Andrew Hill: Judgment! (Blue Note Classic Vinyl series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl edition comes on 180g vinyl, pressed in Germany. It puts Hill's piano beside Bobby Hutcherson's vibraphone, Richard Davis's bass and Elvin Jones's drums for six original compositions built on bold, complex harmony.

This edition

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl series
• 180g vinyl
• Pressed in Germany
• Stereo mix

About the album

Andrew Hill made a habit of writing music that sounds as if it's thinking out loud. Recorded on January 8, 1964, and produced by Alfred Lion, Judgment! came out the same year, one of a remarkable run of Hill dates for Blue Note, with Elvin Jones on loan from Impulse.

"Siete Ocho" opens in 7/8, its title simply Spanish for seven eight, and the band makes the odd metre swing. "Flea Flop" takes its name from the jumping first notes of the melody and is dedicated to the hotels and motels jazz sidemen were obliged to stay in. "Yokada Yokada" nods to an old Coasters hit and the idle chatter of people talking past each other, the title track grew out of a poem by Hill's wife, Lavern, and "Reconciliation" is about the give and take every player makes to find unity with a band.

Hill named "Alfred" for his producer and his natural understanding of jazz. We've been dropping hints for a song of our own for years; so far, nothing.

Also at Kops: more Andrew Hill on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 7507950), a reissue of the 1964 album.