Freddie Hubbard – Breaking Point

This is the best-sounding vinyl of this essential recording you can buy. Period.

Once again, Tone Poet Series made a great work and produced this faultless fantastic analog reissue.
What a pleasure to listen music in this perfect condition !
First time I really enjoy this album, like if I discovered it for the first time...

In a nutshell: pretty pretty good
Nice songs, particularly last track on side a and the first on side b
And there is some serious drumming by Joe Chambers
Wide sound stage, silent pressing
Recommended !

The only very slight negative on my copy is a dish warp on side 2 - everything else is SPOT-ON.
Vinyl is noise free & well centered mastering is at it`s finest throughout with a full range of dynamics on all tracks.
Track selection is at a very high standard even the 1st track which will put you on alter to something different from the normal blue note jazz compositions(that I own anyways),this 1st track "may" take a couple of plays to fully appreciate it`s qualities but there after everything else is per the usual hard Bop etc style with BOTH horn sections sounding very airy and intoxicating. Don`t misunderstand me here ALL five musicians are smoking and there`s some EXCELLENT drumming by Joe Chambers that will blow your mind with his artistry.
This is another Kevin Gray gem on the remastering and is/sounds pure analog,highly recommended five stars Tone Poet knocks this one waaaay out of the park,and i generally prefer the new classic series!
Vinyl front-end used:
Rega P3:RB880 tonearm,Goldring 1042 mm,Delrin Platter, Neo psu,Isoacoustic Orea bronze feet(x4)
Phono Stage:Whest Audio TWO.2 class a dual mono fully balanced phono stage,isoacoustics orea graphite feet(x3), 43db/47k ohms mm setting. Cables are Tellurium q xlr & speaker cables.

Music:5.0
Mastering/pressing: 5.0 180gm black vinyl
Inner sleeves: 4.0 white anti-static
Cover: 4.0 Tone Poet gatefold

What a stunning album! Amazingly vibrant and brilliant pressing. Quiet, too -- just a few tiny moments of ticks on mine. Super bold and dynamic tunes that will ride you hard and put you away wet. And you'll want to do it all over again tomorrow. Oof!

I have 20+ Freddie Hubbard albums, but until now I’ve never owned “Breaking Point”, or really even listened to it. I’ve had chances to buy various pressings but I never did because…I don’t know why -

When I saw it was coming out on Tone Poet, I was surprised of the choice considering Hubbard’s deep and impressive catalog (my favs would include Hub Tones, Hub Cap, Ready For Freddie, Open Sesame, The Hub of Hubbard, and others) but it was Tone Poet - which I have come to trust almost completely.

So I bought it without hesitation and I’m happy to say I was wrong to ignore this record in the past because it’s got some great tracks; but it’s the pressing that grabbed my attention. It may be the best sounding Tone Poet record I own. Very very impressive.

Makes me wonder why the hell it took me so long to take this album seriously, but the Tone Poet version is worth the wait.

Despite the cheerful calypso non-sequitur on part of the first track, I'd say the rest of the album, including much of that track, is excellent. This one was kind of a surprise to me - initially didn't care for it too much when streaming, but I'm glad I grabbed it. I put it in the same category of Shorter's All-Seeing Eye: great stuff when I'm looking for something more adventurous. It's interesting to hear this version of Mirrors after only knowing it from the Hutcherson album.

Pressing and mastering are excellent.

Questionable quality of tune on side 1 but side 2 is fantastic. Great pressing this time, 1st time too which is nice. Packaging is a delight as ever. For £25 im delighted!

Woooooo!!! Seconds in and I'm smiling ear to ear. One track in and I'm in heaven. Everyone involved killed it on this record.

I wonder what percentage of records like this are bought to languish in a seller's sale pile forever. Great recording, great mastering, great pressing. Play it.