太陽熊的音樂蜜糖窩ver.2.0

Andrew Hill是這幾年我特別鍾愛與持續尋找的鋼琴樂手之一
大概是因為日本東風唱片(East Wind)搜羅過一些他早期在'70年代出過的幾張唱片,以仿LP包裝的紙殼版CD唱片形式發行;
加上最近幾年Andrew Hill的正式作品也不太多
反而是日本發行了不少錄音或現場作品
讓偶而注意日本爵士唱片發行動態的我覺得有點"限定版症候群"發作的感覺的關係吧.

總之這些曾經大放異彩的明星
都逐漸凋零
對於爵士音樂的前景
有時候還蠻令我感到悲觀的.

像是今年初的Michael Brecker英年早逝
Alice Coltrane故去
都是十分令人難過的消息
加上Andrew Hill這種還有作品的樂手逝世
損失很大!!



Andrew Hill Dies
Daily News Headlines

Posted 4/20/2007

Pianist Andrew Hill died on Friday after a lengthy battle with lung cancer. He was 75.

A true modernist, Hill's compositions displayed an esthetic and intellectual stance that was new to jazz in the early '60s when he began recording for Blue Note. The way he used repetition, asymmetry, dissonance and silence were not found in the music of his acknowledged influences: Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Art Tatum.

Hill was born in Chicago on June 30, 1937, attended the University of Chicago's lab school and performed a novelty act in talent shows as a youth. He began playing piano at 13 and had composition lessons from William Russo and Paul Hindemith while still a teen; he also backed Charlie Parker and Miles Davis in local clubs.

Hill left Chicago in 1961 to join Dinah Washington in New York City, where he also backed Al Hibbler and Johnny Hartman. After a gig with Roland Kirk in California in 1962, Hill returned to New York, where he began recording for Blue Note both as a leader with three startling sessions in eight months. Those sessions resulted in the landmark albums, Point of Departure , Black Fire and Judgment! . He also worked as a sideman on dates with Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson and Woody Shaw.

In 1965 Hill became music coordinator for Amiri Baraka's Black Arts Repertory Theatre; and in 1970 he worked as composer-in-residence at Colgate University, where he received his doctorate. Hill toured with the Smithsonian Heritage Program (1972-'75) and received a fellowship from that institution. He later taught in prisons and public schools in California while continuing to record.

Hill's final years were especially productive. He recorded Dusk (Pametto, 1999) and a two-CD set with his big band, A Beautiful Day (Palmetto, 2003). His recent Time Lines (Blue Note) received the 2006 DownBeat critics poll album of the year award.