After the relative success of Andrew Hill’s first two Blue Note recordings...

After the relative success of Andrew Hill’s first two Blue Note recordings, he returned to Van Gelder studio in March of 1964 to record a new sextet album. As on his first two albums, Hill showcases his original compositions which he describes in the liner notes several times as “freer.” The sextet features several young players who were at the forefront of the avant-garde scene including woodwind player extraordinaire Eric Dolphy, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson (who played on Hill’s debut “Black Fire,”) and drummer Tony Williams. Rounding out the band are trumpeter Kenny Dorham and bassist Richard Davis. In the liner notes, Nat Hentoff explains that Hill avoided to listening to any jazz for the year prior to this recording; Hill explains “I have to concentrate on finding my own way.”

“Refuge” starts the record off on a heady note, with a pounding 6/8 pulse underscoring a knotty polyphonic melody from the horns and harmonically colorful punctuations by Hill, who takes the first solo. In it, Hill often references the melody and form of the tune, but finds ways to do it that challenge the rhythm section. They’re up to the challenge though and seem able to flexibly respond to the many curveballs he throws them. Dolphy comes in next on alto, spitting fire and sounding for all the world like Charlie Parker’s tormented ghost. Dorham takes things in a more subtle direction and the rhythm section responds magnificently. After a walking bass solo and a fanfare-like interlude, Henderson wails his way into an energetic solo that seems to inspire the rhythm section to new heights. This gives way to a rhythmically free solo by Williams and then back into the main theme out.

Upon hearing “New Monastery,” Francis Wolff said the tune reminded him of something Monk had once written, and that comment inspired the tune’s title. Once again, the horn lines weave playfully in and out of each other, this time against the backdrop of a jaunty swing. Dorham moves toward melodic abstraction in his solo, playing against the rhythm and harmony, but Dolphy takes advantage of the swing to deliver a searing, sarcastically bluesy solo on alto. Hill hints at the blues in his solo as well, but always with his unique sense of harmony (extensively using Major 2nd’s in his right hand) and patently unpredictable rhythmic concept. Henderson seems inspired by Dolphy’s skewed bop lines and echoes these sentiments but also mixes in some simple and melancholy melodic ideas. Dolphy switches to bass clarinet for “Spectrum” which Hill intended to show a wide range of emotions. The piece is episodic, with each soloist trying to express a different mood. This time around the variation comes in the form of time signatures which change often but within the constraints of fairly static harmony. The tune is well suited to highlight the incredible flexibility and imaginative playing of the rhythm section.

In “Flight 19” it’s difficult to tell where the composition ends and the improv begins at times. Here the band uses two tonal centers, C and D flat, as their structure. Hill leads the way for most of the tune and the horns improvise with him, sporadically but collectively. It’s the shortest piece on the album, but probably the most musically deep in terms of effective composition and the interaction of the whole group. “Dedication” is meant to express a feeling of “great loss” according to Hill and is carefully orchestrated to highlight its rather lyrical melody with the horns alternating between polyphony and unison. It’s a mark of Tony Williams’ remarkable maturity (he was just 18 at the time of the recording) that he adds only the most subtle background color to the piece with his light brushwork. Dolphy’s melancholy bass clarinet solo is surprisingly lyrical, while Hill creates quite a bit of melodic abstraction and colorful flurries of notes in his. Henderson adds a new dimension to the piece with a whole-tone inspired scale that sounds very influenced by Coltrane. After a restatement of the beautiful theme, the album closes on a somber note.

From start to finish the album is a masterpiece and sets a new high standard for the blend of traditionalism and avant-garde that would come to be known as post-bop. As much as any jazz musician, Hill found a way to develop his own sound and approach through musically deep, carefully crafted compositions and like-minded players to interpret them. In particular, Eric Dolphy’s facility within multiple woodwinds adds extra color to the complex music, but in their solos (and comping) each member of the band contributes something unique and helps shape the music. Despite the music’s inherent complexity and the musicians’ obvious virtuosity, Hill stresses in the liner notes that all of these players value imagination and emotional expression over the technical aspects of the music. It’s a masterpiece of the post-bop genre and definitely an essential listen for any open-minded jazz fan.

Compulsion>Point of Departure

why do i get the feeling im reading a jtg review.

i only really like hard bop

how did this become a meme album i don't understand, how do people fixate on this random post-bop record without realizing there are hundreds from the 60s that are just as good?

Fucking rockism

>there are hundreds from the 60s that are just as good?
Can you name a few?

The Straight Horn of Steve Lacy
Ramblin' with the Paul Bley trio
Gary Burton's A Genuine Tong Funeral
Chico Hamelton's the Dealer
Jimmy Wood's Conflict
Charles Lloyd's Forest Flower
Dewey Redman's Look for the Black Star

I've only heard Chico Hamilton The Dealer but it's nowhere near as good as Black Fire, Judgement or Point of Departure

shut the FUCK up rockist

I didn't say you couldn't prefer one to the other. But there's nothing particular about Andrew Hill in general that makes him the only post-bop bandleader worthy of being discussed.

>the only post-bop bandleader worthy of being discussed.
Who said or implied that?

>what is de facto

>liking andrew hill is now rockist

So when was the last time you started a thread about any of these artists then?

I don't even see this album posted so much, why do you hate it so much?

you must not go into jazz threads very often
Good idea
>This Summer
>One man will take on the impossible
>Getting Sup Forums into jazz
>By making hundreds of threads about all the albums they could find in 15 minutes of research
hell yeah good call

Even better idea:
>This Summer
>One man will take on the impossible
>Ruining every thread that so much as mentions jazz
>by whining in them when people like any artist outside of the select few that he thinks are underrated
hell yeah your way is way better

I'm saying one is disproportionally talked about and the hundreds of others are ignored completely.

how on earth did you come to the conclusion that I'm concerned a select few are underrated?

>what is de facto

wow it's hard to imagine that Sup Forums would disproportionately talk about a few select albums and ignore others. do you really think something like that could go on?

maybe we should implement an auto-ban system for anybody who posts albums that get posted too much. do you have an email address where someone can reach you so you can let us know which albums you feel are posted too much?

...

Please explain your reasoning here, I have no idea how your conclusion is de facto

yeah my school email is [email protected]

nice reading comprehension

>one is disproportionally talked about and the hundreds of others are ignored completely.
>I'm concerned a select few are underrated
These are the same thing

what an outlandishly illogical statement. I'd formalize this into some set theory for you except you wouldn't even bother to read it and just keep on shitposting.

what a complete and utter fallacy. I'd explain to you how you're completely incorrect except that it wouldn't do any good because you can't get hard anyway

So you'll complain endlessly that the artists get ignored but can't be bothered to start a thread about them?

In your logic, explaining how I'm incorrect would be the same as explaining how everyone else but me is correct.

I'm complaining that the people on this board show literally no initiative in searching for jazz music at all, but will still freak out on the arbitrarily selected peer-approved albums that they end up getting exposed to. It's a much larger, systemic issue than the fact that they're not exposed to more music.

No, it's actually the opposite but I can understand how you got confused

>but will still freak out
who's freaking out?

In your logic, understanding how I got confused would be the same as being unable to understand how everyone else in the world could get confused.

I know you're confused, you don't have to tell me

Then what is the point in you coming here at all? All I can think of is that you must enjoy complaining and trying to feel superior to other people because you think you've heard music they haven't.

>post a review of an album that I thought Sup Forums might find interesting and maybe even lead to some discussion
>thread turns immediately into shit flinging