black fire

Andrew Hill was playing with fire as he revealed a unique vision on his accessible and experimental debut for Blue Note Records.  Born and raised in south side Chicago, he tapdanced and played accordion outside local clubs and was encouraged by musicians.  At the age of thirteen, he began playing piano.  Hill would recount:  "Chicago was a very interesting place when I was growing up. There wasn’t anyone lettered or intellectual about the music, or about what someone else was doing; it was a venue big enough for everyone to flourish and do their thing. But it was category-less. It was organic, like an African modal situation, in which the performer would play in all the different voices. Jazz wasn’t an art form; before television and integration got strong, it was the spiritual element that kept the community together. The music was coming from the streets. Most people talk about Blue Note like it was a philanthropic institution! It wasn’t that. It carried the heartbeat of the popular music in the black communities. That’s why people could really play by ear in those days, because it was so accessible.”

He toured and played with jazz luminaries like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis,  Dinah Washington, and Coleman Hawkins.  He formed a  trio with bassist Malachi Favors and drummer James Slaughter  and recorded 'So In Love' for the Warwick label in 1956.  It didn't get released until 1960.  Hill moved to New York and was contracted by Alfred Lion for Blue Note Records, beginning a fruitful period for the unconventional pianist as a band leader.  

'Black Fire' was recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey with Lion producing.  The session featured Andrew Hill on piano, Joe Henderson on saxophone, Richard Davis on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums.  The lineup was short lived, according to Hill:    "We were really getting ready to work, but the only wrench that was thrown in that was right after we did a few nights at Birdland and a few other places, Joe joined Horace Silver. So that was the end of that for a while... I really loved the way Roy Haynes played during that time. I still love his playing, but I was really enthralled during that period."




http://www.andrewhilljazz.com/




"Pumpkin'" – 5:24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUyfcnOCIOk


"Subterfuge" – 8:04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky-RLIawEW0



"Black Fire" – 6:56
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSwhHSlOoBc



"Cantarnos" – 5:42
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u11EZ3joeY


"Tired Trade" – 5:51
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRJqncygyXY



"McNeil Island" – 2:58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ_eHEVSsdg



"Land of Nod" – 5:48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36i3zFQBVho



full album:

https://myspace.com/andrewhillmusic/music/album/black-fire-the-rudy-van-gelder-edition-18987909