapolis
has lost one of its greatest sons. Freddie Hubbard's recordings leave us with
proof of his greatness."

Virgil Jones, Trumpeter

"I probably first heard Freddie play at a jam session at George's Bar on Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis. I was about 16 and he was 17. He sounded a lot like Clifford Brown then, but everyone starts somewhere and
that was pretty great. When he moved to New York he developed his own sound. By
the time he was 21, he became himself, the Freddie who matured into the bold,
daring player that I always admired and listened to as part of my personal
collection. He had a unique feel for the blues, bop and his delivery was
powerfully profound. His improvisations were full of variety, spontaneity and
exuberance that was characteristic of his personal nature. I truly loved the
guy and will miss him very much."

Albert Moore, FAA Certified Pilot

"Freddie and I were friends beginning in the 4th grade at P.S. 26 and on to Arsenal Technical High School. My father
bought me a trumpet. Freddie used to come over to hang out with me at my
house and play on it. He had such a natural touch for the instrument that it
discouraged me from thinking that I could ever match him. I told my father
that I wanted to give the horn to Freddie. He contacted Mrs. Hubbard and said
he wanted to give it to Freddie for free. Mrs. Hubbard, who was a beautiful
and proud single parent, refused to accept it for free. She gave my father
five dollars for the horn. This was Freddie's first trumpet. It was made by
Blessing and had a circular dial on it that enabled it to be a B flat or C
Trumpet. Little did we know then that Freddie would become such a jazz giant.
He was my friend and I will miss him."

Michael Ridley, Trumpeter

"Freddie's birthday and mine are three days apart and Mom Hubbard would bake us a cake. The taste and aroma were still vivid in our minds as we reminisced by telephone just a
month before he left us.

Freddie's brother Earmon, an amazing piano player, was his first teacher of the language of "Bebop". Earmon had insight into Bud Powell that provided
"fertile soil" for Freddie's growth,

Freddie and I would go to Chicago to the Regal Theatre and the clubs around 63rd Street and Cottage Grove
to hear the bands playing. Freddie got a chance to play at some jam sessions.
We went together to hear the Chicago Symphony and also the Indianapolis
Symphony featuring Raphael Mendez.

I truly miss Freddie and his music. He brought a lot of joy to people world wide. "Well done "Hub!"

Edythe Fitzhugh, Jazz fan and Indianapolis Jazz family friend

"Indianapolis, Indiana has produced a host of jazz players of note. Of the many was one Freddie Hubbard, fondly known by some as "Hub Cap". He was a product of Arsenal Technical
High School, not Crispus Attucks
High School as has
erroneously been written in some bio sketches of him. Freddie was sometimes
funny, sometimes moody, but always the consummate musician. Those of us who
were fortunate enough to be a part of the era that gave us the "Jazz
Contemporaries" (Larry Ridley, Freddie, James Spaulding, Paul Parker,
Walter Miller/Al Plank), the Montgomery Brothers (Wes, Monk & Buddy),
J.J. Johnson, David Baker, Leroy Vinnegar, Slide Hampton and his musical
family, Phil Ranelin, David Young, "Pookie" Johnson, Jimmy Coe,
"Killer" Ray Appleton, Earl Grandy and too many others to name,
consider ourselves blessed.

Thanks "Hub Cap" for being a friend, the icon you have become and for the legacy you leave. "Ya done good and made us proud!"

Clifford Ratliff, Trumpeter

"Freddie Hubbard has always been an inspiration to me. Since the first time that I got a glimpse of him from the rear vent window in back of "Mr. B's
Lounge", I've always loved his music. For me, no one could play and
phrase a ballad like he could. His music will always be a part of my musical
life and he will be missed."

Chuck Workman, Indy NUVO newspaper writer and Indianapolis Jazz activist

"Freddie was Passion: blowing intense, fiery blasts from the mouth of his horn; Pride: knowing he was taking his horn to new levels of execution; Perfection: always
raising his personal bar of performance. As he told me, "I thought I was
some kind of superman."

