By far the best item in Legacy’s reissue series devoted to the late-’60s/ early-’70s fusion label CTI is the 1970 Freddie Hubbard disc Red Clay—which is, by the way, also the virtuosic trumpeter’s most consistently compelling album by a long shot. Featuring a killer band of Herbie Hancock on electric piano, Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Ron Carter on bass, and the 20-year-old Lenny White on drums, the widely influential Red Clay comprises five tracks of funky yet ambitious post-bop jazz. The 12-minute title track is a soulful avant-blues classic, while Hubbard and company’s sanguine take on John Lennon’s “Cold Turkey” is one of the most enterprising jazz covers ever. Included as a bonus on this superbly remastered reissue is a 19-minute jam on “Red Clay” featuring Hubbard’s scorching trumpet juxtaposed with such fellow CTI stars as guitarist George Benson and sax man Stanley Turrentine.—BB
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