Freddie Hubbard – First Light

Side A is more traditional Fusion with influences of Funk, Soul and Latin but side B really suprised me. Insane 1970's arrangements, very lush, playful, lovely tracks. My copy is flat, centered, free of any flaws and very dynamic. Highly recommended.

Glorious sounding edition. More clarity, more expanse and more life than the Pure Pleasure cut which is very decent in isolation but not as impressive as this. Bernie G is THE MAN!!! I do find the gatefold of the Pure Pleasure preferable and with todays asking prices the PP offers the better value but when played back to back theres no doubt this sounds notably better to call it a clear winner on the sound quality front. The asking prices sure are brutal though! A repress for what is perhaps the best CTI record of the lot is surely a wise idea ORG!

Excellent throughout. Nice to have a gatefold vs the ORG Bernie cut. Vinyl is as flat and quiet as it comes....typical Pallas! Mastering is very good although theres a smidge more life and expanse to the Bernie mastering (he remains my fave mastering engineer so i have a bias here!). Were i not the owner of the ORG Bernie cut id live wirh this very very happily and its clearly now the better value pressing.

Has anyone compared this ORG version to the more recent Pure Pleasure reissue?

Well done pressing here. Rich, organic, layered…. And outstanding material. Great reissue in all aspects.

I have a supposedly mid-seventies Canada press version which is not in here with an orange CTI label with CTI-6013-A/CTI-6013-B runouts with only TXD or maybe TXO as additional info! is TXD a pressing plant I could not find in any of the available pressing plant lists? Any guesses?

I enjoyed the OG pressing despite a minor scratch and some surface noise. Soundstage was amazing like most original CTI pressings of the era. George Benson and other superb guests add to the flavor, which helped this album win a 1972 Grammy Award

I had never heard of this album until the other day when I found this pressing. So many factors made it an instant purchase; but the line up on this particular Hubbard album piqued my interest.

This one stole Sky Dive’s spot as my favorite Freddie Hubbard album, as I found Jack DeJohnette’s drumming far too compelling to be written off as just an ingredient in Hubbard’s band. Per usual, DeJohnette’s signature swing add’s a character not found elsewhere. A welcome addition to this lineup that with the exception of Keith Jarrett, is the same as that found on Sky Dive.

This pressing certainly brings a new light to CTI recordings that are seldom found in the majority of original pressings in their available conditions. I really and truly hope Pure Pleasures digs deeper into the Freddie Hubbard catalog and CTI overall in the years to come, as they knocked it out the park with this one. The jacket looks and feels exactly what I would imagine a brand new copy would’ve looked like in 1971.

It is worth noting that my copy did have some surface noise, but far and few between and only in very loud moments. It’s that being said, I found them to hardly be noticeable.

Remarkable album and a fantastic pressing. Pure Pleasures did a great job here.

I heard a few seconds' excerpt from this album in a jazz documentary recently and immediately knew I needed to own it. Was happy to find it finally, and what a great find it is. If you love Freddie Hubbard, this has strong arrangements and some burnin' improv. It has the classic 'CTI sound', complete with Don Sebeski and orchestra. The ensemble here includes Ron Carter on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Airto Moriera on percussion, and the ever lovely and talented George Benson heading up guitar duties. If you are a GB fan, you may have discovered by now this is possibly one of the top five Benson albums ever recorded. His solos are raw and energetic.

Engineered by RVG, you can count on clean tracking and a great STEREO mix. Hubbard's airy flugel tone is beautiful. The jazz ensemble is not drowned out by orchestra as occurs in similar Wes Montgomery albums on CTI.

This early/first pressing sounds amazing. Beautiful heavy gatefold. 4 stars. Recommended.