Valentine's Day came early for your jazz-snob blogger...

On Tuesday, Blue Note Records reissued Andrew Hill’s 1963 album “Smoke Stack”. It’s a wonderful record and, if you’re at all interested in jazz piano, I suggest you go out and get yourself a copy. Hill is, quite simply, a terrific musician. His approach and technique can be thought of as the natural bridge between advanced post-boppers like Herbie Hancock and the out-and-out avant-garde exemplified by Cecil Taylor. To me, his work exemplifies the best of both these fields. He masks a formidable intellectualism with music of great beauty, his songs are esoteric and appealing at the same time. This is a very individual vision. To listen to him is to be in the presence of a brilliant mind following its strange ideas wherever they lead, through inspiration, confusion, harmony, discord, confusion, and wonder.

On this album he works with some incredible collaborators. Richard Davis, who might just be the greatest bassist who ever lived, is here and so is Roy Haynes, one of my favorite drummers. Also, Eddie Khan appears as a second bassist on most of the tracks. I don’t know as much about him, but–judging from the evidence on this disc–he’s a fine musician and certainly not outmatched by the rest of the band. This isn’t just a rhythm section: they’re a vital part of the music. Davis, in particular, makes his presence felt with his rich, dark tone and some heartbreaking bowed passages in the song “Wailing Wail”.

All in all, a happy purchase for me. On the same trip, I also picked up saxophonist Stanley Turrentine’s “Joyride”, which I’m also enjoying very much. Perhaps I’ll post about that one tomorrow...