Other than their joint appearance as sidemen on
Benny Golson's
Time Speaks in 1983,
Freddie Hubbard and
Woody Shaw had never recorded together before
Double Take. At this point in their evolution,
Hubbard still gets the edge (his range is wider and he cannot be surpassed technically). Although
Shaw tended to play more harmonically sophisticated lines and is remarkably inventive, they are both trumpet masters. Their meeting on
Double Take was more of a collaboration than a trumpet battle; in fact, the brass giants only trade off briefly on "Lotus Blossom."