Give me some Andrew Hill to add to my long-term wishlist

[mulderxcoltrane]

Hi all!

So far, you've been helpful on the boards to recommend some early Jackie McLean and flesh out what I need to beef up my Dexter Gordon collection.

Next: Andrew Hill

I have "Point of Departure" but admittedly, bought it b/c Joe Henderson plays on it.

My listening style leans toward bop (Dexter Gordon and early Coltrane).

So...what Andrew Hill (if any) would I like?

There are some really good MP3 deals on the Mosaic Select 16 set.

[Alypius]

Mulder, As you might guess from my avatar, I'm a big fan of Andrew Hill. After Point of Departure (which is the essential starting-point), I would recommend one of his earlier works Black Fire from 1963. My personal favorite is Passing Ships, recorded in 1969, but only released in 2003. Two of his final works are masterpieces: Dusk (2000) and Time Lines (Blue Note, 2005). Dusk was named "record of the year" in 2000 and resulted in a reassessment of his career and contribution. This got the record companies to go back through their archives. It resulted in discoveries of lost sessions (Passing Ships), long-ignored sessions (Pax, Blue Black), and reissues of out-of-print and hard-to-find masterpieces (Dance with Death, Compulsion).

Over on the thread "Playlists for Newcomers" (http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=43449), I regularly post recommended iPod playlists. Here's the one I have for Andrew Hill:

1. The Brown Queen (6:22) (from Passing Ships, 2003)
2. Passing Ships (7:08) (from Passing Ships, 2003)
3. Subterfuge (8:04) (from Black Fire, 1963)
4. Refuge (12:17) (from Point of Departure, 1964)
5. Ghetto Lights (6:16) (from Bobby Hutcherson, Dialogue, 1965 / 2002)
6. Yellow Violet (5:33) (from Dance with Death, 1968)
7. Roots N’Herbs (3:40) (from Pax, recorded in 1965; only released in 2006)
8. Dusk (12:06) (from Dusk, 2000)
9. Divine Revelation (8:19) (from A Beautiful Day, 2002)
10. Malachi (solo piano version) (5:32) (from Time Lines, 2005)

This playlist, like most of those I posted, are under 80 minutes. That results in shortchanging Hill’s breadth and chopping out a number of his remarkable compositions. But it should give you a taste of the range of his style. You should also explore Hill's contributions as a sideman-composer. I've included only one example here (his contribution to Bobby Hutcherson's avant garde classic Dialogue), but check out his contributions to records ranging from Joe Henderson's Our Thing (Blue Note, 1963) to Greg Osby's The Invisible Hand (Blue Note, 2000)

[robmid]

My recommendation for Andrew Hill: Get all his Blue Notes first and then get all the rest next. Every one of his recordings is interesting and worthy of many listens. My favorite song of his is Poinsettia on Mosaic Select from an amazing unreleased album with a string trio, I believe.

Cheers, Robert

[xybert]

I don't think i've ever heard an Andrew Hill album that i didn't like. You can't go wrong really. I'll give a shout out to Pax as, apart from being a typically awesome Andrew Hill album, it features one of my favourite Andrew Hill compositions: Erato http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8e6TBOMqf8

[escher]

my two favorites are Judgement and Andrew!!! without question.
But I have to say that my preference is without a question for his albums of the sixties (altough as Alypius says he did great stuff during all his career). This is my top 5:

Judgment
Andrew!!!
Compulsion!!!!
Black Fire
Point of departure

[JBH]

Originally Posted by robmid

My recommendation for Andrew Hill: Get all his Blue Notes first and then get all the rest next. Every one of his recordings is interesting and worthy of many listens. My favorite song of his is Poinsettia on Mosaic Select from an amazing unreleased album with a string quartet, I believe.

Cheers, Robert

I second the recommendation to get all his blue notes (including the mosaic select set). All the ones mentioned specifically are great. I would also add Dance of Death and his last one, Timelines.

I have a few of his other albums for other labels. They are still good quality music, but I just find myself listening to the Blue Note stuff a lot more.

I always hear something new when I listen to his compositions. Seems to never get old...

[JBH]

The title is Dance With Death, not Dance of Death

[mulderxcoltrane]

Originally Posted by Alypius

Mulder, As you might guess from my avatar, I'm a big fan of Andrew Hill. After Point of Departure (which is the essential starting-point), I would recommend one of his earlier works Black Fire from 1963. My personal favorite is Passing Ships, recorded in 1969, but only released in 2003. Two of his final works are masterpieces: Dusk (2000) and Time Lines (Blue Note, 2005). Dusk was named "record of the year" in 2000 and resulted in a reassessment of his career and contribution. This got the record companies to go back through their archives. It resulted in discoveries of lost sessions (Passing Ships), long-ignored sessions (Pax, Blue Black), and reissues of out-of-print and hard-to-find masterpieces (Dance with Death, Compulsion).

Over on the thread "Playlists for Newcomers" (http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=43449), I regularly post recommended iPod playlists. Here's the one I have for Andrew Hill:

1. The Brown Queen (6:22) (from Passing Ships, 2003)
2. Passing Ships (7:08) (from Passing Ships, 2003)
3. Subterfuge (8:04) (from Black Fire, 1963)
4. Refuge (12:17) (from Point of Departure, 1964)
5. Ghetto Lights (6:16) (from Bobby Hutcherson, Dialogue, 1965 / 2002)
6. Yellow Violet (5:33) (from Dance with Death, 1968)
7. Roots N’Herbs (3:40) (from Pax, recorded in 1965; only released in 2006)
8. Dusk (12:06) (from Dusk, 2000)
9. Divine Revelation (8:19) (from A Beautiful Day, 2002)
10. Malachi (solo piano version) (5:32) (from Time Lines, 2005)

This playlist, like most of those I posted, are under 80 minutes. That results in shortchanging Hill’s breadth and chopping out a number of his remarkable compositions. But it should give you a taste of the range of his style. You should also explore Hill's contributions as a sideman-composer. I've included only one example here (his contribution to Bobby Hutcherson's avant garde classic Dialogue), but check out his contributions to records ranging from Joe Henderson's Our Thing (Blue Note, 1963) to Greg Osby's The Invisible Hand (Blue Note, 2000)

Thanks for the well thought reply.

My only follow-up question is this: Are all of his Blue Note releases in the realm of avant garde?

[v1p]

In my book his masterworks are "Judgment" and "Point of Departure" with maybe his greatest playing ever being on the first one, but the same story here - you can't go wrong with any of his Blue Note recordings from the Sixties. "Black Fire" is a great one to start with, because it contains familiar rhythmic and melodic patterns and the improvisations are not too advanced for a newcomer in the realms of his musical world to digest.

[mulderxcoltrane]

Originally Posted by v1p

"Black Fire" is a great one to start with, because it contains familiar rhythmic and melodic patterns and the improvisations are not too advanced for a newcomer in the realms of his musical world to digest.

This is good to know - thanks!

Anything else of his that would feel similar to Black Fire?

[escher]

Originally Posted by mulderxcoltrane

Thanks for the well thought reply.

My only follow-up question is this: Are all of his Blue Note releases in the realm of avant garde?

Probably New grass is the most conventional one.
edit: i'm sorry, the album is "Grass roots", "New grass" is an album made by Albert Ayler.

[JETman]

One could certainly argue that a good place to start would be with the Hill solo pieces presented here:

http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MS-023

in order for the poster to get an idea of Hill's piano playing stripped bare.

[mulderxcoltrane]

Originally Posted by JETman

One could certainly argue that a good place to start would be with the Hill solo pieces presented here:

http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MS-023

in order for the poster to get an idea of Hill's piano playing stripped bare.

I'd been looking at that; but the price would make me wait awhile, and I don't know if it'd still be available by the time I'm ready.

[JETman]

Originally Posted by mulderxcoltrane

I'd been looking at that; but the price would make me wait awhile, and I don't know if it'd still be available by the time I'm ready.

My point is that nobody but you can tell you what you'll like. At least, on this set without the interference of other instrumentation, you'll be able to get a clear idea of whether or not you even like Hill's piano playing.

I tend to gravitate towards music that is a little off-kilter. So I'm into everything Hill, McLean, Dolphy, Hutcherson, Moncur, Monk and Herbie Nichols (he is another one to check out, for sure).

If you decide you like Hill, seek out the Mosaic 7 cd set, and definitely pick up the 3 cd Select of unreleased group recordings. There's some great stuff on the Soul Note and Steeplechase labels, as well as on a Japanese label called East Wind (one of which is here):

http://www.testoftimerecords.com/titles/tot10.html

[v1p]

I also have to agree with the majority of material included in the playlist presented by Alypius. Take his solo in "Refuge" - he stays very close to the chord progression and while it's not as deep and interesting as other his solos, it's far more easy to follow. The same goes for Eric's statement. The track as a whole is fairly traditional in form and execution. By his standards, of course.