31 December 2019 — Jazz on the Tube

[One of my favourite artists. I actually met him in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1975. WB.]

A dynamic performance by pianist Andrew Hill and his trio

Andrew Hill (1931-2007) was a masterful pianist and a very original composer whose music fell into the avant-garde but was really in its own category.

A professional jazz pianist by 1953, he was originally a bop-based player and gained experience working with Dinah Washington, Johnny Hartman and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

However Hill’s Blue Note recordings of 1963-70 as a leader found him playing creative new music, utilizing such forward-looking musicians as Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson and Woody Shaw.

Andrew Hill was active until shortly before his death in 2007, often creating uncompromising music that managed to be both inside (within chord changes) and outside at the same time.

Hill is featured on a stirring improvisation at a 2004 concert in Brazil with bassist John Hebert and drummer Nasheet Waits.

-Scott Yanow