Posted by Dr. Larry Ridley

JAZZED MAGAZINE                        Issue Date: 2009, May

Jazz And Its South
Carolina Roots

A Jazz History and Education Model of the Charleston Jazz Initiative

"Corner Pocket," "Whirly Bird," "Trouble in Mind," "Ballin' the Jack," "Tuxedo Junction," "Since I Fell
for You," and "Brother Blake." What does each of these musical
compositions have in common? Each is connected in some way to South Carolina and Charleston, in particular.

Written by the nearly 50-year veteran of the Basie band, Charlestonian Freddie Green's "Corner Pocket" is a tune he composed which was later popularized by Sarah
Vaughan under the title "Until I Met You." Search YouTube for a
1965 Basie band performance of "Whirly Bird" featuring Eddie
Lockjaw Davis on tenor sax and Charleston
native Rufus "Speedy" Jones on a speedy drum solo. Charlestonian,
Bertha "Chippie" Hill recorded "Trouble in Mind" on Okeh
Records in Chicago as a bandleader with sideman Louis Armstrong sitting in on
cornet on February 23, 1926. One of the great dance tunes of the mighty jazz
dance era was Chris Smith's fox trot – "Ballin' the Jack." Born in Charleston in 1879, he
composed the tune in 1913. It became a world dance craze nearly a decade
before "The Charleston." Julian Dash, a Charleston native and Erskine Hawkins'
tenor saxophonist for nearly 20 years co-composed "Tuxedo Junction"
with Hawkins and William Johnson. Another jazz standard – "Since I Fell
for You" was composed by bandleader, Buddy Johnson of Darlington, South
Carolina. Johnson had one of the more popular rhythm and blues bands that
toured throughout the southeast in the 1940s. His vocalist sister, Ella
Johnson was responsible for many of the band's hits. "Brother
Blake" was written in 2005 by the gifted drummer and Charleston native Quentin Baxter (currently
touring with jazz vocalist Rene Marie). It is an homage to William Blake, a
music teacher with Charleston's
famed Jenkins Orphanage bands. And then there's the city of Cheraw
native, Dizzy Gillespie – South
Carolina's most celebrated musician.

There's also Cat Anderson, Jabbo Smith, Bubber Miley, Fud Livingston, Jimmy Hamilton, Freddy Jenkins and many more...nearly 65 bandleaders, sideman and composers uncovered
to date by a small but formidable jazz research project that I direct – the
Charleston Jazz Initiative (CJI). In fact, Dan Morgenstern, the preeminent
jazz historian believes that the number of musicians that came from South Carolina and Charleston in particular is actually
"quite remarkable." Some can be found on the CJI's Web site –
www.charlestonjazz.net. Many of these musicians have South Carolina roots while others received
their first musical training at the venerable Jenkins Orphanage in this
coastal city.

Charleston is a hot jazz city today and by all accounts, it was this way in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its story begins in 1891 and is one of vision, charity, entrepreneurship,
discipline, and the teaching of music at two Charleston institutions – one, an orphanage
– the Jenkins Orphanage and the other, a private-turned public school called
the Avery Normal Institute.

The Jenkins Orphanage, one of the longest-operating black orphanages in the country, was founded in 1891 by Reverend Daniel Joseph Jenkins, a Baptist minister. Three years later
in 1894, its bands were formed and became widely acclaimed. Reverend Jenkins'
strategy was to raise money for the orphanage by teaching music to the
orphans, and having them perform in Charleston,
around the country, and in Europe. Brass was
the instrument of choice. Since so many orphans had tuberculosis, Jenkins
felt that teaching them to play brass instruments would strengthen their
lungs.

What happened in 1894 at the orphanage was the beginning of a seminal American jazz story – the birthing of the Jenkins Orphanage Bands that just one year later in 1895, had
them performing on the streets of London
to raise money for the orphanage. There were not one but five bands between
1895 and the 1930s that toured up and down the east coast, to Europe, the Midwest and other places in between. It was a
management tour de force – each band had its own manager, cook, and valet and
traveled from town to town spreading this hot new music and collecting funds
for the orphanage all at the same time.

