Andrew Hill died today

[alocispepraluger102]

wkcr tribute scheduled sunday midnight till tuesday 9pm

[RDK]

Just heard. So very sad. R.I.P.

[Chalupa]

I heard the news right before the Roscoe Mitchell show tonight. I was speaking w/ the promoter of that show who said that he was speaking to Greg Osby last week about having Osby and Andrew due a duet show here in Philly.

Alas.

[catesta]

Thank you for everything.

R.I.P.

[brownie]

The AP obituary that is being widely reprinted in newspapers today.

JAZZ PIANIST COMPOSER ANDREW HILL DIES

By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press Writer

Jazzman Andrew Hill, a groundbreaking pianist and composer known for his complex post-bop style, died early Friday, his record label announced. He was 75.

Hill, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer three years ago, died at his Jersey City, N.J., home, according to Cem Kurosman of Blue Note Records. He had released his final album, "Time Lines," in early 2006, a farewell that earned him album of the year honors from Down Beat magazine.

He was still performing just three weeks ago, when Hill appeared with his trio at a Manhattan church.

Hill was widely lauded within the jazz community; Blue Note founder Alfred Lion once described him as "the next Thelonious Monk." But he was often overlooked by mainstream audiences which focused on contemporaries like Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. Hill had performed with both while a young man.

"In a jazz world that often celebrates imitators, Hill stands as a genuine original," said the announcement accompanying his 2003 International Jazzpar Prize, given by a Danish organization to recognize an active jazz performer.

Hill came to New York in 1961 to work with singer Dinah Washington. In 1963, he began a long association with Blue Note, where he released a series of post-bop albums that included the 1964 "Point of Departure," which The New York Times hailed in 2000 as his greatest album.

But Hill spent most of the '70s and '80s teaching, releasing only occasional albums. After nearly a decade away from recording, Hill resurfaced in recent years with three new albums: "Dusk" with his Point of Departure Sextet in 2000; "A Beautiful Day" in 2002; and "Time Lines" last year.

In addition, his "Passing Ships" was released in 2004, 35 years after it was recorded. It had been shelved in 1969 because Blue Note considered it noncommercial.

Born in Chicago in 1931, Hill said he "could play the piano as long as I've been talking." His professional career began in 1952, and he worked with Parker, Davis and tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins before releasing his debut album three years later.

___

On the Net:

http://www.andrewhilljazz.com

[sidewinder]

I wasn't previously aware that AH had been piano player with Dinah Washington. There was a very good documentary on the Beeb TV last night about Dinah which said that she went through piano players at a pretty fast rate (as well as the 8-9 husbands) - with some interesting reminiscences also from Patti Bown and Chuck Stewart. Too bad they didn't also interview Andrew. I wonder how long he stayed in the Dinah Washington group?

Edited April 21, 2007 by sidewinder

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

ANDREW HILL IS NOW IN BLUE NOTE HEAVEN

[mikefok]

Point of Departure

Andrew Hill

Salute!

[JSngry]

Kudos to Michael Cuscuna for getting as much Hill material as possible out in Hill's final years. Presumably this meant a sucession of advance money for each project at a time when it was no doubt needed. Music industry humanitarianism lives!

[sidewinder]

Kudos to Michael Cuscuna for getting as much Hill material as possible out in Hill's final years. Presumably this meant a sucession of advance money for each project at a time when it was no doubt needed. Music industry humanitarianism lives!

Indeed. Just re-read those MC notes to the first 'Select' and dedication to the cause is very evident. Also too for those 'pre-Mosaic' brown cover 2LPs - of which 'One For One' was one of the standouts. Stealth operation that one.

[jmjk]

Sad to say I have only one recording of his music, the album "Point Of Departure". I guess that will change in the upcoming months. R.I.P.

"Dedication" on Point of Departure is one of the most poignant compositions in his catalog, and for me, it takes on a whole new meaning now. Thanks to Andrew for touching my life in the way that he did.

