Siete Ocho

Checking in from the Caribbean, listening to jazz to pass time in the evening.  

Spectrum

"Spectrum" is one of Andrew Hill's more challenging compositions, but a highlight from Point of Departure. Richard Davis, a legendary bassist I once met, shines here until Eric Dolphy's melancholic reassertion during a ballad-like solo, sounding a little like his breath-taking moments on George Russell's take on "Round Midnight." Kenny Dorham, however, does not quite fit in here but the music matches the song's title. Hill's versatility without losing his authenticity always impresses. 

Grass Roots

Lovably funky number from the ever-quirky Andrew Hill, a Chicago-born jazz pianist who bizarrely claimed to be born in Haiti. I have always appreciated Hill for his ability to bridge the gap between more 'out there' jazz and bop, a feat that I also admire in the work of Eric Dolphy. As a sideman, Hill has proven how talented he is as a composer for other artists, such as Bobby Hutcherson. Lee Morgan and Ron Carter round things out on this funky number, particularly Carter's walking bass. 

Two Versions of Catta

Bobby Hutcherson was the first to compose the Andrew Hill number in 1965, on Dialogue. Listen!

Andrew Hill recorded his composition with a large band in 1969 as "Noon Tide." Definitely worth a listen for taking the song into more interesting directions, particularly the brass.

Of the two versions, I actually prefer the latter. Something about experimental larger ensembles playing jazz moves me, like Coltrane's Africa/Brass or Oliver Nelson's The Blues and The Abstract Truth.

Bobby Hutcherson's Dialogue

1. "Catta" (Hill) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHcmTwoa51A
2. "Idle While" (Chambers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HApGq9sttbs
3. "Les Noirs Marchant" (Hill) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnu2ChBcd7U
4. "Dialogue" (Chambers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZycoxXNgI&
5. "Ghetto Lights" (Hill) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ppFgyIqw0
6. "Jasper" (Hill) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUiokA9LSJ4

Although listed as a Bobby Hutcherson album, pianist Andrew Hill wrote 4 of the 6 songs on the album and might as well get the credit for this fascinating avant-garde jazz gem. Though not quite free jazz, it strays lightyears away from conventional hard bop, probably due to the fact that most of the album was composed by post-bop master, Andrew Hill. This recording session from 1965 also includes  trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers, Richard Davis, a jazz bassist and professor at UW-Madison, and Joe Chambers, an excellent drummer. Hill and Chambers contribute compositions that fuse Latin jazz, blues, bop, march music, and a ballad to create inventive jazz and a piece of art. Hutcherson also plays marimba in addition to the vibraphone, Sam Rivers switches it up by playing flute on some tracks, and somehow it all meshes together well, even though it may not be nearly as accessible as his later album, Stick-Up! which is reviewed here. http://ryfigueroa.blogspot.com/2012/08/bobby-hutchersons-stick-up.html

Beginning with "Catta," Hill's Latin jazz piece, the group lays down a descarga, or Latin jam session with the characteristic clave rhythm provided by percussionist Joe Chambers in the intro. After the short, but catchy and angular theme, Sam Rivers takes off into his saxophone solo while Hill plays the essential vamp or ostinato on the piano as the foundation of the tune and Chambers provides the polyrhythmic Afro-Cuban swing needed. Sam Rivers' sax solo sounds, at times, like Eric Dolphy while approaching free jazz because of its rapid shifts between tonality and near-atonality. Freddie Hubbard's trumpet solo is far more tonal and conventional, though his longer notes around 3:20 and lines are quite catchy and danceable, unlike Rivers' solo. Hutcherson then rolls in on the vibes, playing a solo more rooted in bop that would not sound of out place in a Latin jazz jam song, partly because vibraphones and marimba are common instruments in the genre. His solo around 5:40 takes the song into interesting directions and the theme repeats itself again.

"Idle While" is the ballad on the album, and interestingly composed by Joe Chambers. It begins with the beautiful melody played by Sam Rivers on flute and Hubbard accompanying. It almost sounds too surreal or fantastical, especially with Hutcherson's vibraphones. Hubbard leads the improvisation on the tune, playing a great conventional hard bop-style solo that plays within the melody of the composition. Hutcherson's proceeding solo adds a surreal, almost dream-like quality to the song that remains, like Hubbard, within the conventions of hard bop. Richard Davis's bass, however, provides some great accompaniment until his next solo, which plays around the melody. This song would have been much better with a flute solo from Sam Rivers and perhaps piano solo by Andrew Hill, who mysteriously sits out on this track.

