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"Open Sesame" and "Ready for Freddie" might be better known and generally more highly acclaimed, but for me, "Blue Spirits" is the true peak of Hubbard's acoustic output. Lengthy playing times on a number of the tracks give him and his stellar assemblage of sidemen plenty of room to improvise while still maintaining the sinewy, brooding grooves that Hubbard was no doubt looking for when he said that he was trying to get a "dark sound" on this album, pushing the set just beyond the edges of Hard Bop, yet without succumbing to or being overwhelmed by disjointedness. Definitely a worthy addition to any collection.