Jenkins not only trained its orphans and later, other students of music, to read and play all kinds of music, but by the turn of the 20th Century, the institution had developed a
well-oiled and funded machine in the bands with patronage Reverend Jenkins
meticulously cultivated from Charleston's wealthy families. From 1894 through
the 1960s, the institution used music as a learning tool and produced many
great musicians. The residents read music – printed scores were the norm.
They were taught basic musicianship not jazz. But elements of jazz playing
seeped quietly into Jenkins from runaway orphans who returned with the latest
jazz technique. Gus Aiken was one of them, who would later play with Louis
Armstrong. He introduced the art of flutter-tonguing and growling on the
trumpet to Jenkins' brass players – a technique used widely by trumpeters in
Duke Ellington's orchestra.

The Jenkins bands toured extensively in the United States and in Europe, played at the inauguration of
President Taft in 1909, and created a world dance craze that became the
symbol of the Jazz Age, "The Charleston." The popular 1923 song,
"The Charleston," composed by James P. Johnson, was inspired by
observing Charlestonians and Jenkins' musicians dancing movements called
"geechie."

Another important institution in Charleston was the Avery Normal Institute (now the Avery
Research Center).
It was one of the country's first private schools for newly freed blacks
founded in 1865 after the Civil War. Avery trained many Charlestonians to be
teachers until 1954. With a rigorous arts and music curriculum, Avery hosted
programs for its students – Langston Hughes read poetry there in the 1930s,
and recitals were performed by Roland Hayes and Marian Anderson. Julian Dash
and Willie Smith emerged from Avery with stints with Erskine Hawkins (Dash),
Duke Ellington, and Jimmie Lunceford, among others. Edmund Thornton Jenkins
was an alumnus of Avery too. A classically trained composer of orchestral and
ensemble works, instrumentalist, and student of London's Royal Academy of Music, Edmund was
a son of Reverend Jenkins.

In the infancy of their musical careers, musicians from Jenkins, especially brass players, were recruited into the bands of Ellington, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Louis
Armstrong, and many others. In fact, Basie and Ellington were known to
frequent Charleston
scouting brass players from the Jenkins ranks. In speaking about the training
of these musicians, well known jazz advocate A.B. Spellman stated in an oral
history we did with him several years ago that what is fascinating about
Charleston's jazz history is that "these musicians left here [many in
the late 1920s] and hit New York, the most competitive jazz scene in the
world, fully hatched, and in full command of their instruments and styles.
This indicates that they must have come from a vibrant jazz scene."

So, we at CJI believe that New Orleans could not have been the only crucible for American swing. When Louis
Armstrong was born in 1900 or 1901, players from the Jenkins Orphanage were
already swinging melodies in the United States and Europe – as early as 1895,
five years before Louis Armstrong was born. And more food for thought: The
Southern Syncopated Orchestra and James Reese Europe's 369th U.S. Infantry
Band, often credited with introducing jazz to Europe around 1919, had
Charleston and Jenkins players in their bands...trumpeters Arthur Briggs,
Amos Gaillard, and Francis Eugene Mikell; trombonist Herb Flemming; twin
drummers Stephen Wright and brother Herbert (who was tragically killed in
Europe).

While it may be risky to say that elements of jazz emerged in Charleston in the 1890s with the founding of the Jenkins Orphanage Bands, we at CJI
wonder. The first historian to document Charleston's
early influence in jazz was British historian John Chilton who wrote A Jazz
Nursery (1980) – a short but insightful book on Charleston's Jenkins Orphanage Bands. In
it, he said, "The early bands played a robust music that loosened up the
formal ragtime arrangements, and produced emphatic syncopations when playing
marches and two-steps. By 'raggin' marches and popular tunes of the day, I
think the early bands imparted a 'jazzy' phrasing to their performances"
(30-31). My CJI colleagues and I believe that this "loosening" of
rhythms, and the syncopation and melodic improvisation that Chilton speaks of
were actually elements of swing beginning to be heard in the bands' sounds.
Chilton, however, cautions us about referring to these sounds as jazz.
Nevertheless, what is not disputed is that the Jenkins Orphanage was indeed a
19th and 20th century haven for music education that emerged from its
hallowed and disciplined halls. And at that stately former marine hospital
were produced many of this country's most gifted ensemble musicians.

