Andrew Hill Point of Departure 2021

Gary McFarland - Point Of Departure (1963) {Impulse! Japan MVCJ-19111 rel 1998}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 218 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 93 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 184 Mb | 5% repair rar | 20bit K2 Mastering
© 1963, 1998 Impulse! / MCA Records / Universal Victor Japan | MVCJ-19111
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Vibes

A great record – and one that's filled with so many wonderful little moments! The whole thing's a very cool, very off-beat set of jazz tracks recorded by vibist Gary McFarland, with a group that includes Jimmy Raney on guitar, Richie Kamuca on tenor, and Steve Swallow on bass – a lineup that's as quirky as the sound of the record! The tunes are quite different than some of Gary's larger arrangements for Verve, but they've definitely got a very similar charm – quite groovy, and a unique blend of bossa influences, west coast jazz, modal rhythms, and other wonderful touches. Tracks include "Pecos Pete", "Hello To The Season", "Schlock-House Blues", and "Love Theme From David & Lisa".

Andrew Hill - over nearly half a century, composer - pianist - ensemble leader Andrew has gained international jazz renown for his uniquely original music and recorded ouevre, which is by turns dark, fragile, funny, stark, unforgettable tuneful, percussive, insightful, oblique and mysterious.Hill began gigging in 1952, and in the summer of '53 accompanied alto saxophonist Charlie Parker at the Greystone Ballroom, in Detroit.

Anyone familiar with Andrew Hill's music will find the cover to Andrew!!! a little bizarre, to say the least. Hill was one of the most intense and cerebral musicians on Blue Note's roster, incorporating avant-garde and modal techniques into his adventurous post-bop. The cover to Andrew!!! apparently is an attempt to humanize Hill - it's a soft-focus close-up of a smiling Andrew Hill, who looks more like a teen idol than a serious jazz musician, and the first-name title is adorned with no less than three exclamation marks and a subtitle, "The Music of Andrew Hill," which suggests that it's an album of romantic, easy-listening standards. It's not. Andrew!!! is just as adventurous and challenging as any of his other albums, which is to Hill's credit…

Anyone familiar with Andrew Hill's music will find the cover to Andrew!!! a little bizarre, to say the least. Hill was one of the most intense and cerebral musicians on Blue Note's roster, incorporating avant-garde and modal techniques into his adventurous post-bop. The cover to Andrew!!! apparently is an attempt to humanize Hill. ~ AllMusic

Astell&Kern, the leading hi res portable music player that boasts studio sound quality, has announced a special package partnership with Blue Note Records to commemorate the record company's 75th anniversary in the world of Jazz and Blues. 75 legendary Blue Note jazz albums that have been remastered in the Hi-Res digital format. Especially, five Blue Note albums make their exclusive hi-res audio debuts with this release: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' Mosaic, Tina Brooks' True Blue, Don Cherry's Complete Communion, Andrew Hill's Point Of Departure, and Bobby Hutcherson's Components.

Andrew Hill - Compulsion (1965) {Blue Note Japan SHM-CD UCCQ-5118 rel 2015} (24-192 remaster)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 253 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 150 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit 192kHz remaster
© 1965, 2015 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5118
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

Features SHM-CD format and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. One of the most dynamic albums that Andrew Hill ever cut for Blue Note – a record of long tracks, played by a largeish group who seem perfectly suited to Hill's most creative musical ideas! There's an approach here that almost predates some of the more righteous soul jazz ensemble sides of the 70s – as Hill's piano leads a octet that features Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, John Gilmore on tenor and bass clarinet, Cecil McBee and Richard Davis on basses, Joe Chambers on drums, and Nedi Quamar and Renaud Simmons on percussion. The percussionists roll out with quite a bit of presence in the set – not so much as on some of the Art Blakey percussion sides for Blue Note, but more with a pronounced sense of "bottom" that you might not always hear from Hill – an earthy, sometimes organic way of riffing that then allows freer solo work from the horns and piano on the top!

Compulsion continues Andrew Hill's progression, finding the pianist writing more complex compositions and delving even further into the avant-garde. Working with a large, percussion-heavy band featuring Freddie Hubbard (trumpet, flugelhorn), John Gilmore (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet), Cecil McBee (bass), Joe Chambers (drums), Renaud Simmons (conga), Nadi Qamar (percussion), and, for one track, Richard Davis (bass), Hill has created one of his most challenging dates. The extra percussion is largely used for texture, as is the dueling bass on "Premonition," and that's one of the reasons why the record is so interesting - it's a provocative, occasionally unsettling set of shifting tonal colors. Hill's compositions often seem more like sketches and blueprints than full-fledged songs…