Most interesting/favorite 'Andrew Hill' Blue Note

[Rooster_Ties]

I just listened to three Hill sessions today: "Andrew!!", the 1965 session from "One For One", and "Compulsion". I hadn't had my Hill Mosaic out in quite a while, and I had forgotten what these sessions were like. (I plan to listen to the "Involution" date with Sam Rivers" within the next couple days.) And, I was specifically curious about "Compulsion", since we've heard from Kevin that Hill (himself) would like "Compulsion" released on CD first, before "Dance With Death".

Gave me the idea for a Hill poll. I purposely did NOT include "Point of Departure", cuz we all know it would win, hands down. Some people really love it, it's probably the best selling Hill disc (by a long shot would be my guess), it's the only Hill disc available as an RVG, it's the only "non-limited edition" Hill disc currently available, it's the only Hill disc "in stock" in most stores (if there are even any at all), and as an RVG title it's the only "nice-price" Hill CD that's been available any time in the last 5+ years, etc... (So, no matter what, it'd win this poll - trust me.)

( Plus, the board software only allows 10 poll choices, and there were at least 11 Hill albums (depending on how you slice and dice them), so something had to be left out. )

I'll vote myself, after I listen to some more Hill later this week. I thought I might say "Black Fire", but having heard several more today that I wasn't as familiar with - I may surprise myself and vote for something else.

Edited April 14, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[Rooster_Ties]

PS: I included the lengthy descriptions of the sidemen, cuz if you're like me - you get all the Hill dates confused. I'll venture that most of us know most of these dates though the Mosaic box - and the dates all run together, with no strong "album" identity attached to each date. At least that's the way it is for me.

Hope it helps people in voting, and in fostering some further discussion about the man and his music...

[Alexander Hawkins]

I think my vote would be fraudulent, since I'm afraid I only have P.O.D.

Unfortunately, I will have just to monitor this thread and dream..!

p.s. I notice you're rubbing it in by listing the personnels..!

[sidewinder]

For me 'Compulsion' is the ringer, although really you can play the Mosaic end to end and there's hardly a falloff in quality between the sessions. Every item on the list is up there in the superlative bracket - just too bad I haven't yet been able to fully hear 'One For One'.

Edited April 13, 2003 by sidewinder

[Rooster_Ties]

Before yesterday, it had probably been a full year since I heard "Compulsion" - or really any of those later Hill albums from the Mosaic (meaning all the the ones after "PoD".)

Yesterday, "Compulsion" smacked me upside the head really damn good!!!! As much as I'd like to have "DwD" on CD, I have to say that I don't find much fault with Andrew wanting "Compulsion" back in the marketplace, since the Mosaic is out of print.

Perty please, would someone with the Complete BN Discography handy, remind us all what are all the as-yet unreleased Andrew Hill sessions, who's on them, and when they were recorded?? (My BN-Disco is buried in with a dozens of boxes of books I still haven't unpacked yet.) THANKS!!!

With the semi-big-band date from '69 coming out soon (hopefully in October), I'm wondering what's left?? There's the the trio date called "Chain" or "Chained" from about 1968(?). But other than that, there can't be very many others. (Especially since those extra dates came out on "Grass Roots" and "Lift Every Voice".)

[connoisseur series500]

I went for "Smokestack" because I love the double bass, but I would have voted for POD. Actually, my all-time favorite is "Nefertiti" but it wasn't listed. Beautiful session.

[Guest Mnytime]

I went with Smokestack as well. Though if P.O.D. was included that would have been my vote. So this is more of a runner up vote.

[vibes]

I voted for "Judgment." I originally bought this album because I was looking for more Bobby Hutcherson, but I found Andrew Hill's compositions very intriguing and wanted to hear more. I ended up tracking down the "Smoke Stack" Conn and then the Mosaic, and then "Lift Every Voice." Andrew Hill has become one of my favorite BN artists, to be sure.

I find the compositions on "Judgment" to often have an eerie, contemplative quality to them. I really enjoy that quality in music. Also, not having any horns on the date makes it easier for me to focus on Andrew's piano work. For some reason, Hills albums with horns don't make me think of his playing, and sometimes I'd rather focus on that. Having said that, "Smoke Stack" and "Andrew!!!" are probably my second and third place votes.

[Chuck Nessa]

Unissued Hill dates:

2/10/67 Robin Kenyatta, Sam Rivers, Cecil McBee, Teddy Robinson, Nadi Qumar

5 pieces

5/17/67 trio w/Ron Carter, Teddy Robinson

6 pieces - known as Chained

10/31/67 Woody Shaw, Kenyatta, Rivers, Howard Johnson, Herbie Lewis, Robinson

5 pieces

6/13/69 Carlos Garnett, Karl Porter (bassoon), Richard Davis, Freddie Waits, Sanford Allen (vocal) + string quartet

3 pieces

11/7 + 14/69 Woody Shaw, Dizzy Reece, Julian Priester, Bob Northern, Howard Johnson, Joe Farrell, Ron Carter, Lenny White

proposed new release - 7 pieces

[Rooster_Ties]

Thanks Chuck, for all that info. As usual, you're a saint... (Except, of course, when you're not )

Hey, which Hill date did you vote for?? (I'm glad to see you're participating in these polls, and a little of your reasoning behind each vote.)

Thanks!!

[Chuck Nessa]

I voted for Compulsion.

[brownie]

How come 'Point of Departure' is not listed? I always loved this album.

'Smoke Stack' got my vote then. For the Hill-Roy Haynes interplay.

[Guest Mnytime]

Brownie

If you check the fine print in Rooster's first post you will find the reason.

