First Light – 1984

Freddie Hubbard, one of the greatest jazz trumpeters in history, appeared on Late Nite with David Letterman in 1984.

Hubbard, who was 46 at the time, had come to fame in the early 1960s as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

He appeared on many significant albums through the years with everyone from John Coltrane (Ascension) and Sonny Rollins (East Broadway Run Down) to Max Roach and Ornette Coleman (Free Jazz) but was generally heard at his best on his own albums for Blue Note and CTI.

On the Letterman show, Hubbard performs one of his more popular numbers from the CTI years, “First Light,” with Paul Shaffer and the house band.

-Scott Yanow