Eddie Hubble

As a combo name, the World's Greatest Jazz Band could certainly set off a few alarms for arrogance. Trombonist Eddie Hubble's affiliation with said combo would hardly be a matter to question, however. He and fellow WGJB member Bob Wilber, a clarinetist and soprano saxophonist, were running a combo together when they were both still going to high school in Scarsdale. The trombonist's longevity on the classic jazz scene could also be in the running for some kind of legitimate "world's greatest" status. He made his debut in a revue entitled Blackouts in the early '40s and still seemed to be going strong more than 60 years later. Hubble's father was also a trombonist whose professional turf consisted of radio broadcasts in Los Angeles. The junior trombonist also started out on the Hollywood scene, moving to New York City in 1944. While not yet out of high school he already had names such as drummer Buddy Rich on his résumé, subsequently performing with bandleaders Doc Evans, Alvino Rey, and Eddie Condon, among others. In the late '40s Hubble also had his own outfit, recording the Savoy album Jazz at Storyville in 1952. For several years beginning in 1953 he worked with the Six, something of a precursor to the WGJB. The latter all-star aggregation was initially formed in 1968 by Bob Haggart and Yank Lawson. In the intervening years, Hubble tried out home bases in both Ohio and Connecticut, running his own small groups as well as teaming up with trumpeter Muggsy Spanier. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi