Andrew Hill - Pax (1965 - relased 2006)

Originally recorded in 1965, and released piecemeal on other collections (ONE FOR ONE and MOSAIC SELECT), the sessions for PAX didn't appear in their entirety until 2006. The revered pianist Andrew Hill is in superb company here, with Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Richard Davis, and Joe Chambers on board to help carve out slices of unique, knotty post-bop. Hill is a master of merging the best elements of the avant garde and the mainstream, and the too-long-shelved PAX is proof positive of that skill. Better a Blue Note gem late than never.

Photographer: Francis Wolff.

Personnel: Andrew Hill (piano); Joe Henderson (saxophone, tenor saxophone); Richard Davis (upright bass); Freddie Hubbard (cornet); Joe Chambers (drums).

Liner Note Author: Michael Cuscuna.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Andrew Hill - Compulsion (1965)

"Compulsion" is one of Andrew Hill's freest and most "out" albums, here re-released by Blue Note in RVG remastered format. It features Andrew Hill (piano) with Freddie Hubbard (trumpet and flugelhorn), John Gilmore (tenor and bass clarinet), Cecil McBee (bass) and Joe Chambers (drums) with added percussion from Nadi Qamar (African drums and percussion) and Renaud Simmons (congas and percussion). Richard Davis plays bass on one track ("Premonition").

The album takes a more uncompromising stance than other free albums by Andrew Hill (such as the excellent "Judgment" or "Pax") but retains coherence, mainly because of the African pulse of percussion that underpins the music, carrying it forward and adding structure. John Gilmore (seldom heard outside of the Sun Ra context) adds to the coherency, allowing Andrew Hill and Freddie Hubbard to stray as far "out" as they wish.

Overall, this is an involving album with more than a hint of a barely restrained melancholy that somehow can't be kept from breaking through the abstraction at the surface.

As the last re-release in his lifetime, it is a fitting tribute to the memory of this great jazz musician and a measure of the continuing challenge of his music.

Personnel: Andrew Hill (piano); Cecil McBee, Richard Davis [track 3](double bass); John Gilmore (tenor saxophone); Freddie Hubbard (trumpet, flugelhorn); Joe Chambers (drums); Renaud Simmons (conga, percussion); Nadi Qamar (percussion, african drums, thumb piano).

DOWNLOAD HERE

Andrew Hill - Andrew (1964)

ANDREW finds the avant-garde composer and pianist Andrew Hill following up his landmark 1964 LP, POINT OF DEPARTURE, with a more flowing quintet session, featuring the estimable vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and Sun Ra tenor saxophonist John Gilmore (in a rare appearance outside of the Arkestra). This is the Blue Note sound of the '60s at its best, cutting edge yet beautifully produced with room enough for full, exploratory improvisations by all concerned. Hutcherson in particular provides a warm, fluent foil to Hill's more abstract conceptions, and Gilmore's bright tone and energetically structured solos bring even more fire to the mix. Andrew Hill remained somewhat underrated throughout his career, but few musicians of the time possessed his special intellectual integrity, the mark of a true composer. ANDREW captures him in a peak period.

Liner Note Authors: Michael Cuscuna; Don Heckman.

Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (06/25/1964).

Photographer: Francis Wolff.

Personnel: Andrew Hill (piano); Richard Davis (double bass); John Gilmore (tenor saxophone); Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone); Joe Chambers (drums).

DOWNLOAD HERE

Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1964)

The Rudy Van Gelder Edition of POINT OF DEPARTURE includes an essay by Bob Blumenthal.

Digitally remastered using 24-bit resolution by Rudy Van Gelder (1998, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey).

This is part of Blue Note Records "Rudy Van Gelder" Editions series.

Trying to describe Andrew Hill's POINT OF DEPARTURE in words is like trying to explain the pictures made by a kaleidoscope--it's impossible to be completely articulate about something so magically unique. Of course, with an assembled cast that includes Kenny Dorham, Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson, Richard Davis, and Tony Williams all in their creative prime, Hill would have been hard-pressed not to come up with a masterpiece of these proportions. The result is, indeed, a record that is a beacon of the New Thing movement, which was coming to the foreground in the early '60s.

