Despite some rewarding tracks, not my favourite Andrew Hill album, and overall, not an uplifting listen. With more LPs waiting a spin, Smokestack returns to the shelves. You will have to be the judge if it works for you. Roy Haynes, whose rhythmically tight propulsion had him dubbed Snap Crackle, is here sparring with piano, in a similarly abstract combat role. Many of Hill’s melodic lines deliberately wander out of key. Hill’s figures and runs often repeat with small variation, experimenting to search out what works.Two basses do not provide enough structure to contain Hill’s free rambling inclinations. However the title track, Smokestack, is introspective, dour and dissonant, without resolution, redemption or swing. The final track 30 Pier Avenue, address of The Lighthouse, serves up the most satisfying complexity. They are listening to each other, taking cues, that makes for good music. Davis echoes, mimics, and probes other directions. Hill’s piano offers a repeating melodic line embedded in delicate abstract tracery of notes. Khan sits out, and the trio with Davis offers an alternative take on Bill Evans/ Scott Lafaro, piano/bass telepathy, but between Richard Davis and Andrew Hill. Smokestack was rushed out in August 1966, the 11th hour before the Liberty took control.įor me, the highlight of the album is Verne, the only track in trio format. I think Hill misjudged the free jazz license Lion gave him, overstepped the mark, and rowed it back on his subsequent more successful recordings. My verdict: this is a complex album, and it is a tough one to love.Īlfred Lion was a great champion of Andrew Hill, yet he held this session back two and a half years, to make way for Black Fire and Judgement!, and the iconic Point of Departure. It’s subdued music that requires concentration, but doesn’t necessarily reward such effort.” Part of the problem is that Hill simply meanders throughout most of Smokestack, wandering off into quietly discordant sections that turn in on themselves. “… with its long, winding modal improvisations and hazy song structures, it’s a lot less accessible than bop. An unconventional quartet leads to an unconventional outcome. Khan takes on the drummer’s time-keeping role, which leaves Roy Haynes sparring with Andrew Hill in the front line. Davis is a colorist, adding melodic and percussive layers. ![]() OK, here goes, warning, it’s a mixed bag.Īndrew Hill, piano Richard Davis, Eddie Khan, bass Roy Haynes, drums recorded Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, December 13, 1963, released two and a half years later, in August 1966, by my reckoning, Plastylite’s last pressing for Blue Note.Īn unconventional quartet, with a constantly evolving mix of two bass players, Richard Davis and Eddie Khan. ![]() LJC reader Ed challenged me to write up Smokestack, the one Andrew Hill Blue Note in my collection I had omitted to review. “LJC, any chance of doing a post on ‘Smokestack’? That’s one I would really like to see” ![]() The focus remains music first, only incidentally the Collector angle. Mid-week bonus post, not related to modern vinyl reissues, but back in the realm of Blue Note originals.
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