|
|
 Andrew Hill (born 1937)
Point Of Departure
Hill's whole career has been marked by the silences that punctuate his compositions. Of the important bop and post-bop pianists -Bud Powell, Horace Silver, Mal Waldron, Paul Bley, Cecil Taylor- he is the least known and most erratically documented. And if Hill's primary influence is Thelonious Monk, the connection is more a matter of spirit and personality than of indirect technical inheritance. He is in every respect an original. |
|
One of the very great jazz albums of the 1960s. Nowhere is Hill's determination to build on the example of Monk clearer than on the punningly titled New Monastery. Hill's solo, like that on the long previous track, Refuge, is constructed out of literally dozens of subtle shifts in the time-signature, most of them too sublimal to be strictly counted. Typically, Hill is prepared to hold the basic beat himself and allow Williams to range very freely. Henderson's solos on Spectrum and Refuge are exemplary as well as Davis's fine, almost pianistic lines. The mood of the session switches dramatically on the final Dedication, a dirge with a beautiful structure that represents the sharpest contrast to the rattling progress of the previous Flight 19 and brings the set full circle. Hill's writing and arranging skills matured dramatically with Point Of Departure. Unfortunately, he had the opportunity to record with similar forces only occasionally in years to come. An essential purchase.
|
