Judgment!

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Judgment!
Andrew Hill studio album

Publication
(s)

1964

Label (s) Blue note

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

6/7

running time

43:11 (LP) / 48:26 (CD)

occupation

production

Alfred Lion

Studio (s)

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs , New Jersey

chronology
Smokestack
(1964) 		Judgment! Point of Departure
(1964)

Judgment! is a jazz album by Andrew Hill , recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs , New Jersey on January 8, 1964 and released in 1964 on Blue Note Records .

The album

Since 1962 the Blue Note bosses Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff experimented with the new developments in jazz and produced as a first cautious step in this direction an album by Jackie McLean with the programmatic title One Step Beyond ; belonged to his quartet u. a. the vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson . In September 1963, Alfred Lion was introduced to the young pianist Andrew Hill when he accompanied Joe Henderson on his album Our Thing ; Hill was considered a unique and productive composer, his music was free in that it did not follow traditional jazz structures but had its own demanding inner logic. Few could play its music; but luckily Lion managed to bring the pianist together with the people who understood the music. Alfred Lion's dedication to Hill was so great that Blue Note's first albums Black Fire, Smokestack, Judgment! and had his masterpiece Point of Departure recorded before a single album was released.

The Judgment, recorded in January 1964 ! was made 10 weeks before Andrew Hills classic Point of Departure , which was recorded in March with Kenny Dorham , Eric Dolphy and Joe Henderson . Since his debut, the more conventional Black Fire , his compositions had broken away from conventional structures. Hill modified the existing structures of hard bop and integrated harmonic and rhythmic elements of modal jazz and avant-garde jazz . The harmonic structures of each composition are complex; Dissonant chords and fast, melodic improvisations flow into one another. Hill's piano playing stands out in this self-created context, but Bobby Hutcherson comes close to the pianist with his complex and provocative solos and unexpected melodic counter-drafts. The jazz critic Leonard Feather , who wrote the liner notes for the album in 1964 , particularly emphasizes the rank of Andrew Hills as composer for the present album. His first track "Siete Ocho" - meaning "Seven - Eight" as a bar sequence - begins with an introductory, pulsating bass figure by Richard Davis , followed by Hutcherson and then by Hill. Feather describes the mood of the piece as “exotic”, emphasized by unusual and fleeting rhythms, the harmonic texture of the composition derives its substance from the execution of the theme and the moods in the cutscenes. Hill named "Flea Flop" after the first notes of the piece, which remind one of a jumping flea. He ironically dedicated it to the hotels and motels all over the country, where jazz accompanists usually had to stay on their tours. The melody is based on a nine-bar construction, played twice in 4/4 time. “Yokada, Yokada” means, like the old song “Yakety Yak”, a meaningless dialogue between people. The main phrase consists of dissonances between Hill and the vibraphonist; Hill puts quarter note accents against which Hutcherson alludes. Elvin Jones pauses with a drum solo. Hill dedicated the ballad-like piece "Alfred" to the Blue Note producer; Leonard Feather sees the “beauty of this subject in the complicated construction of melody and harmony”. “My playing is usually based on playing around the melody,” says the pianist, characterizing his playing style, especially in this piece. The title track "Judgment" was inspired by a poem written by Andrew Hill's wife Laverne. Its message was based on the Bible verse from John VIII, verse 7, "He who is without sin, throw the first stone". The theme of the last track "Reconciliation" is first played three times by Hill, then Richard Davis starts his solo, accompanied by Hutcherson and Elvin Jones. This is followed by a longer improvisation by the pianist, which repeatedly plays around the topic. The piece ends with a surprise when it suddenly breaks off before the last note in the repetition of the opening theme.

Impact history

The All Music Guide , which gave the album four and a half stars, ranks it among Andrew Hill's most important releases. Martin Kunzler also counts the album in his jazz dictionary as one of the pianist's most important albums in the 1960s. The All Music Guide gives the album the second highest rating.

The titles

  • Andrew Hill Quartet - Judgment! (Blue Note BN 4159 / BST 84159/28981)
  1. See Ocho 8:58
  2. Flea Flop 7:21
  3. Yokada, Yokada 5:19
  4. Alfred 7:04
  5. Judgment 6:54
  6. Reconciliation 7:23
  7. Yokada, Yokada (alternate take) 5:15

All compositions are by Andrew Hill.

literature

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ For Lion Hill was his “last great protégé.” Cf. David Grundy RIP Andrew Hill and Cuscuna, p. 162.
  2. ↑ cit. after Stephen Thomas Erlewine: All Music Guide.