Edited April 21, 2007 by jmjk

[jazzmessenger]

Very sad news, indeed. I remember seeing a wonderful concert in Iowa City with Rooster...

Rest in peace, Mr. Hill.

[brownie]

The New York Times obituary in today's edition:

ANDREW HILL, 75, JAZZ ARTIST KNOWN FOR HIS DARING STYLE, DIES

By BEN RATLIFF

Published: April 21, 2007

Andrew Hill, a pianist and composer of highly original and sometimes opaquely inner-dwelling jazz whose work only recently found a wide audience, died yesterday at his home in Jersey City. He was 75.

The cause was lung cancer, said his wife, Joanne Robinson Hill.

It took almost 40 years for Mr. Hill’s work to be absorbed into jazz’s mainstream. From the first significant album in his discography (“Black Fire,” 1963) to the last (“Time Lines,” 2006), his work is an eloquent example of how jazz can combine traditional and original elements, notation and pure improvisation, playing both outside and inside strict time and harmony.

Mr. Hill was born in Chicago in 1931 — not Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as his early biographical information read, and not in 1937, as he often stated. He started playing music at 7, by learning the accordion; beginning at 10, he said, he taught himself how to play piano.

He eventually played be-bop with local musicians in Chicago, and worked on the road with Dinah Washington, Johnny Hartman and Dakota Staton. He got a chance to play with Charlie Parker at the Greystone Ballroom in Detroit in 1954. A job with Roland Kirk (later Rahsaan Roland Kirk) brought him to New York in the early 1960s.

In those years Mr. Hill was perceived as a kind of extension of Thelonious Monk, 20 years after Monk’s emergence. Both were brilliant composers, and played in a style suited to their own writing. And both careers benefited from the enthusiasm of Alfred Lion, from Blue Note Records, who was so enthusiastic about Mr. Hill that he recorded five albums’ worth of material in eight months.

Those five albums were “Black Fire,” “Smokestack,” “Judgment,” “Point of Departure” and “Andrew!!!,” and much of Mr. Hill’s reputation rests on them. With some of the best musicians at the time — Joe Henderson, Kenny Dorham, Roy Haynes and others — the records occupied an area between hard bop and abstract jazz. Some of the music was structured strangely, yet there was a strange emotional resonance in the writing, a cloudy romanticism.

Mr. Hill was unsuccessful in finding much of an audience for his work after the mid-1960s, and found it hard to maintain bands or work in clubs. But he was also committed to the idea that the jazz bandleader could live as a composer, not just a nightclub entertainer. He sought arts grants and worked increasingly as a solo performer on the college circuit.

He lived in upstate New York during the early 1970s, and then in California; in the 1980s, he recorded for the Soul Note label in Milan.

In 1989 he was signed again to Blue Note, which had been recently resurrected by EMI, making the albums “Eternal Spirit” and “But Not Farewell,” and beginning a renewal of interest in his early work. That same year, after the death of his wife Laverne, he moved to Oregon to teach at Portland State University until 1996, when he returned to the New York City area, and re-entered the map of jazz. His wife Joanne Robinson Hill survives him.

In his remarkable final decade, Mr. Hill led several bands, including a sextet, a big band and a quartet including the trumpeter Charles Tolliver. He made three new albums, all well received. In 2003 he received the Danish JazzPar Award, the biggest international honor in jazz.

Finally he was signed for the third time to Blue Note, recording “Time Lines.” Much of his early recorded work came out on CD, including 11 albums recorded for Blue Note during the 1960s that had never been released. At last, his challenging music was being performed or adapted by other musicians.

Mr. Hill’s last performance was at Trinity Church in Manhattan on March 29. On May 12 he is to receive an honorary doctorate posthumously from Berklee College of Music.

[keys]

I had the good fortune to know Andrew as a friend.With his passing I am reminded of the following from a few years ago.