All of this is being chronicled by CJI – a research initiative based at the College of Charleston – in the Arts
Management Program's School of the Arts, and in partnership with the Avery Research
Center, a significant repository of South Carolina's
African American history. CJI maintains significant partnerships with many
individuals and organizations throughout the country including Dr. Larry
Ridley and the African American Jazz Caucus. Founded in March 2003, I am a
co-founder and principal of the initiative along with Charlestonian Jack
McCray, producer of the city's new resident jazz orchestra, author of
Charleston Jazz, and weekly columnist of JazzBeat(s) for Charleston's Post and Courier. We are
joined by musicians, media artists, educators, jazz and oral historians,
archivists, family members of deceased musicians, and an international
advisory group of jazz scholars including Dr. Ridley; Dan Morgenstern; A.B.
Spellman; Jeffrey Green, British biographer of Edmund Thornton Jenkins; and
Wolfram Knauer, director of Darmstadt's (Germany) Jazz Institut.

CJI's mission is to document the untold jazz history in Charleston, the South Carolina Lowcountry, and its movement throughout the United States, Europe
and the diaspora beginning in the late 19th century through today. We're
examining this tradition through oral histories, public programs, creative
collaborations with individuals and organizations, and an archival collection
based at Avery of photographs, oral histories, manuscripts, and original
works that illuminate Charleston's
past and living jazz history. Our objective is to honor the countless numbers
of sidemen who made an indelible imprint on American jazz and world music,
but who left South Carolina
– their native or first musical training roots largely unknown to many.

CJI's focus is to document the social history of Charleston's jazz legacy as well as its musical history. It is my belief that examining
human culture and social experiences as CJI does must come from scholars in
the academy as well as laypeople outside of the academy. So, to record this
social history, it is the local community – those with colorful memories,
stories, and anecdotes – who are helping us tell a rich story of Charleston's place in
jazz history. In their oral histories, they describe for us the faces,
sounds, and stories of South Carolina's musicians – who they were, where they
lived, how they dressed, and who they went crabbing with – just as much as
they and industry-musicians tell us about the cutting-edge and pioneering
talent of these ensemble musicians. Through the proud and dignified voices of
musicians' sons, granddaughters, cousins, neighbors, family and
musician-friends, teachers, and runnin' partners, we tell their life stories.

Charleston's jazz legacy did not end during the heyday of the Jenkins bands. It continues in the modern-day jazz landscape of this historic city – in "live jazz" heard in
Charleston's many fine restaurants seven days a week, concert halls and small
performing venues, the internationally-recognized Spoleto Festival and its
regional counterpart, Piccolo Spoleto, new jazz clubs that are sprouting and
reconfiguring themselves for a growing jazz audience, a new jazz organization
– Jazz Artists of Charleston, annual jazz galas among many social and civic
organizations, the new Charleston Jazz Orchestra, a new weekly jazz column in
Charleston's daily newspaper, and a flourishing statewide jazz education
initiative and countless documentary evidence by CJI.

South Carolina's jazz story is an American jazz story. Biographer Jeffrey Green reminds us why: "Look carefully at the careers of the boys and girls who were raised in the Old Marine
Hospital on Franklin Street, Charleston [the Jenkins Orphanage]. I am
convinced...that there is a Charleston
contribution to the arts of America
that traditional views on jazz – and other music – have overlooked."

Dr. Karen Chandler is associate professor of Arts Management, School of the Arts at the College of Charleston and co-founder and principal of the Charleston Jazz Initiative. A classically trained pianist, she has
been a music and arts management educator, and academic administrator in
colleges and universities throughout her 30-year career. She is editor of Charleston: A Cradle of
Jazz (2005) and lead author of "...But the Greatest of These Is
Charity": The Charleston Jazz Initiative's Study of the Jenkins
Orphanage Bands," Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society (Winter
2005).

The preceding copy was provided by The African American Jazz Caucus, Inc.