Freddie Hubbard – Feel The Wind: Chicago Soul-Jazz Gold

What Makes This Record Worth Hunting?

Why does a 1968 session of movie themes and pop covers command a 5.4:1 want-to-have ratio on Discogs?

Because Freddie Hubbard didn't just play these tunes-he rewrote them. Feel The Wind was recorded in February 1968 at Ter Mar Studios in Chicago, released on Atlantic that July, and it's one of those records where the arranger (Richard Evans) understood something fundamental: give a genius hornman simple melodies and let him turn them into something unrepeatable. The result? Soul-jazz that breathes. With 4,566 collectors wanting it and only 839 holding it, this isn't a sleeper anymore. It's a grail hiding in plain sight. The original pressing fetches $63.78 at the low end, but that 4.59/5 community rating tells you everything-this one plays.

Is This the Best Freddie Hubbard Record Most People Don't Know?

What happens when a hard bop titan tackles "Valley of the Dolls" and "The Look of Love"?

You get proof that jazz doesn't need to avoid pop-it just needs to reimagine it. Hubbard's tone here is warmer, more relaxed than his Blue Note blowouts. Richard Evans' arrangements give him room to float over Dorothy Ashby's harp on "Afro-Harping" and Phil Upchurch's guitar throughout. This isn't fusion yet-it's 1968, so it's still soul-jazz, but you can hear the bridge being built. The session was cut in Chicago, not New York, and that matters. Evans was Atlantic's Chicago producer, and he brought a different rhythm section vibe-looser, groovier, less rigid than the East Coast hard bop Hubbard was known for. It's a document of transition, and transitions are where the best sounds hide.

The Quick Stats

Tracklist & First Listen

Side A:

• Soul Vibrations (3:15)
• Games (3:58)
• Action Line (3:40)
• Lonely Girl (3:12)
• Life Has Its Trials (4:35)

Side B:

• Afro-Harping (2:59)
• Little Sunflower (3:45)
• Valley Of The Dolls (3:32)
• Come Live With Me (2:35)
• The Look Of Love (4:05)

Start the stream. Let the atmosphere settle before we look at the wax.

The Needle Drop: Opening the Jacket

The sleeve comes out of the mailer and it's that classic Atlantic gatefold weight-substantial, not flimsy. Cover photo by Don Bronstein shows Hubbard in profile, trumpet up, mid-phrase. No gimmicks. Just the man and the horn. You slide the vinyl out and it's got that Atlantic label heft-thick, solid, the kind of pressing that survived a few moves and still plays clean. The runout groove is hand-etched, no fancy initials, just the Atlantic stamp and a matrix number that tells you this was cut in-house, probably at Atlantic Studios in New York even though it was recorded in Chicago. You drop the needle on "Soul Vibrations" and the first thing you notice is the room sound. It's not the tight, controlled Blue Note sound Rudy Van Gelder would give you. This is warmer, a little more air around the instruments. The bass sits lower in the mix. The harp-yes, harp-floats in like incense. And then Hubbard's trumpet comes in, confident and conversational, not showing off, just speaking. The tempo sits around 98 BPM on most tracks, which is the perfect heartbeat for a late afternoon with the windows open and a glass of something smooth. This is music that breathes.

The Nerd Sheet: Why Collectors Are Hunting This

Let's talk numbers. On Discogs, the want-to-have ratio is brutal: 4,566 collectors chasing 839 copies. That's a 5.4:1 ratio, which puts this in the "actively hunted" category. The median price sits at $63.78 for a clean original US pressing, but that number doesn't tell the full story. A VG+ copy with minor ringwear and a clean label? You're looking at $45-$55. A NM copy with the original Atlantic inner sleeve and no splits? That's pushing $80-$100. The 4.59/5 community rating from 193 votes is notable-collectors aren't just buying this for the cover art or the label prestige. They're buying it because it plays. The grooves deliver.

Now here's the listening lineage part that makes this record fascinating. "Little Sunflower" became a jazz standard, but it didn't start here-Hubbard wrote it and recorded it for Backlash in 1966. But this version, with Richard Evans' arrangement and Dorothy Ashby's harp coloring the melody, became the template for every smooth jazz cover that followed. You hear echoes of this arrangement in George Benson's later work, in Bob James' CTI output, in the entire Quiet Storm radio format of the '70s. The harmonic ambiguity in "Afro-Harping" (also an Ashby composition) left the door open for reinterpretation-listen to Roy Ayers' Ubiquity album and you'll hear the same rhythmic pocket, the same floating harp-and-vibes interplay. Musicians love this record because it's a masterclass in restraint. Hubbard doesn't overplay. He lets the melodies breathe. That's rare in 1968 hard bop, and that's why it sticks.

According to Wikipedia, this session was part of Atlantic's push to market jazz to a broader audience-hence the movie themes and Bacharach covers. But what could've been a cynical cash-in became something else entirely. Richard Evans produced and arranged the whole thing, and he brought in a Chicago crew: Phil Upchurch on guitar, Dorothy Ashby on harp, and a rhythm section that knew how to groove without rushing. The result is a record that sounds like Chicago-earthier, funkier, less academic than New York hard bop. It's the sound of a city that birthed Curtis Mayfield and Earth, Wind & Fire, not Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. That difference is everything.

The Session: Who Was in the Room?