A couple weeks before the release of Dusk,Andrew and I met for lunch at a small Cuban restaurant near his house.While waiting for our lunch to arrive we were talking and looking at the CD's he had brought for me,when the waiter came by and asked about the music.Being as modest as he was it was left to me to tell him who the great artist sitting there was,and that it was new,unreleased music.Hearing this,he asked and received Andrew's permission to play the CD over the restaurants sound system.

Listening to Dusk,together with personal insights and commentary by Andrew,while attempting to gauge reaction of other diners was a priceless experience that I will never forget.

[Big Al]

What a shame, still was producing great music....

No better way for him to leave.

Amen to that!

[tonym]

I had the good fortune to know Andrew as a friend.With his passing I am reminded of the following from a few years ago.

A couple weeks before the release of Dusk,Andrew and I met for lunch at a small Cuban restaurant near his house.While waiting for our lunch to arrive we were talking and looking at the CD's he had brought for me,when the waiter came by and asked about the music.Being as modest as he was it was left to me to tell him who the great artist sitting there was,and that it was new,unreleased music.Hearing this,he asked and received Andrew's permission to play the CD over the restaurants sound system.

Listening to Dusk,together with personal insights and commentary by Andrew,while attempting to gauge reaction of other diners was a priceless experience that I will never forget.

That's a very nice story. Priceless indeed.

[ValerieB]

the following was part of an e-mail to me from herbie hancock on tour in australia. posted with his permission:

A great loss and a huge source of encouragement to

me in Chicago when I was coming up on that scene. He'll live on in me

and in others as that continued source. I last saw Andrew when he and

I were among the judges at the piano competition for the Monk

Institute last Sept. He was as sharp as ever even though there wasn't

much sound coming from his voice. He also looked great, not at all

like 75 years old.

Herbie

[Tom 1960]

Great story KEYS, thanks for sharing!

[Larry Kart]

Haven't read through the thread, so I apologize if it's been mentioned before, but among the most successful latter-day Hill recordings IMO is this somewhat obscure one, which he made with Danish and U.S. musicians (Scott Colley and Nasheet Waits) in conjunction with Hill's being given the JazzPar prize:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=18113

It was recorded at concerts on a tour, and it sounds like everyone has settled into the music. Also, these Danes not only can play but also play with more zest and boldness that some of Hill's latter-day younger U.S. sidemen.

[Clunky]

Haven't read through the thread, so I apologize if it's been mentioned before, but among the most successful latter-day Hill recordings IMO is this somewhat obscure one, which he made with Danish and U.S. musicians (Scott Colley and Nasheet Waits) in conjunction with Hill's being given the JazzPar prize:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=18113

It was recorded at concerts on a tour, and it sounds like everyone has settled into the music. Also, these Danes not only can play but also play with more zest and boldness that some of Hill's latter-day younger U.S. sidemen.

I like this one a lot. More vibrant than the Palmetto big band set

[ghost of miles]

Apologies if this has already been posted--and I haven't been able to watch it, since I'm on my slow dial-up at home. But it's a video of Andrew's last performance, from about three weeks ago.

[John L]

I met Andrew Hill in Paris on the day that Lester Bowie died. Hill had been at a vigil for Bowie the night before leaving for Paris, and I broke the news to him. I will never forget his reaction. He looked at me, and could see that I was upset. Then he very calmly shugged his shoulders and said, "that's life."

RIP, Mr. Andrew Hill. That was some life.

Edited April 22, 2007 by John L

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

AND I WOULD OF COMPED HIM HIS LUNCH

ANDREW HILL IS GONE BUT HIS MUSIC LIVES ON

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

does his 1st lp "so in love..." is that album show hints of his later style, etc or is it very very different, improvisation wise and also regarding the heads---

whats other lps was he on in the 50s? did he have another solo lp- in fact what is his pre blue note discog.?

also what has a.h. said about his exp. w/ charles the bird parker: he was never recorded w/ him, but what has he said about that important early phase of his career

[Swinger]

RIP!