[brownie]

Mnytime wrote:

Brownie

If you check the fine print in Rooster's first post you will find the reason.

Thanks for pointing it out. Should have read Rooster's full post first.

[Guest Mnytime]

Mnytime wrote:

Brownie

If you check the fine print in Rooster's first post you will find the reason.

Thanks for pointing it out. Should have read Rooster's full post first.

It's all in the details. Luckily you won't find yourself buying useless swamp land for not reading the fine print. :D

[John B]

This is a tough one. Every disc in the Mosaic set is killer. That being said, I am split between Smokestack and Compulsion.

[Big Al]

Judgement. A tough call to be sure, but that interplay between Hill, Hutch, Davis and Elvin is beautifully telepathic!

[Rooster_Ties]

I still haven't voted, but I keep gravitating back to "Judgement". Gotta listen to a few more, and make up my mind. I've ruled a few out, but that doesn't mean they don't measure up.

I too, like others here have said, am amazed at how incredibly consistant the whole Hill Mosaic box is. And, in some ways, that's why the albums blur together so much for me, since I only have the box (and only a few of the singles, I think only "Black Fire", "Judgement", and "PoD"), it's not like there are any albums that "stand out" (in a bad way) because of some sort of lack of quality - neither in the writing, nor the soloing.

Hill's output was remarkably great, on every recording he did in the 60's (IMHO). Even "Lift Every Voice" is a total winner in my book. Initially I didn't care as much for the extra LP that was part of the "One for One" set - meaning the one with the two sessions from 1970, one with a string quartet. While it didn't grab me by the neck and thrash me about the room (the first few times I heard it), like "Compusion" did and still does ---- that extra "One for One" LP (the one NOT on the Mosaic) is still quite an interesting album.

Also, "Dance with Death" has really grown on me too, and I really look forward to the day when it will finally come out on CD. (And not just cuz it's one of the holy grails in the Hill catalog - whether it deserves that status or not.) I was initially really drawn to "DwD" because I love Charles Tolliver so much - but then "DwD" doesn't feature the kind of Tolliver playing that I'm normally as drawn to, or at least not on first listen. But, damn if it hasn't grown on me a whole bunch, and I like it more and more with each listen.

Edited April 15, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[jazzbo]

For me it's "Smokestack." Just eerily beautiful. Those two basses and those interesting piano lines and melodies. Dark, thought-provoking music.

[John Tapscott]

I voted for Black Fire, because this is the one I would play for a newcomer to Andrew's music. That doesn't necessarily make it the best, but perhaps the most accessible. It's the one I reach for most. Joe H. is just terrific on this, but then I could say the same about Hutcherson on Judgment.

[Rooster_Ties]

That was the exact same reasoning for why I speculated that I might vote for "Black Fire", way up in my very first post that started this thread.

For me, "Black Fire" seems like the most "Andrew Hill"-ish Andrew Hill album, out of the whole bunch, even over "PoD". In fact, I've never thought "PoD" sounded particularly "Andrew Hill"-ish, except in some of the parts where Hill is soloing. But, other than that - "PoD" always seemed, somehow, something else entirely.

In fact, I think very early on, when I had less than 500 CD's (a LONG time ago), I think I tried organizing my CD's by where I thought they should go, and not by who's name was on the spine. I think I may have catagorized "PoD" as sounding to me (at the time) more like an Eric Dolphy album, and I think I used to store it briefly next to "Out to Lunch".

( FYI, I still haven't voted, but I will by week's end. )

You know, I haven't listened to "PoD" in ages, but with all this renewed interest in Hill that I've drummed up - I probably should, especially after having heard nearly all the other Hill sessions within such a short period of time. May bring me some new insights to "PoD".

Edited April 18, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[sidewinder]

'Black Fire' - yes, great album. The way 'Land of Nod' kicks off the Mosaic set at such a high level of performance without doubt wins my award for Mosaic set which hits its groove in least time. Within 1 second, in fact .. !

[Rooster_Ties]

Over the past two days, I've twice listened to "Lift Every Voice" (including the extra session with vocals), and I am ever more deeply impressed with this material. Yeah, yeah, the vocals are weird - but I'm a choral singer (7 years as a baritone in the Kansas City Symphony Chorus), and I can tell you that the arrangements that 7-voice choir sings (9-voice on the latter session), are some pretty tough stuff.

I'll go on record as saying that I think "Lift Every Voice" (plus the extra session) is as good as anything else Hill did on Blue Note. The scope of these two projects with vocals must have taken a fair amount of extra work, for the vocal arrangements and the extra logistical complications of including them in some fairly challenging material.

I've always wondered if the vocals were recorded separately from the band, meaning if the vocals were overdubbed?? Any theories?? I would tend to think that they were probably overdubbed, but I don't have any strong basis for that conclusion.

By the way, I should mention that my new lobbying for this album as being a great one in the Hill catalog does NOT have to do with the vocals in particular. The band is as tight and loose as any that Hill assembled, and I think both Woody Shaw and Lee Morgan play their socks off. Hell, the whole band (both bands) are really outstanding.

Edited April 29, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[ralphie_boy]

LEV is terrific, regardless of whatever one's position is as to the vocals. I prefer the "original" session w/ Shaw and Carlos Garnett, but the session with Morgan is also top-notch.

I've actually grown to enjoy the vocals and find that they lend added color and dimension to the compositions.

[Rooster_Ties]

I listened to the Morgan/Maupin session from Hill's "LEV" again last night, and I think this is some of the most interesting Lee Morgan playing on record, right up there with Larry Young's "Mother Ship". Man, Lee was so amazing in those 'progressive' contexts.