"Open Sesame" Says Me!
Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 10/04/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Freddie Hubbard's first album as a leader, "Open Sesame," should be a top candidate for release domestically in Blue Note's RVG series. This album was originally released in the States on CD in the late 80s only to be deleted quickly thereafter by numbers crunchers at Capitol, and currently it is only available as an expensive import. This is truly a shame because this album is one of Hubbard's great recordings, and one of the classic titles in all jazz from the early 60s. Freddie shows remarkable musical maturity and sophistication for someone who was only 22 at the time of this June 1960 session. The quintet for this date is the unheralded Tina Brooks on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Sam Jones on bass, Clifford Jarvis on drums, and of course Hub on trumpet. Recorded just 6 days before Tina Brooks' masterpiece "True Blue," "Open Sesame" features a similar style and flavor to that great recording. And that's not surprising, considering the personnel for both albums was similar (the only changes were Duke Jordan on piano instead of Tyner and Art Taylor on drums instead of Jarvis), and Brooks contributed most of the original compositions for both sessions. On "Open Sesame," Brooks has authored the disc's first three tunes, the title track, "But Beautiful" and "Gypsy Blue," while Freddie only contributes one, the concluding "Hub's Nub." The album also features two standards, the lovely ballad "All Or Nothing At All" and the R&B tinged "One Mint Julep." "Open Sesame" was a lead-off home run for a trumpeter who has had a four decade long career filled with hall of fame moments. I wish we could say "Open Sesame" and make it magically and permanently return to the U.S. Blue Note catalog."
Track Listings (1) - Disc #1