The Night of the Cookers: Live at Club La Marchal, Vols. 1-2 [2004] [Remaster]

Performer: Freddie Hubbard
Artist: James Spaulding; Lee Morgan; Harold Mabern; Pete La Roca
Engineer: Orville O'Brien
Producer: Alfred Lion; Alfred Lion; Michael Cuscuna (Reissue)
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); Freddie Hubbard; Lee Morgan , Lee Morgan Quintet (trumpet); Larry Ridley (bass instrument); Big Black (congas); James Spaulding (flute, alto saxophone); Harold Mabern (piano); Pete La Roca (drums). Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder. Liner Note Authors: Alfred Davis; Bob Blumenthal. Recording information: Club La Marchal, Brooklyn, NY (04/09/1965/04/10/1965). Photographer: Francis Wolff. Originally released as two separate LPs (and reissued in 2004 as a double CD package) THE NIGHT OF THE COOKERS, VOLUMES 1 & 2 puts trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan, two of the biggest guns of the hard-bop era, head to head throughout an extended live set. James Spaulding plays alto sax and flute, balancing out the brighter, brassier timbres of Hubbard and Morgan, and a crack rhythm section of pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Larry Ridley, drummer Pete La Roca, and conga player Big Black keeps things simmering. Each disc contains only two compositions, Clare Fischer's "Pensativa" and Richard Carpenter's "Walkin'" make up Disc One, and two Hubbard compositions, "Jodo" and "Breaking Point" occupy the second. Since each cut clocks in at approximately 20 minutes, there is ample solo time for each musician; the approach here is all about stretching out over solid grooves. Spaulding and Mabern turn in agile improvisations, but the spotlight is on the two trumpeters. Morgan's playing pales a bit besides Hubbard's on this date--understandably, as Hubbard is tirelessly playful and acrobatic. There are chops galore on this classic hard-bop document, and fans of the era (and of these musicians in particular) will find much to admire. Trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan joined forces for two superb mid-'60s Blue Note LPs, The Night of the Cookers, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which have been repackaged as a two-disc set. Hubbard was a master of tonguing effects, high-voltage upper notes, and long phrases, while Morgan was a hypnotic improviser. The two trumpeters, despite their consistent brilliance, were almost outdistanced by alto saxophonist and flutist James Spaulding, then at his peak. Spaulding's effortlessly played, torrid alto solos were explosive and often dazzling. The rhythm section grounded the proceedings in elastic and sympathetic rhythms, providing the final element in the formula comprising two tremendous albums, and now one great CD package. [The 2004 Blue Note Rudy Van Gelder remastered edition includes improved sound quality and new liner notes.] ~ Ron Wynn This double CD reissues the two LP volumes titled The Night of the Cookers. Since these performances (four lengthy workouts ranging from 19-24 minutes apiece) were taken from a club date that matched together the trumpets of Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan (along with James Spaulding on alto and flute, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Larry Ridley, drummer Pete La Roca, and the congas of Big Black), this should have been a classic. However, Morgan sounds quite subpar, the recording quality is just passable, the individual solos are stretched out far too long, and the overall results are a major disappointment. [The 2004 Blue Note Rudy Van Gelder remastered edition includes improved sound quality and new liner notes.] ~ Scott Yanow

Jazziz (1/95, p.89) - "...Hubbard and Morgan prove they are at the height of their collective blowing strengths by playing off each other. Nothing brings the best out of a musician more than another's relentlessness.... both trumpeters wail to their heart's content..."

Freddie Hubbard has always been a trumpet player of great facility, suppleness, and polish. Following his breakthrough with the Jazz Messengers in the late '50s, his burnished tone became a focal point of innumerable Blue Note albums of the '60s, both as leader and sideman. After a foray into fusion in the '70s, he returned to the hard bop of his early career.

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