Andrew Hill Point of Departure 2021

Pianist and composer Andrew Hill is perhaps known more for this date than any other in his catalog - and with good reason. Hill's complex compositions straddled many lines in the early to mid-1960s and crossed over many. Point of Departure, with its all-star lineup (even then), took jazz and wrote a new book on it, excluding nothing. With Eric Dolphy and Joe Henderson on saxophones (Dolphy also played clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute), Richard Davis on bass, Tony Williams on drums, and Kenny Dorham on trumpet, this was a cast created for a jazz fire dance. From the opening moments of "Refuge," with its complex minor mode intro that moves headlong via Hill's large, open chords that flat sevenths, ninths, and even 11ths in their striding to move through the mode, into a wellspring of angular hard bop and minor-key blues…

Point of Departure is the fifth album by jazz pianist and composer Andrew Hill, recorded and released in 1964 on the Blue Note label. Point of Departure was reissued on CD by Blue Note in 1988 and again in 1999 when recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder remastered the album, adding alternate takes of "New Monastery", "Flight 19", and "Dedication".

Jazz vocalist Madeline Eastman's debut is quite impressive. With strong assistance from trumpeter Tom Harrell, pianist Mike Wofford (Paul Potyen fills in on one song), bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Vince Lateano, Eastman performs a wide ranging set. Highlights include such unlikely singing material as "Wild Is the Wind," and a minor-toned "You Are My Sunshine" (inspired by Mose Allison's version)…