Alfred Lion, founder of Blue Note records, reaction to encountering pianist Andrew Hill's music said it was exactly like the experience he had the first time he heard Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols. Lion and Blue Note devoted most of the 1960s to recording sessions for Hill. His sixties sessions were unique post-Monk visions somewhere between bop and the avant-garde. Like Herbie Nichols, Hill didn't receive the deserved public recognition during his Blue Note career. And unlike Monk, he didn't persist in the New York scene suffering in semi-obscurity until being "discovered" by the masses. Hill moved to the West Coast, spending the 1970s and 80s teaching and performing solo recitals.
His return to New York a few years ago signaled a readiness to enter the jazz dialogue once again. Earlier this year, he, along with guitarist Jim Hall, sat in as sidemen on Greg Osby's four star recording The Invisible Hand (Blue Note). This release, as leader for Palmetto, assembles a quintet of instruments that parallel his 60s opus Point Of Departure. Eschewing bop for melancholy, Hill's all too personal music is thoughtful, meditative, and accessibly intellectual. He has found a musical soulmate in alto saxophonist Marty Ehrlich. The 45 year-old reedist plays a cerebral horn a la John Carter and Julius Hemphill. Joined by young lion Greg Tardy and Ron Horton of the Jazz Composer's Alliance, Hill develops a complete suite of music. From horn chorale work to the Monk influenced piano of "ML," Hill plays with shifting time sequences and patterns. Exactly the attractiveness he has to Greg Osby and his sidemen Ehrlich and Horton. "Tough Love" opens with an allusion to "Thanks For The Memories" before exercising some elegant demons. "15/8" another variant timepiece allows his rhythm section to boil, with Ehrlich, Tardy and Horton letting their respective big dogs eat. Hill's music of the sixties opened doors for musicians like Anthony Braxton, Myra Melford, Dave Douglas, and Greg Osby. His return to the New York spotlight will definitely nudge the jazz world into new and creative directions. - Mark Corroto
Andrew Hill’s first album since 1990's But Not Farewell is also his first for Palmetto, a daring indie label for which his unorthodox music is perfectly suited. A fascinating song cycle inspired by Jean Toomer's 1923 book Cane, Dusk finds the veteran pianist at the helm of a phenomenal new sextet comprised of Ron Horton on trumpet, Gregory Tardy and Marty Ehrlich on saxophones,Scott Colley on bass, and Billy Drummond on drums. The somewhat lengthy title track, built upon a repeated bassline, has the horns executing thick harmonies and darting unison passages. "Sept" and "15/8" are extended, frenetic forays into odd meter. "Tough Love" and "Focus" are unaccompanied piano solos that offer new insights into Hill’s unpredictable musical language. "ML" and "Ball Square" are two relatively brief selections: the former a waltz, the latter an uptempo swing with a half-time interlude that strongly evokes Charles Mingus "T.C." is a tribute to the late saxophonist Thomas Chapin, featuring Tardy and Ehrlich on dueling bass clarinets. (No bass clarinet credits are given on the CD jacket.) With Dusk, Andrew Hill makes it plain that his uncompromising musical vision is intact, undiluted, and perhaps more advanced than ever. - David R. Adler
Tracks
1. Dusk
2. ML
3. Ball Square
4. Tough Love
5. septiembre
6. T.C.
7. 15/8
8. Focus
SCOTT COLLEY bass
BILL DRUMMOND drums
ANDREW HILL piano
MARTY EHRLICH saxophone
GREG TARDY saxophone, clarinet, flute
RON HORTON Trumpet
All compositions by Andrew Hill
Recorded at Maggie’s Farm September/October 1999
Palmetto Records - PM2057