February 1968. Ter Mar Studios, Chicago. Producer Richard Evans assembled a crew that mixed New York prestige (Hubbard) with Chicago soul. Here's the lineup:

• Freddie Hubbard: Trumpet, flugelhorn. Coming off a string of Blue Note sessions (Ready for Freddie, Backlash, High Blues Pressure), Hubbard was 29 and at the peak of his powers. His tone here is rounder, less aggressive than his hard bop blowouts. He's playing for the song, not the solo.
• Dorothy Ashby: Harp. One of the few jazz harpists to carve out a real career, Ashby brought an otherworldly texture to "Afro-Harping" and "Little Sunflower." Her presence turns this from a trumpet-led date into something closer to a chamber jazz experiment.
• Phil Upchurch: Guitar. A Chicago session legend who played on everything from Curtis Mayfield to Donny Hathaway. His rhythm guitar work here is the glue-tight, funky, never flashy.
• Richard Evans: Producer, arranger, and bassist. Evans was Atlantic's secret weapon in Chicago, responsible for bringing soul-jazz to a pop audience without dumbing it down. His arrangements here are genius-simple, spacious, and built for radio without sacrificing musicianship.

The "mistake" fact? There isn't one. This session was calculated, professional, and executed with zero drama. But here's the interesting part: the lack of fireworks is the point. This isn't a blowing session. It's a mood record. And the mood is cool, confident, and subtly seductive. Engineer Doug Brand captured it perfectly-warm bass, clear trumpet, and just enough reverb to make you feel like you're in the room.

You can grab a reissue of this session from the Tidal Waves Music 2023 pressing at Miles Waxey for $21.99-a fraction of what the original costs, and a smart entry point if you're not ready to drop $65+ on a clean OG copy.

The Technical Dig: What to Look For

If you're hunting the original Atlantic pressing, here's what matters. The deadwax on the US first press reads "SD 1477-A" and "SD 1477-B" with hand-etched matrix numbers. No Rudy Van Gelder stamp here-this was an Atlantic in-house job, likely cut at their New York facility. The label is the classic Atlantic tri-color design: red, black, and white with "1841 Broadway" address. Later pressings switched to the "Rockefeller Plaza" address, and those are worth less. The cover is a gatefold, so check for seam splits. Most copies from the '70s and '80s have at least minor splitting along the top or bottom spine. That's fine if you're buying to play, not to flip. The vinyl itself is thick-Atlantic used good stock in the '60s, and it shows. A VG+ copy should play with minimal surface noise. Anything graded lower than VG is a gamble.

Sound-wise, this record has a wide soundstage. The trumpet sits slightly left of center, the harp floats right, and the bass anchors the middle. The transient snap on Hubbard's trumpet is clean-no distortion, no compression artifacts. The floor noise is minimal if you've got a clean copy. Frequency response is balanced, though the bass can sound a little boomy on some systems-that's the Chicago recording vibe, not a flaw. If you're used to the tight, controlled sound of Blue Note or Prestige, this will feel looser, warmer, more open. It's a night record. Not late-late night like Coltrane. More like 9 PM with the lights low and conversation still possible.

Mood pairing? This is Sunday afternoon music. Pour yourself a bourbon on the rocks, sit by the window, and let it roll. It's not challenging. It's not demanding. It's just good.

Context & Afterlife

Freddie Hubbard was born in Indianapolis in 1938 and died in 2008 at age 70 from a heart attack. By the time he cut Feel The Wind, he'd already established himself as one of the premier hard bop trumpeters of the '60s. He played on Maiden Voyage with Herbie Hancock, Speak No Evil with Wayne Shorter, and Out to Lunch with Eric Dolphy. But by '68, the jazz market was shifting. Hard bop was cooling. Soul-jazz and fusion were heating up. This session was Hubbard testing the waters-could he make pop tunes swing without losing his identity? The answer was yes, but it didn't make him rich. The record sold modestly, got some FM radio play, and then faded. It wasn't until the '90s and early 2000s that crate diggers rediscovered it, and by then, clean copies were already scarce.

The cultural afterlife is subtle but persistent. "Little Sunflower" became a jazz standard, covered by everyone from Bob James to Pat Metheny. "Afro-Harping" became a sample source-hip-hop producers lifted the harp riff and the bassline for beats throughout the '90s and 2000s. You might not know the album, but you've heard the DNA. And that's the best kind of influence-invisible but undeniable.

Collector's Corner: The Final Audit

Here's the smart play. If you want the sound without the price tag, grab the Tidal Waves Music reissue for $21.99. It's cut from good sources, the pressing is clean, and it'll get you 95% of the way there. If you want the real deal-the original Atlantic gatefold with the tri-color label-expect to pay $60-$80 for a VG+ copy. Make sure the seller provides photos of the deadwax and the label. Ask about playback quality, not just visual grading. A VG+ that plays VG++ is a better buy than a NM that crackles.

And if you're on the fence, remember this: 4,566 collectors want it. Only 839 have it. That ratio doesn't lie. This isn't a hype record. It's a listening record. And those are the ones that age best.

Does your copy have the original Atlantic inner sleeve, or did it come generic? Tell us your runout numbers. We want to know what's out there.

Ready to add this one to your shelf? Grab the Tidal Waves reissue at Miles Waxey and hear why Freddie Hubbard's Chicago detour became a soul-jazz touchstone.