Goodbye, Andrew

news flash: listen to Andrew all day on WKCR! mp3 webstream available. also, typical on-the-ball-ness from Ethan Iverson here.

RIP, Mr. Andrew Hill. regular readers of this blog know how much his music means to me, and i won't attempt a formal eulogy. here's a lengthy Hill reflection i wrote in February that still applies (scroll down past the unrelated commentary on Rich Shapero, pleez)--there are a few mp3s there i believe.

just want to say a few things and offer a few links, though. here is a proper obit from Howard Mandel at All About Jazz and one from Ben Ratliff at the Times. and here are some thoughts i wrote on the Time Out New York blog upon hearing the news on Friday.

and here--and this is really something--is a archived edition of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz w/ Hill. the playing on this is absolutely gorgeous and the camaraderie between the two is remarkably natural. what a gracious man he was. i don't know how long these shows are available so grab this while you can.

also, i've got to say that i'm kind of blown away that in the eight or so years that i've been a Hill fan, all of the CDs in the rightfully legendary 1963-66 box set are now in print individually. that shows you how much Hill's reputation has grown over the past decade. "Point of Departure" was my first Hill purchase and it's where i'd point any newcomer, but it makes me really happy that "Andrew!!!," "Judgment," "Compulsion" (just reissued), "Black Fire" and the rest are all readily available. as i discussed in the aforementioned post, maybe my favorite latter-day Hill record is the big-band disc from Palmetto, "A Beautiful Day"; it's a really lush realization of his writing.

don't know what else to say. Hill was hugely special to me. please listen. here's an mp3 to start. i can't even begin to describe my feelings for this one. it's from "Point of Departure." the trumpeter on the date, Kenny Dorham, told Andrew that it brought tears to his eyes. enjoy, please, and go check out more Hill if you're so inclined.

Dedication

(3/21/64; w/ Joe Henderson, Eric Dolphy, Kenny Dorham, Richard Davis, Tony Williams)

i always go for the ballads, yes, indeedy. is this even jazz? it's floating music, fantasy music...