Blog: Cahl's Juke Joint: A rock, blues and jazz blog

A friend remarked before a Freddie Hubbard tribute at the Madame Walker Theatre Friday night that it took four trumpeters to fill in for Hubbard. I think that's probably true. But the trumpeters who stood in for the Indianapolis-born jazz legend played fabulously. Randy Brecker, Nicholas Payton, Pharez Whitted and Derrick Gardner started blowing hard from the start, trading solos on "Byrdlike," Hubbard's homage to fellow trumpeter Donald Byrd. They had a lot of help, particularly from James Spaulding, one of Hubbard's oldest friends and collaborators, who coaxed some magic out of both his saxophone and his flute. [...]