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:::: Artist :::::::::::[ Andrew Hill ]::::
:::: Album :::::::::::[ Judgment! (RVG Edition) ]::::
:::: Record co ::::::::[ Blue Note (BST 84159) ]::::
:::: Style ::::::::::::[ Jazz ]::::
:::: Releasedate ::::::[ 08-Jul-2007 ]::::
:::: Tracks & Size ::::[ 7 tracks, a total of 69,3 megabytes ]::::
::::
:::: Info & tracklist :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::
::::
:::: 01 Siete Ocho :: 08:58
:::: 02 Flea Flop :: 07:21
:::: 03 Yokada Yokada :: 05:18
:::: 04 Alfred :: 07:05
:::: 05 Judgment! :: 06:54
:::: 06 Reconciliation :: 07:24
:::: 07 Yokada, Yokada (Alternate Take) :: 05:13
::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Total Playtime :: 48:13
::::
:::: Additional info
::::
:::: Personnel:
::::
:::: Andrew Hill: Piano
:::: Bobby Hutcherson: Vibes
:::: Richard Davis: Bass
:::: Elvin Jones: Drums
::::
:::: Recorded two months after Black Fire and two months before Point
:::: of Departure, Andrew Hill's Judgement!, finally receiving the
:::: Van Gelder remastering treatment, demonstrates just how prolific
:::: the envelope-pushing pianist was during the '60s. While prolific
:::: doesn't necessarily mean good, what is most remarkable about
:::: Hill's seemingly endless output on Blue Note between '63 and '69
:::: - strangely eluding the accolades he deserved at the time, but
:::: finally finding his audience in recent years - is how incredibly
:::: consistent it was.
::::
:::: Whether using larger ensembles on Point of Departure and Passing
:::: Ships, or smaller groups on Black Fire and Dance with Death,
:::: Hill's ability to skirt the edges of the avant garde while
:::: remaining within a more mainstream context made his inability to
:::: reach audiences, who were soaking up records by Wayne Shorter
:::: and Bobby Hutcherson, all the more curious. Both were enjoying
:::: greater success while mining similar territory, at least some of
:::: the time.
::::
:::: Perhaps part of the problem was Hill's more idiosyncratic,
:::: serpentine, and at times jagged writing. As cerebral as Shorter
:::: was, with the possible exception of outre recordings like "The
:::: All Seeing Eye" and "Super Nova", he was more concerned with
:::: harmonic density, always keeping a steady pulse underneath.
:::: While Hill also kept an eye on forward motion, he was also
:::: exploring irregular and shifting meters - characteristics likely
:::: disconcerting to a mainstream crowd - while his allegiance to
:::: form alienated devotees of the free jazz movement taking hold at
:::: the time.
::::
:::: In some ways this 1964 recording is Hill's most unconsidered
:::: session of the time. On this quartet date he placed Hutcherson's
:::: vibes, rather than a horn player, in the front line and used
:::: Richard Davis, his clear bassist of choice, appearing on seven
:::: sessions between '63 and '65. Drummer Elvin Jones had ended his
:::: six-year run with John Coltrane, rejecting Coltrane's total
:::: transition away from defined structure. Hill's distinguishing
:::: marks are all over the album's six compositions, but they're
:::: somehow more relaxed than usual. Perhaps it's simply a matter of
:::: texture (Hutcherson's vibes are a more ethereal foil to Hill's
:::: abstruse style), but even pieces like the irregular-metered
:::: "Siete Ocho" have an understated intensity.
::::
:::: There's something more open about the loose swing of "Flea
:::: Flop". Hill's accompaniment beneath Hutcherson's
:::: characteristically well-developed solo is less angular and more
:::: to the point. While his own solo finds his left hand in more
:::: oddly-placed counterpoint to the skewed rhythms of his right
:::: (all the while with Davis carefully filling in the blanks) it's
:::: only when Jones steps up for a solo that things really heat up.
:::: "Alfred" is a surprisingly tender ballad, although Davis' more
:::: interactive role keeps things from becoming too settled.
::::
:::: What makes every new Hill reissue from the '60s significant is
:::: how he managed to blend complex compositional ideas and oblique
:::: thematic constructs; left-of-centre, to be sure, but still in
:::: that centre's general vicinity. Perhaps he was ahead of his
:::: time, and his increased popularity these days indicates that his
:::: audience has finally caught up with him; in any case, Judgement!
:::: is a classic entry that's sure to please.
::::
:::: Another gem for our Blue Note archives. Enjoy!
::::
:::: Notes
::::
:::: Quality Above All !
:::: IF YOU LIKE IT BUY IT !
:::: Don't be a moron: keep these files out of
:::: public access sites, torrent sites and p2p networks.