Andrew Hill reached the pinnacle of his powers and surveyed the full spectrum of jazz on this dense and dissonant discovery. In his first year recording with Blue Note Records, Hill had already put out two masterful records: 'Black Fire' 'Judgement'
'Point of Departure' features Andrew Hill on piano with an all star lineup of horn players, Kenny Dorham on trumpet; Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute; and Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone; with a killer rhythm section of Richard Davis on double bass and Tony Williams on drums. The session took place at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey with Alfred Lion on production and Rudy Van Gelder on recording and engineering. Hill would remember: "This was still in the first year of my Blue Note recording contract. Eric (Dolphy) was playing at the Five Spot with Charlie Mingus. I thought I would get together with him and talk music and he was kind enough to work a few jobs with me and so I presented the idea to Blue Note and they bought it. At first Charles Lloyd was going to play tenor, but for reasons beyond anyone's control, except Charles, he couldn't make it. So consequently, Joe became tenor saxophonist. And Kenny Dorham, who could play almost anywhere, was good. And then, Tony Williams had come to town and everyone was talking about him. All of a sudden, there was a nucleus formed for the band and we just made two Blue Note rehearsals and went on and did the session...It wasn't an isolated, academic situation because there was a synergy with the jazz audiences at that time. There were no limitations. They give bebop more credit than it deserves, because bebop was not an academic situation. It was just something that the people could feel."
http://www.andrewhilljazz.com/ 'Point of Departure' full album:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAC3DD5DD7E985B81 VIDEO All music composed by Andrew Hill.
1. "Refuge" 12:16 2. "New Monastery" 7:05 3. "Spectrum" 9:47 4. "Flight 19" 4:18 5. "Dedication" 6:45
Andrew Hill found a rhythmic reconciliation in the swinging avante-garde vibes of this flea flop postbop yakety yak. He had switched around his backing band with his first two albums on Blue Note Records ( 'Black Fire' and 'Smokestack' ), retaining only bassist Richard Davis for the January 8, 1964 session at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs that produced 'Judgement!' . The album features Andrew Hill on piano; with Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone; and the rhythm section of Richard Davis on double-bass and Elvin Jones on drums. The lack of horns and the harmonic interplay between Hill and Hutcherson reveal a deeper, more complex percussive dynamic that opens up the sound. Hill would later reveal: "It was basically drafts written off my interpretation of someone else's playing, so that really was the catalyst...[All the music] was set up for [Elvin Jones' style] ...While I was at Portland State, and then I came into this phrase "African retention" (all this after the fact). To me, it's more like an alternative approach to music ...In Western civilization, melody is the major voice. Rhythm and harmony is just an accessory. I’ve always, especially since emerging on accordion with the Blues groups and the Boogie Woogie, approached rhythm as the predominant voice, with harmony as an accessory. Though many things have changed traditionally, that dynamic hasn’t changed. Always check the rhythm to hear the integrity of the music then and now, whether it’s retrospective or trying to go ahead. If it’s static and stagnant, that means the music is dead, because they have such an academic approach, and they learned all the melodies but they have no rhythmic interaction.”
Hutcherson considers: “Andrew’s music is very heavily mental...You go into rooms you wouldn’t normally enter. There’s always a little story in the melody, a reason why this tune is being played; it’s your own story, what you’re seeing as you play. He’d give you melancholy, long notes, you’d think, ‘man, how long can you hold this note so that there will be this texture?’ — then all of a sudden it burst into a chant, a hope within the note. Religious, I guess you can say…well, the religion of the bandstand…of someone’s thoughts. It was very challenging, just because of its openness; the melody could be loose as a rubber band. But just remember that it’s going to come down; the bar line is still moving at the same pace.”
http://www.andrewhilljazz.com/ 'Judgement!' full album:
https://myspace.com/andrewhillmusic/music/album/judgment-rudy-van-gelder-edition-18984962 VIDEO "Siete Ocho" - 8:58 "Flea Flop" - 7:21 "Yokada Yokada" - 5:17 "Alfred" - 7:04 "Judgment" - 6:53 "Reconciliation" - 7:24
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' "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 VIDEO
