Cantaloupe Island

Freddie Hubbard (cornet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums). From the album Empyrean Isles (1964).

In 1964 Freddie Hubbard participated in Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch and Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage, and in 1965 in John Coltrane’s Ascension. After two years playing with Max Roach he formed his own quintet. In 1970 he recorded Red Clay and Straight Life, and in 1971 First Light for CTI Records, which were a huge success. However, he made the mistake of signing with Columbia Records to record commercial albums.

In 1977 he toured with Herbie Hancock’s acoustic group V.S.O.P. Quintet. During the 1980s he formed his own band and played concerts and festivals in North America and Europe. He also played with Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson and Benny Golson, among others, and recorded for the Pablo, Blue Note and Atlantic labels. From the late 1980s he began to have health problems and in 1992 he broke his upper lip. He died in 2008 from complications caused by a prior heart attack at 70 years of age.

This theme is based on a simple funky-blues riff played by the piano that the group plays at medium-slow tempo. Hubbard plays his solo with tranquility, but with very suggestive, interesting and imaginative phrases. Hancock follows him with a similarly paused discourse, although at times he speeds up the pace a bit. In the end the group reexposes the theme fading out.