Freddie Hubbard selected these pieces himself from his classic Blue Note recordings of the 1960s, including his earliest recorded appearance with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. It was an extraordinary period in jazz and no young trumpeter shone brighter than Hubbard, who somehow combined a bright brassy declarative sound and clarion highs with an unprecedented fluency of line, readily matching some of the period’s finest saxophonists, including Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson and Hank Mobley, all of whom turn up here. These selections also emphasize Hubbard’s relatively overlooked talents as a composer, from the airy "Lament for Booker" and the boppish "Birdlike" to the dissonant fanfare of "The Melting Pot" and the high-tension "Breaking Point." He's supported by a series of superb bands, drawing on a stable of talents that included the pianists McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock and drummers Philly Joe Jones and Elvin Jones. --Stuart Broomer