Tempest in the Colosseum [live]

by Richard S. Ginell Only five days after The Quintet concerts in California, V.S.O.P. was caught live again on tape in Tokyo's Den-En Colosseum for another Japanese CBS/Sony release. "Tempest" is a good description, for this CD contains more volatile ensemble playing than its Columbia predecessor; clearly some tighter bonding took place since the trans-Pacific flight. The notion that Freddie Hubbard is filling in for Miles Davis in a reunion of his old quintet does not have much relevance, for Hubbard is always his own man, in command of his reverberant tone quality and idiosyncratic flurries that owe very little to Miles. Only "Lawra" is duplicated from The Quintet, and there is the additional treat of hearing Hubbard's masterpiece "Red Clay" performed to a turn by this crack quintet.