"Les Noirs Marchant" is Andrew Hill's ode to the Civil Rights Movement with a theme and rhythm influenced by marching bands, an early source for jazz music. The title, meaning "The Blacks Marching," is probably the most avant-garde composition on Dialogue. Andrew Hill plays some ominous lines, as does Sam Rivers and Freddie Hubbard, suggesting the conflict and turmoil of contemporary Civil Rights Movement. The conflict and search for peace represented in the march is matched by the military-style marching rhythm, which, when combined with Hutcherson's vibes and shifts in tempo symbolize the conflict between whites and blacks, between love and hate. The group improvises collectively to bring to fruition Andrew Hill's fascinating paean to the African American Civil Rights Movement, and Richard Davis provides a bass solo searing through the accompaniment of Hill's piano briefly like a saw during his pizzicato solo. Then the song moves toward chaos as everyone plays simultaneously and Chambers adds some frantic percussion. The song, which could have been better organized as a suite, then slows down, repeats the theme at the military-drums and concludes, with an ambivalent message on the success of the Civil Rights Movement.

The title track also veers toward avant-garde and free jazz. The piece has an ominous beginning, with Hutcherson's vibes and Andrew Hill's piano playing dark riffs while everyone plays together as an ensemble in collective improvisation. Hutcherson even brings out the African-sounding marimba to add to the dialogue, playing a melodic solo as Hill's piano returns and moves Chambers' composition to a further ominous direction. Like human dialogue, voices represented in this song seem to respond to each other, while simultaneously straying away from civil dialogue at times as some instrumentalists break into screams around 5:00, mainly Freddie Hubbard and Sam Rivers. Perhaps the "dialogue" aurally depicted in this song alludes to dialogue of the civil rights era and and should be seen as a comment on race relations in 1965, though the title lacks the obvious allusion in "Les Noirs Marchant."

"Ghetto Lights" and "Jasper" are the blues-rooted Andrew Hill compositions on this fine album. "Ghetto Lights" is a blues featuring a memorable Freddie Hubbard solo. An obvious reference to urban black American in 1965 and the proliferation of black ghettoization after white flight, Hubbard's soulful solo catches the desperation and hope of ghetto black America. Sam Rivers also catches that in his own bluesy clarinet solo. Chambers, Hill and Davis do a great job as rhythm section, Chambers' groove setting the stage and Davis playing some great bass licks. "Jasper" on the other hand, is a more conventional hard bop song with blues influences, but a swingin' number. Hutcherson takes off at a swinging vibraphone solo while Hill's provides accompanying blues piano riffing. Unfortunately, this album does not coalesce well with other tracks, largely because it is a bonus track added to the album, but taken alone is quite good, especially Freddie Hubbard's bop solo and Sam Rivers, who again sounds like the utterly unique Eric Dolphy.

Overall, another jazz classic featuring a veritable mix of conventional hard bop and avant-garde. Once again, it should have been listed as an Andrew Hill album because the bulk of it was written by him and he's largely responsible for the avant-garde sound that made Dialogue so unique in Blue Note's catalogue. The album's political subtext and keen attention shown toward civil rights activism and urban life for African-Americans also makes it an interesting historical record of the 1960s and shifts in jazz aesthetics, with freer and avant-garde jazz, often linked with black nationalism, becoming the predominant trend in 1960s jazz.

Andrew Hill's Black Fire

Andrew Hill, a Chicago-born jazz pianist, is one of the most unique piano composers and players in the jazz idiom. His debut album, Black Fire, is usually overlooked in favor of his subsequent release, Point of Departure. In my opinion, his debut is better and really highlights his unique voice on the piano keys. His compositions have angular melodies, which are reminiscent of Monk, but his style often sounds like 1960s Herbie Hancock in his modal phase. Like Grachan Moncur III and Wayne Shorter, Hill has some of the most memorable melodies in his music, and he's not as avant-garde as Cecil Taylor so he's much easier to listen to.

I highly recommend the title track, "Black Fire." It's a funky little piece built on Joe Henderson's bluesy saxophone and Hill's polyrhythmic approach to the piano. The title alone seems to refer to black culture and musical traditions, which would explain the polyrhythmic funkiness of the track. While embracing more traditional forms, however, Hill does not sacrifice his unique sound. The melodies are still angular and he often incorporates Afro-Cuban and Latin rhythms in several compositions. I also recommend "Subterfuge" and "Cantarnos" from this album.