From oddly swinging cuts like "New Monastery" to the intricately mesmerizing "Flight 19," Hill proves to be a both a pianist and composer of incomparable range as he and his legendary sidemen explore the furthest reaches of group improvisation. The churning waltz "Refuge" offers intense ensemble passages that constantly shift colors and textures as Williams drives the group with hurricane-like waves of cymbals. The closing ballad, "Dedication," is a beautifully esoteric piece that, like the kaleidoscope, must be experienced to truly capture its true nature. For most, this will be a DEPARTURE that will take listeners on an indescribable journey.

Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 21, 1964. Originally released on Blue Note (4167). Includes liner notes by Nat Hentoff.

Personnel: Andrew Hill (piano); Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); Kenny Dorham (trumpet); Richard Davis (bass); Tony Williams (drums).

Producer: Alfred Lion.

Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.Q (9/99, p.132) - 4 stars (out of 5) - "...[Hill] created his own brooding, pulsing, abstract style. There's some miraculous playing on this 1964 date, and Rudy Van Gelder's remastering allows it all to shine through..."

DOWNLOAD HERE

Andrew Hill - Judgement (1964)

Andrew Hill's previous 1964 outing on Blue Note, the trio-only SMOKE STACK, had drummer Roy Haynes sounding so much like Elvin Jones that Hill brought in the real thing for next quartet session, JUDGEMENT! True to form, the always fiery Jones gets things off to an explosive start on "Siete Ocho," with Hill and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson keeping up as best they can. The warmly inventive Hutcherson remained an ideal musical partner for the abstract-minded pianist-composer, which was somewhat the same role that the bluesy vibraphonist Milt Jackson played with John Lewis in the Modern Jazz Quartet--except that, as a pianist, Andrew Hill is nowhere near as restrained as the spare and sometimes decorous Lewis. The '60s avant-gardist is a prodigious, meaty musician, taking us on a dark, chromatic journey in all his extended improvisations. JUDGEMENT! is like an MJQ session opened up for a musically (and politically) radicalized '60s.

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on January 8, 1964.

Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder.

Liner Note Authors: Leonard Feather; Bob Blumenthal.

Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (01/08/1964).

Photographer: Francis Wolff.

Personnel: Andrew Hill (piano); Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone); Richard Davis (bass); Elvin Jones (drums).

DOWNLOAD HERE

Andrew Hill - Smoke Stack (1963)

This 1963 trio session was only the avant-garde pianist and composer Andrew Hill's second release for Blue Note, with whom he would enjoy a fruitful association throughout the decade. Already, on the previous BLACK FIRE, Hill had established himself as a worthy, somewhat more mainstream alternative to the radical Cecil Taylor. His musical style is heavily chromatic, both dense and angular, similar in part to McCoy Tyner's equally muscular explorations. For the most part however, SMOKE STACK takes things at a ruminative, deceptively leisurely pace. Still, the venerable drummer Roy Haynes remains energetic, supple. and busy throughout the set, much like the fiery Elvin Jones with the John Coltrane Quartet. One highlight: Richard Davis's arco bass stylings, moaning and keening throughout the exotic "Wailing Wall."

Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder.

Liner Note Author: Bob Blumenthal.

Recording information: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (12/13/1963).

Photographer: Francis Wolff.

Personnel: Andrew Hill (piano); Richard Davis, Eddie Khan (bass); Roy Haynes (drums).

DOWNLOAD HERE

Andrew Hill - Black Fire (1963)

Pianist Andrew Hill's most notable contribution to jazz may be his ability to creatively combine bebop with the avant-garde. On 1963's BLACK FIRE, the oft-misunderstood jazz composer creates a tonal landscape that is at once steeped in bop, yet ambitiously searching for new harmonic and structural vistas.

Joined by legendary drummer Roy Haynes, tenor great Joe Henderson, and bassist Richard Davis, Hill performs a set of nine originals that seek to push the musical envelope. Each musician explores melody, harmony, and rhythm in ways they normally didn't, particularly Henderson, who expertly adapts his style and sound to the tricky compositions of Hill. Every member of the quartet gets a chance to stretch on this album, and there is more "soloing equality" on BLACK FIRE than on most late-'50s or early-'60s records. Indeed, this was the dawning of a new age in jazz, and Hill was one of this era's greatest pioneers. Standout tracks include the moody and rubato "McNeil Island" and the knotty "Pumpkin."

Additional Tracks

Liner Note Authors: A.B. Spellman; Bob Blumenthal.

Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (11/08/1963).

Photographer: Francis Wolff.

Personnel: Andrew Hill (piano); Andrew Hill; Richard Davis (bass instrument); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); Roy Haynes (drums).

Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder.

RS LINK
DOWNLOAD HERE