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Andrew Hill Signs with Blue Note


Kalo

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I just received the following e-mail and thought it would be of interest:

For Immediate Release:

October 19, 2005

BLUE NOTE SIGNS ANDREW HILL

MARKS THE PIANIST/COMPOSER'S THIRD ERA WITH THE LABEL

Blue Note Records has resigned Andrew Hill 42 years after the iconoclastic pianist/composer recorded his label debut in 1963. The signing marks the beginning of Hill's third tenure with Blue Note over the course of his long and venerable career. His new quintet recording, Time Lines, which was produced by Michael Cuscuna and features trumpeter Charles Tolliver, saxophonist & clarinetist Greg Tardy, bassist John Hebert, and drummer Eric McPherson, is scheduled to be released on February 22, 2006.

Considered "the next Thelonious Monk" by Blue Note founders Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, Hill first made a name for himself with a series of groundbreaking recordings for the label between 1963-1970 that included such classic sessions as Black Fire, Judgement!, Point of Departure, and the 1969 nonet recording Passing Ships, which was first released in 2003 after the original tapes were discovered in the Blue Note vaults.

Hill returned to Blue Note in 1989, making two albums, Eternal Spirit and But Not Farewell, both of which featured the alto saxophonist Greg Osby and served as Osby's introduction to the label. Over the past several years Hill has made two critically-praised recordings for Palmetto Records, Dusk and Beautiful Day, that have won him several awards including the Jazz Journalist Association's Composer of the Year award in 2003.

Edited by Kalo
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... and features trumpeter Charles Tolliver

This is good news, too. It's nice to see Charles recording again. I wonder if a BN contract is in his future, too.

One can only hope. Isn't this the first time Tolliver's been heard on record since about 1991 or '92??

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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... and features trumpeter Charles Tolliver

This is good news, too. It's nice to see Charles recording again. I wonder if a BN contract is in his future, too.

One can only hope. Isn't this the first time Tolliver's been heard on record since about 1991 or '92??

I have a Louis Hayes Sextet CD called "The Crawl" recorded live in 1989 that he appears on. Anything after that?

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This is indeed great news, but didn't we already know this a few months ago thanks to Frank Kimbrough? I remember him mentioning the session, and my jokingly asking if this would be on death row records, and Frank said that it was Blue Note.

Good to see Tolliver back in the studio. For those of you in NYC, the big band opens at the Jazz Standard tomorrow through sunday. Wish I could be there :(

As for Andrew's health, as I posted elsewhere, I did get confirmation of the bad news from a musician who's been playing with him off and on in the last few years. I'm hoping he can make a full recovery - optimism is the best policy in this case.

Bertrand.

Edited by bertrand
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As for Andrew's health, as I posted elsewhere, I did get confirmation of the bad news from a musician who's been playing with him off and on in the last few years. I'm hoping he can make a full recovery - optimism is the best policy in this case.

What's wrong with his health?

I can understand the label not wanting to look back too much, but Bobby Hutcherson sounds might good on the new SF Jazz Collective release. C'mon Blue Note, let's put that Norah dividend to use!

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  • 4 weeks later...

ON THE HORIZON

Blue Note Records is filling up its 2006 calendar with noteworthy CDs, including a solo piano outing by Gonzalo Rubalcaba -- appropriately titled "Solo," arriving March 7 -- and a Wes Montgomery tribute by guitarist Pat Martino, out February 7.

Pianist Andrew Hill, who began recording for the label in 1963, has re-signed with Blue Note for the third time. Coming up is a quintet release, "Time Lines," out February 21.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051119/music_nm/jazz_dc

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I'm sure the Martino will be just swell, but really - another "tribute" album? And by somebody who's worthy of a tribute themselves? Sorry, but for my tastes, "tribute" and/or "concept" albums are soooo latter-20th century and sooooooo Verve. Yeah, it's "good music" usually, but still...

Bring on the original material, and/or the "non-conceptual" presentations. Enough is enough!

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I'm sure the Martino will be just swell, but really - another "tribute" album? And by somebody who's worthy of a tribute themselves? Sorry, but for my tastes, "tribute" and/or "concept" albums are soooo latter-20th century and sooooooo Verve. Yeah, it's "good music" usually, but still...

Bring on the original material, and/or the "non-conceptual" presentations. Enough is enough!

I agree. I'm just looking forward to some new Martino!

The problem is that these "tribute" albums sell based on the name recognition of the artist to whom tribute is paid, rather than the artist actually making the music. I'm sure there were people who would never buy a John Scofield album who picked up his recent Ray Charles tribute. Although *I'd* never buy an album for that reason, I can see why that "name-brand" recognition tends to work.

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